pa tint laws

pierce8468 · October 12, 2004

I was just reading another thread and one of the statements was how vauge pa tint laws are. our laws are not vauge at all actualy qiute straight forward . pa tint laws are as follows passenger cars 98 and up. All windows can not be darker than 70% visibility. (If you put a tint meter on your car straight from the dealer it will read about 74%. so anything put on your car will make it illegal ) Now this does not affect any car built on an all wheel drive chasis such as a subaru. These type of vehichle's are considered suv's

97 and older passenger vehicles law is as follows. rear glass ( meaning the very back window only) can be as dark as 20% . front and rear sides can be no darker than 70%. a common misconception is that the back end of the car can be done as dark as 20%. And fact is most cops in pa think the same thing. but they also are wrong.

limos, pick up's, van's, suv's and any passenger vehicle built on an all wheel drive chasis ( again these cars are considered suv's) all of these vehicle's regardless of manufacture year. Can have no darker than 70% on the two front doors. And any shade on the rear end ( any window behind the driver seat )

Now you will pass inspection no matter how dark you windows are. It is not an inspection issue any longer . Although you can recieve a ticket for illegal tint. The ticket is $104.50 and more often than not you will be issued a warning, and told to have the film removed . If you remove it and take it to the appropiate place (either the police station or court house. depending on where you where stopped) the ticket will be thrown out.

October 12, 2004

I was just reading another thread and one of the statements was how vauge pa tint laws are. our laws are not vauge at all actualy qiute straight forward . pa tint laws are as follows passenger cars 98 and up. All windows can not be darker than 70% visibility. (If you put a tint meter on your car straight from the dealer it will read about 74%. so anything put on your car will make it illegal ) Now this does not affect any car built on an all wheel drive chasis such as a subaru. These type of vehichle's are considered suv's
97 and older passenger vehicles law is as follows. rear glass ( meaning the very back window only) can be as dark as 20% . front and rear sides can be no darker than 70%. a common misconception is that the back end of the car can be done as dark as 20%. And fact is most cops in pa think the same thing. but they also are wrong.

limos, pick up's, van's, suv's and any passenger vehicle built on an all wheel drive chasis ( again these cars are considered suv's) all of these vehicle's regardless of manufacture year. Can have no darker than 70% on the two front doors. And any shade on the rear end ( any window behind the driver seat )

Now you will pass inspection no matter how dark you windows are. It is not an inspection issue any longer . Although you can recieve a ticket for illegal tint. The ticket is $104.50 and more often than not you will be issued a warning, and told to have the film removed . If you remove it and take it to the appropiate place (either the police station or court house. depending on where you where stopped) the ticket will be thrown out.

Thanks for the post. These kinds of statements made it vague to me:

Note that the law only prohibits tinting which prevents a person from seeing or viewing the inside of the vehicle. It does not prohibit all tinting or tinting below 70%.

With all the cars riding around PA with limo tint, I felt 35% was pretty safe. I just have to cross my fingers, I guess.

October 12, 2004

My car is AWD (BMW 325XI). Would it be considered an SUV as well?

October 12, 2004

My car is AWD (BMW 325XI). Would it be considered an SUV as well?

Sorry... just read your 3rd paragraph again. I guess the answer is "yes".

pierce8468 · October 12, 2004

yes id does make it an suv but your front two are illegal. bad news for you though is most cops dont know that part of the law. so you may still get a ticket for tint. On the brite side for you if I remember correctly froma previous post of yours. You are from philly as well am I and the cops here in philly. Have alot more important things to worry about other than tint. So you should be ok

October 12, 2004

it's vague, pierce, because the 70% guideline is just that... a guideline... not a *law.* regardless, it's still a potential legal hassle.

referenced here is the DOT-issued "vehicle sunscreening fact sheet:"

http://www.dmv.state.pa.us/pdotforms/fact_sheets/fs-sun.pdf

FWIW, MPV's are defined as "...vehicles that are built on a truck chassis or specifically designed for occasional off-road use."

which hardly includes a 325ix.... of course, it hardly includes minivans either. :dunno

the document has so many holes in it, it's not funny.

stay off highways and you can have limo all around. :shock

not that I put limo on any cars.

October 12, 2004

stay off highways and you can have limo all around.

for the record, I was being facetious.

read: kidding.

October 12, 2004

Have alot more important things to worry about other than tint.

This is precisely why NHTSA has not taken their file back off the shelf in regards to Auto Tinting regulations at the federal level... they are too busy with other safety issues of greater risk to drivers.

PA legislators need only open their ears, minds and doors to the film industry to get help fashioning a law appealing to both sides. But it must start with PA tinters and distributors... aka constituents... :shock

Texas now has a law in place that was passed with cooperation from all parties concerned... in fact, it is one that need not be changed again because, it's my understanding, the blame in any future failure of the existing law as written will be in the lap of the Texas legislator and law enforcement agencies. They cannot lay blame on any other party, though they may try. :dunno

October 12, 2004

yes id does make it an suv but your front two are illegal. bad news for you though is most cops dont know that part of the law. so you may still get a ticket for tint. On the brite side for you if I remember correctly froma previous post of yours. You are from philly as well am I and the cops here in philly. Have alot more important things to worry about other than tint. So you should be ok

I learned something new yet again here. Thanks. As you know, there are a ton of 2WD cars running around town with limo tint. I have two friends with 20% on their cars and they haven't gotten into any trouble and they've had dark tint on their cars for many years. I think one got a warning in Delaware but that is about it. There are some holes in that statute which makes a person think it maybe okay as long as you can see into the car which you can, clearly, in mine. :shock