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Johnson Ceramic Insulatir and Radio issues


Guest TX_Twister

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Your car apparently has an internal satellite/GPS antenna, whereas many other cars have external ones.

I do have doubts myself whether or not it was Insulatir. Maybe it is in reality Johnson Executive film, which has a similar reflectivity but not the "gold" color.

I do feel I need to make an editorial comment here though...

Reading through this thread, Tex Twister went from, at the beginning, "Is this normal, what should I do?" to, at the end, "That shop sucks and I hate them and demand this and that," and being somewhat millitant.

Even though you thanked the board for the assistance, I can't help but think you went back to the shop with an attitude that short circuited the resolution to your problem.

To other customers who read this thread, please don't follow this example. Getting mad about a situation before even talking to the shop is no way to resolve a conflict. It's highly possible that the shop was blind-sided by the situation because Johnson tells it's customers that Insulatir will NOT cause interference problems.

I'm appreciative of the fact that you brought up the issues you've had because I use Johnson films myself, but in the future I think all tint shops would appreciate it if there were a little less "customer rage"

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Guest tintgod
BLADE........ wtf??

I don't see any ghosting on your back glass. or any part of the car.

to the OP, check out my original thread, when I first brought this %&$# up in this forum:

http://www.tintdude.com/forum/index.php?sh...=35080&st=0

you're not the only one.

one reason is he is good at what he does...the other is..that car doesnt require that much shinking on the back window and none on the doors or quarters.

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Guest TX_Twister

Hoosier;

OK - little more info. The same day I rolled home from the Tint shop I called to let them know I was having an issue with the reception (pre any posts to this board). Sales person tried to sell me on another film without IR blocking - dyed film. I understand that this is one option for resolution but I was not OK with a hybrid application (different film on the back from the sides) and to be honest I was not too sure that the film was the correct film despite the shop saying it was so. The Camry has a greenish tint to its glass so that could have been why the film did not have a gold reflection OR like stated it could have been the wrong film. It seems that most shops carry one version of ceramic around here so if the film they have does not work and you want that IR rejection, you are out of luck. After none of the options made too much sense I talked to the owner and he came around very politely and said to bring the car back and he would pull the film off / refund my money. When I got back to the shop a week or so later he spent 3 hours 'trouble shooting my car' and tried to explain away the reception issue instead of honoring the agreement that we had previously had. OK at this point I was not too happy. I heard about his tech putting tin foil over the sat radio antenna as well as how his AM radio reception was not so good and I should be OK with what I had as it was 'normal'. Based on the fact that the radio did still work to some extent he did not want to honor our previous discussion/ agreement. I was very straightforward with him in that the reception was not eliminated but greatly reduced. I had tuned in all the AM stations with a scan prior to the tint as a test for the tint to ensure that it did not interfere with the reception (great idea for you new car owners with back window antenna's) so I did know that the reception was hosed when I scanned in the same location and only locked in on one station.

Instead of too much arguing I pointed out the ghosting on the back window. There was a lot more than the pic I uploaded. After he saw the ghosting on the back window he was a little embarrassed and said I should have brought it back for that alone. He agreed that it was a bad job or possibly a bad batch of film. When he pulled off the film he was totally embarassed to find that the reception for AM was a great deal improved without the film. Lots of apology for the time that he had taken up. Keep in mind the only reason to go with the more expensive ceramic film was that it does not interfere with the reception. I had to take time off from work to fit into his schedule for both the install and the troubleshooting / removal. If I charged this shop for my time and we traded out it would have been pretty close on the cost vs cost arrangment. Yep all in all I was a little peeved about the whole event but those whole thing did take up some pretty good time and for all of us our R&R time is rare and valuable.

I would not recommend this shop but not slag the guy either - Note I could have easily mentioned the shop name in this post but chose not to ? For shop owners I would recommend being very clear up front with what your expectations are on a job. In addition don't play the say anything game on the phone and then try to play hardball when a customer shows back up at the shop expecting that the customer will back down and live with the issues that your shop created ? I will work with another shop in town and I am sure that it will all go peachy. I totally agree that your reap what you sow ... Keep in mind that tone on a post and personal interaction are two entirely different deals.

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Sometimes even tone on the phone and personal interaction are two different deals.

I still can't help but think that the shop got taken by surprise that there was a problem, unless they knowingly swithched films or something. If you look at the johnson website, http://www.johnsonwindowfilms.com/IR.php It clearly states that reception problems will not occur. :evilgrin

I'm not saying you're unreasonable in your expectations, either, there were obvious flaws and shortcomings in the installation.

I'd like for you to report back about the new installation and the film type you end up getting to let us know if it fixes the problem.

One more thing, I SERIOUSLY doubt it cost you as much as it did the shop, if they gave you a complete refund, unless you make around $100 bucks an hour for your time. And even if you do, you should've left the vehicle at the shop instead of babysitting it. The cost of materials used on your car and time not spent on other vehicles would easily be worth $50 to $100 an hour for the shop, if not more.

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Guest dunnojack
I would not recommend this shop but not slag the guy either - Note I could have easily mentioned the shop name in this post but chose not to ? For shop owners I would recommend being very clear up front with what your expectations are on a job. In addi

it looks like this shop hardly has any experience with the johnson tint, or any ceramic tint for that matter.

it reminds me of when I got my car tinted. the Johnson ceramic film had just come out for 3 months, and the tinters at the shop didn't even get any training with the material.

they just wet shrunk, and blasted the film with heat, using the same application method as with the cheap johnson dyed films.

I hope the tint shop you went to learned something from this experience.

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Guest HeadOn

Interestingly enough, I just had the Johnson ceramic tint installed at the same shop in Austin (or so I can guess). They came recommended by the BWM dealership and several posters on the M3 and Porsche boards. I went by and met them in person, and they seemed knowledgeable. My two criteria for the tint was maximum heat blocking and no interference with the comfort access feature of my M3 (that is the keyless entry system on BMW).

The dealer handled getting the car to and from the tint guys (and comp'd the tint as well, to make up for my new car having a sensor malfunction on delivery) so I just got it back today. I know nothing about tint, so I have learned a lot from everyone's posts here on this thread (thank you). They recommended the Insulatir ceramic tint (don't know what the number was - I will check tomorrow) and I agreed, since other posters on other boards said ceramic was best for minimal/no interference with radio signals.

First, I thought the tint looked great. In fact it seems to change opacity depending on the ambient light and the angle (or so it seemed) which I find pretty cool. Second, the install seemed incredibly clean (that was another concern of mine) and I could only spot a few very minor areas I would like to have them look at around the dot matrix part of my back windshield. I am also under the impression they encourage all customers to come back 5 days after the install, so they can double check their work.

I am hopeful they are a good shop to work with.

The one thing I have noticed, however is a reduced effectiveness of my Comfort Access (keyless entry) feature. It seems more sporadic than before. However, that is not necessarily a tint issue, but I am going to look into it.

I actually came to this board in search of some more informed advise on the comparative strengths or differences between the Johnson film, the Formula One Pinnacle, and the HO. HO and Formula One seem to be popular on the M3 boards, but their is never much qualitative (other than "I swear by it) or quantitative information.

Hopefully, I will find my experience with the as yet unnamed tint shop to be better than the OP. Next I hope to learn more about options to improve my CA signal if the tint is indeed a factor. And finally, I am curious to learn more about the other options on the market from those of you who work with them.

Thanks in advance.

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Guest HeadOn

FYI - So it turns out that the Johnson Insulatir ceramic tint has issues with the BMW keyless entry system. My compliments to them as a company, however. When I called Johnson's they researched the problem and confirmed the issue. They immediately said they would call the installer and refund the money so I could have the tint removed.

So it looks like I will be going with the Formula One Pinnacle series.

Wish me luck ;)

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FYI - So it turns out that the Johnson Insulatir ceramic tint has issues with the BMW keyless entry system. My compliments to them as a company, however. When I called Johnson's they researched the problem and confirmed the issue. They immediately said they would call the installer and refund the money so I could have the tint removed.

So it looks like I will be going with the Formula One Pinnacle series.

Wish me luck ;)

Which model and year BMW?

I'm compiling a list of reported interference issues here:

http://www.tintdude.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=43024

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