Tinting 99 accord sedan

I recently had my 1999 accord sedan tinted and just rolled down my windows to see what it was like. To my suprise the top 4-5mm was not tinted, plus their is peeling and too much bubbling on all four windows (2 quarters and 2 roll downs in the back seat). They said they would fix the peeling and bubbling, but could not tint the whole window because there is no felt at the top of my door, is this true because I've done a search on the forums and it only seem that 05 accords and higher need felt. Is it impossible to tint the whole window? because it looks really weird when i roll down my windows to see that the top not tinted. If it is possible to tint the whole window can somebody let me know how to do it, so that I can tell the shop about it. BTW, they use llumar tint, and use a machine to cut the tint, I also noticed they don't take out door panels.

debreis and peeling is not good, you don't need to remove door panels to have a good job, if they use a plotter to cut out their patterns, some of the software is good, and some has some bugs to be worked out, so the reason for the big gap at the top is because their plotter cuts the patterns short, so they had to "bump it down" to not have a light gap @ the bottom of the window. That is just speculation of course, but I have seen that before with plotters depends on who's software they use.

Take it back to them, if they said they would make it right, give them the opportunity to do so and it is possible to run the film to the top of the glass, but some tinters won't and, or,can't

Good Luck

thanks for the reply tintman

the reason they gave me is that there is no felt at the top of my door and the rubber would run it with the tint, so they were lying to me?

a small light gap at the top should be fine. If it is as small as less than 1/2 a CM then I would not worry about it. You really will not notice it if you stop looking at it!

I once tinted my own door a few years ago....caught a small bug in the tint and it messed with me for a bit. Very shortly I forgot about it. I would occasionally look for it and I would see it, but for the most part I just didn't see it....

As for peeling and such, yes I would be worried about that.

oh....that story about the top edge not being felted.....I don't think that would be a problem.

well some old timers that i know do this light gap at the top thing on older camrys and lexus ls 400's because it would pinch the film. some older honda's did the same thing. it also matters which film you use some films have stronger adhesives than others. i use llumar atr at work and it does not pinch the film at the top on these cars.


which series of llumar film did you go with? AT, ATR, ATX.

if your not happy with the install go with another shop and ask to see some of their work before they do your car so you make sure you know what kind of job you will get.

Those year and body style accords have a bad way of rubbing the tint, putting too much pressure on the tint, pinching it, causing it to move. Sometimes causing it to peel. Maybe this is what happened?
Also, I dont know how they tinted the doors but maybe they dont roll the window down to expose the top edge to clean it and then apply the film all the way to the edge? I have seen some people tint the window with the glass rolled all the way up and then sliding the film up into the gasket at the top edge.
As far as that car having felt. Those makes didnt come with window felt. Just window rubbers that cause the aforementioned problem.
Small bubbles are contamination. Big bubbles are possible too much water left behind.
Oh.........how long, days wise, until you rolled the windows down the first time after the tint job?
A good tint shop will fix the problem for you so take it back and give them a second chance. OK?

im not sure which llumar film they used, but im guessing atr since they gave me a lifetime warranty.

and i waited about 7 days before i rolled the windows down, just the give it a little extra time to dry.

i made an appointment to have them fix the peeling and the bubbles, so im happy that their willing to fix those issues, it just the that the top part of the window not being tinted really annoys me. I guess ill ask them again if they could tint the whole window, if not ill try to get a refund for those two windows, so i can have them, done somewhere else. I'm sure most shops around the bay area can do this.

there is a tinter on this board goes by screen name "TINT" that is up that way, he could probably hook you up.

1/16th to 1/8th gap is fine, what you want is someone that will file the top edge of the glass. so ask for that. down the road you might notice some scratches on the top edges of the tint I don't think there is felt in the top of the window it's just like my nissan frontier I have vertical scratches up to 3/8th long because of this. does it bother me no, I roll the window up and don't see it and turn the ac on go on down the road.