09 Altima

Hello all first post here.

Have a customer we tinted window on a 09 Altima mid summer and when they went to use rear defrost this fall they get radio static whe it's on. Deal says it's the window tint have never seen this before. antenna is located on top quarter of rear window. Film is non metalic.
anyone have this problem or any ideas?

thanks in advance Jim

Haven't had this problem with a non-metallic film. The dealer will always point to the tint first. Try working things out with the customer so that if you strip the window and the static remains, the dealer agree's to pay for the removal and replacement of tint. Only do this if you are positive that it is not the film. I've done this with customers in the past and has always worked out in our favor. On top of it, when it does turn out to be something else, your customer will appreciate the fact that you worked with them on this problem. The automatic answer to any electronic issue's that use radio frequencies seems to be "It's the Window Tint". Dealer's use it all the time, because so many shops use metallic films where they should not be used. Work with the customer and the dealer, and you'll not only have a customer for life, you'll impress the dealer with your knowledge and willingness to try to help figure out the problem. Good luck, and keep us posted on what the problem turns out to be.

Great advice This is what we are trying to do. Customer feels it's the car but her hands are tried so i am going to remove the tint to the first defrost line and see what happens.
will keep you posted

The Dealer will keep pushing that its the tint until the tint is gone. I'd advise removing the whole back window, just to keep the Dealer from having any excuses. I had a "National Warranty Represetative" tell a lady with a Tahoe, that her 2 front doors, tinted by us using a non-conductive film, was interfering with her tire sensor's. We stripped them and she went back to the Dealer and the problem remained. Then the Dealer tried to get her to let them have the windows tinted by the guy they use, and she told them that she was bringing it back to us, because she didn't want the cheap film that the Dealer wanted to pay for. She made them cut a check to us for a higher amount than what we had quoted her, just because we stood behind her the whole way.

I had an experience similar to this in 2004-5. It was when the newest style Jetta came out. I did the car with metalized film and the custy came back with a similar problem. Realizing my mistake, I put dyed film on it...same problem. It turned out to be a short in the antenna module. Dont know if it was from me or not, but the dealer claimed I cut one of the lines...yeah, uh huh.

I also had a problem with a 2004 Jag Xtype. I used dyed film, but the radio when on FM or AM had a lot of static. Guy was cool, said he'd live with it. He came back about a month later with a new truck.

kinda sounds like ground issue with the defrost...should be able to test with a meter...funny that its been so long ago? would think a phone call would of been right away, about that?

Update Car came in yesterday radio has bad static when you turn rear defrost on. removed all the tint still has static but about half as bad as with tint. explained it to customer they under stood and will be returning to dealer. I advised the customer to park in te parking lot at dealer ship and test stations and find one have more static than others good thing is customer is on my side. and yes the film that was applied is non metalic film.
I will keep everyone updated when she returns from the dealer