2006 Accord Coupe Defroster Reflection after Tint

I have a 2006 Accord Coupe. I got 8% tint on the back window with non metallic Solar Gard film. The sides are 22% metallic Solar Gard film. The tint has been there for almost a month now and every time I drive at night, headlights would reflect off my back window like crazy. It is almost impossible to drive at night time with all the reflection. The reflection is off the defrosters.

I took it back to the shop and they can't see what is wrong with it in the day time and of course, they close early so I cannot show them at night time. They said the tint looks fine.

I have heard of this issue but there must be a fix for it. Can someone please help? What should I advise the shop to do?

Thanks!

your only FIX would be to find a replacement glass without defroster lines. The effect you speak of is just a part of tinting with a film over defroster lines. Honda are some of the thicker ones at that so the effect is going to be worse for you.....

Either learn to like it or learn to like your car without tint on it....

Sorry to have to tell you this one but it is the truth...

I have had a couple of custy's say this as well over the recent years. It has mostly been 2door cars. I believe it is the angle of the rear glass with the tint, not "the tint". I have NEVER had a truck or sport ute, or van...... All of which typically have a flat back glass. 90 degrees instead of 45 degrees.

Try to look thru the glass.... Not at it!

Give yourself another month, if you can't get beyond it, have it removed and NEVER have a 2door car tinted again.

I gave a customer with a 2002 Buick century her money back because of the same thing! At night time the defroster lines created a blur when lights came on it! I had seen this only a few times and and even replaced the film thinking maybe it was just a bad roll! But the problem still remained and i ended up just removing the film altogether! I don't know what causes this because i have tinted the same cars after this without the problem! I have to agree with Lildetails that you may need to replace the glass or remove the film!

It is already there with or without film.Only more noticeable because the amount of light coming thru the glass has changed.It is also more noticeable on glass that has alot of slope(chattint said).I did replace a BG for a customer before only to have him come back a week later to have the film installed again.If you realize that most driving is during daylight vs. nighttime the benefits of film on your car out ways the defraction of light on the defroster/antenna lines.

Very interesting feedback. I don't get why my car would have the issue but another car that's the same year and model does not. The only difference is it was done at a different shop with probably different brand tint. There must be a technique a shop uses to prevent this from happening.

Not that I know of. As another poster said, it's the angle or slant of the window that causes this. Now that I think about it, maybe a 'junk' film that's really thin would reduce it. Since the defroster lines are thicker on Honda's, tinting with a thinner baseline film might lower the visual effects of this. I've had three Eclipse's, 1990, 1995 and 2000 models that had Madico's TG5%, which was their 'cheapest' film, and never experienced the problem. And use proper methods of removing the film from the Honda. They have notoriously 'soft' glass and scratch very easily. And please, DON'T BLAME THE TINTER! Not his fault!!!

http://www.tintdude.com/forum/lofiversion/...php/t27172.html

Not much you can do other than remove the film or live with it. An hp film (dye/metal) tend to refract more than a film with no metal in it but nonetheless you'll still have problems with refraction. You should get used to it after awhile, just don't think about it...

you will see this on any car with defrosters that are tinted. when we tint back windows the tint doesnt lay flat. it has to bend over the defroster lines. where you see headlights you will see little lines above and below refecting off every defroster line. some are worse than others but it depends on the thickness of the defroster. 2002 and older lexuses are the worst.

there is no getting around it. the only solution is removing the tint. you just have to weigh out the pros and cons.

it looks like this right?

Yes it looks exactly like that!

http://www.sjsuchalc.org/tint.jpg

That picture from the other post is exactly what I am experiencing.

I would understand if this happened to all cars but my friends Accord Coupe, same year does not have this problem. He also has defrosters and they were not removed.

NO, I hate to tell you, but is has nothing to do with how the film was installed, and I have seen this in different brands and colors. I had a 08 Altima 4 dr last spring that was doing this, removed the film, still could see the lights hitting the defroster lines, then put it back on. I have seen it on my own cars over the years but adjust my mirror a bit and problem solved. An auto-dimming mirror that darkens itself at night will help- I install alot of them. Like I said, the angle of your rear view mirror looking back can help,and its afree fix!

ive had a couple people ask about it. you cannot avoid it. next time you are driving at night and you pull up behind a car, if its tinted you can see the same effect of your lights through their back window. you can notice this on all cars that are tinted.

i cant see why your friends accord doesnt have this. its tinted right?

Did your friend have the same percent of tint?The darker you go the more noticeable it can be.

i got 50% on my car and still have it

Yes my friends car has tint too. I think my tint may be darker though but as VIP tint says, 50% tint still causes it.

Thanks for the replies. I may try and see if they have an auto dimming mirror but that will cost as much as my tint.

I don't think this is quite true. I have sat in many other cars that has tint but does not have this reflection which is why I am totally surprised I have this problem after my tint.

defroster lines can be thicker on some cars than other ones and even from one window to the next I would guess they would vary some. The thicker the line the more the bend in the film and the greater the deflection. I have had a lot of cars over the 21 years I have been driving and all have had this issue to some degree if they had film over defroster lines.

One thing that might be different between yours and the friends could be the way the glass was cleaned. If steel wool is used, like I do, it might soften the lines a bit and make it less. You should still notice it to some degree on ANY filmed window....

As others said the type of film would make a change in it too.....