Brand recommendation

Thanks for the historic feedback many have given on here to previous queries, its been interesting to study a bit and hopefully helps me communicate what I want for your thoughts.

I've got a new, black (inside and out) Mazda3 that I'm told already has 80% tint. I want 35% on the rear-only windows since my future locale will not allow tint drivers-side forward. My main interest is heat rejection, followed by glare, followed by color (neutral blacks). I use a cell phone extensively, as well as a radar detector and plan to have a GPS in the near future so it would appear that metallized films are out, though one shop suggested a hybrid film would be ok. Here are the options I've been given:
Sun-tek carbon
Sun-tek HP
Llumar ATC
Llumar AT
GeoShields DM Ceramic
SolarGard HP
SolarGard Supreme

I'm not terribly concerned about cost, merely final product. And I'll be careful about the installer I pick as I recognize that has a lot of weight in terms of fitness for my requirements and satisfaction.

Lastly, I'm curious about the rear window install. I read one installer's webpage and don't understand the starred note at the very bottom of the page.

Does this suggest the rear window tint is going to be installed on the outside of the car? That seems like a recipe for scratching so I must be missing something.

We call "heat formed " Rear Back glass" shrinking".. You have to do 90% of all BG to form to the rear glass otherwise you will have a tough time laying it down without "fingers" or areas that do not stick to the BG.
It is shrunk on the outside and then installed to the inside.. No tint ever should be on the outside.
I use suntek Carbon and love it.

I'm partial to Solargard since I work for them but my purchase decision would be primarily based on the most professional shop that I felt most comfortable doing business with.

The film is always installed on the inside, it is just formed on the outside. Based on that comment, I assume that they use a plotter for the side windows, and the back window then need to shrink it. Even if they cut all the patterns on the glass(like I do) there will not be any damage to the car if you go to a reputable shop.

Out of all those films, here are my opinions. I am a SolarGard dealer, and use it on 90% of my vehicles. Personally, you will not find a clearer and cleaner film that the Supreme series. It is by far the most optically clear film I have every used, and looks awesome on any car. It is just a straight black(smoked if you will) look, without any sort of greys or greens or anything like that. However, it doesn't have the heat rejection that a HP or ceramic film would of course.

Second would be the SolarGard HP, although it depends on the series. Since you have a black car, I would not suggest any of their HP films except HP Supreme. The reason is that on the car, in certain light the HP Charcoal looks greyish green, whereas the HP Supreme, or HP Smoke are just black with a touch of reflectivity. Kind of like a black chrome if you will.

For strictly the highest heat rejection, I believe off of that list that the Ceramic would be the best, but I have no personal experience. That is just an assumption based off the fact that it is a ceramic film. However, be very careful in which dealer you pick, and ask to see several samples of their work. Ceramic film is very hard to work with, and burns extremely easily when shrinking the film. Many inexperienced shops let the car leave looking fine, but in a few hours or days you can very distinctly see the marks from where the fingers were before they shrunk them.

Bottom line is I would suggest SolarGard's regular Supreme. It will give you decent heat rejection, and awesome looks, both inside and out.

If it has to be out of those listed, and youre first concern is heat rejection, then the best choice is the ceramic. Like Larry said, take it somewhere you trust. If it sounds expensive (you listed youre not too concerned about that) thats because they are using a quality film and will perform a quality install...this is true for reputable shops anyway. If someone wants to do it for $100, chances are they wont be there down the road if you have a problem.

Very True!!!!!!!

LLumar ATC... Or, ATX, if you're really not concerned with cost....

These would be my vote. I love the color of ATC but it's a dyed film. The ATX is nicer but you pay for it too. I'm just a Llumar fan. It all depends on who you talk to as to what they like.

Thanks for that summary. Normally I'm a DIY'er, but after having read quite a few how-to's I realized this has a bit of art-form and specialized skills set that isn't going to be learned quickly. Your description of forming the rear window's film further confirms that and makes me feel happier about having a pro do the work. I sorta figured it was highly unlikely the film would be on the outside, but had to ask since the text on the page was not real clear.

Thanks a ton guys for the details on how the films differ, especially coloration.

Yes, as I noted, cost isn't something I care as much about because when I buy a car, I keep it at least 10 years and some 250k mi, so I want something that I never have to deal with again. I got one response that suggested the dyed films will last beyond a typical car's owned life (5-7 years) but that's not good enough for me. This makes me leery of having a dyed put in and instead going ceramic. My plan is to narrow down to two installer shops and then start checking out their work.

Presuming there aren't any more words of wisdom to offer, I'll put up some feedback on here once its done.

BTW, I've been surprised to not find any good online summaries of the various manufacturers' and lines' differences. For instance, this slight coloration information would have greatly eased my decision-making process. If such a web page exists, I would be elated if someone could drop a link for me.

In my opinion, I think the ceramic will last the longest. With that said, if you do keep a vehicle 10 years, chances are good you will have it retinted again regardless of what film is used. If you keep the vehicle in the garage, you might get away with 10 years with the ceramic. Thats why the reputable shop is important. When the film looks like crap in 5-7 years, you want them to be there should they offer you a lifetime warr. ALL FILMS FAIL!!

this is very true. A LIFETIME dyed film will probably be good for 5-7 years before it starts to have fading or other issues. A LIFETIME hybrid, full metal, or ceramic will last 7-10 years, depending on where you are located and other factors. Either way, the whole "lifetime" term in our industry is really a facade, because no film can last forever. When the mannys say lifetime, they assume that most people lease their cars for 2-3 years or that they buy a new one after 4-5, not that your going to keep it forever.

I think one of the best materials is madico charcool it will not fade ,and if you are not worried about price choose madico's ceramic .

I should've added this update. One of the installers suggested the ATX and I've read the lengthy thread on here about it with all the thoughts. This is in the running and is the competitor to any ceramic I consider. My main concern is the green-ish tint that's been associated with it (and ATR I gather) since my Mazda is quite black with pretty much no tint coloration in the window.

So I opted for the 30% Axcess install and only found two crews that would do the work. I picked TwoGuysWindowTinting to do the work partly because he'd done one job with it already. Anyway, the install was pretty long, even by his estimation I'm guessing. The film was REALLY dirty and Doug indicated that it seemed to slide around a lot more than other films he'd worked with before, but he can detail all the install hassles.

The final result was what I was hoping for, at least for what I can determine only three days in. The color is really a nice neutral charcoal, and having sat in my wife's GP which has a dyed film (don't know whose, unfortunately) that looks to have a bluer/purpler tint from the inside. The Axcess also has a certain level of reflectivity but not overwhelmingly so, which I unexpectedly actually like. Of interest is that the film seems to have added some kind of light reflection on my rear window's defroster wires. When vehicles are behind me with headlights on the light kinda replicates one or two wires above and below where the headlights shine through. Its quite minor and isn't distracting to me, but thought it was worthy of note. There is no discernible distortion from the film.

The install is very clean and nearly perfect. On my way outta his place I noticed a slight bubble in the film on the small immobile window on the passenger rear door but two days later the bubble is completely gone and there's no indication it was ever there. On that same door there is a slight flaw in the film but its very hard to find and since I'm not doing a car-show kinda thing, don't really care.

I really, really wish I could have had this installed on the front doors too and I'm thinking about having that heat-rejecting clear film installed; forgot the name.

Anyway, I'm very happy with the result and will give referrals to TGWT. After I have a chance to have some experience with its heat rejecting and glare capabilities I'll try to update my own thread here.

Thanks to you all for your thoughts and especially for providing a nice forum to find local tinters, its how I got contact information for TGWT and a couple of others. After having looked about the www, this is the only place I could find any useful information or a collection of knowledgeable people.