2013 MKZ Hybrid

April 25, 2013

I am having one heck of time trying to get my back window tinted on my MKZ. I went to Danny's Family Car Wash (One Armor) at their San Tan Village location and ended up purchasing Huper Optik Drei because I wanted to try and block as much heat as possible...this is Arizona after all and it's going to start getting quite hot. The installer said they had tinted a 2013 MKZ a few weeks ago and it shouldn't be a problem. My MKZ is a Hybrid and has the panoramic roof, which slides back over the top of the rear window.

About 30 minutes into the install, the installer came and got me and said they have a problem. The installer pointed out that the rear window deck was pressed tightly against the window about an inch from the bottom of the glass. He said they tried all of their special tools but just couldn't get the tint to into a good position. They suggested going back to the dealer and having them remove the rear window deck. I went ahead and had them tint all of the other windows but now I am stuck with four tinted windows and an untinted rear window (even thought I paid for the rear window to be tinted).

The other option they said they could do was tint it "as-is", but being a white car it would have left a pretty noticeable gap (about an inch) in the window tint on the rear window. I really want to get this done right and for it to look good.

I talked to the dealer (Fiesta Lincoln) and they said they haven't had any problems with getting the MKZ's tinted. I would have purchased at the dealer, but they said they outsourced to a 3rd party and that 3rd party didn't carry the Huper Optik line. I really wanted HO for my tint, so that is why I went to Danny's.

The dealer GM reached out to Hugh Hernandez @ Danny's on Monday, but I still haven't heard anything. I emailed Hugh and the GM at Fiesta a picture describing the problem. See below:

Just wondering if any of the installers out there have experienced anything like this. I also wanted to get your opinions about installing HO on the rear window. I don't believe my MKZ has anything integrated into the rear window, since Lincoln had to put an external antenna on the rear fender for the radio because of the way the panoramic sunroof works. I've read that putting HO on the rear window can be an issue on some high end cars that have integrated antennas in the window, but I don' think that applies on my vehicle. Thanks for your time and opinions!

Badass TintGuy · April 25, 2013

Post a picture of the entire back glass

shwusyrtnts · April 25, 2013

I have done 3 and they have been tight but not impossible.

I do however think it is weird that they would stop an inch from the bottom of the window.

Does the rear deck touch an inch up the back glass?

April 25, 2013

Here are some pics from other angles...sorry for the reflection it's in my garage.

Image 2

Image 3

I have done 3 and they have been tight but not impossible.

I do however think it is weird that they would stop an inch from the bottom of the window.

Does the rear deck touch an inch up the back glass?

Yes, the rear deck touches about an inch above where the glass ends. Do you know if the three you've tinted were hybrids? I'm thinking they raised the rear deck due to the battery right underneath to give it more room? The other thing is that I have panoramic sunroof and the way it slides down over the back of the glass. I couldn't get an automatic rear sun shade as an option due to that roof, so something is definitely different when you have the panoramic glass roof.

Here's an example of how it goes over the outside of the glass:

shwusyrtnts · April 26, 2013

Yes. 2 of the 3 where hybrids with the same type of roof.

Very cool car by the way.

From the pictures it does not seem like the rear deck is pressed against the glass but it is just a pic. If it is an inch above that small band of dots at the bottom of the glass I would say ford assembled it wrong IMO.

tntautoglass · April 26, 2013

I tinted one of the base model MKZ last week and had no issue with rear deck. It was close but I was still able to slide down. Not sure if the hybrid is different.

April 26, 2013

Just got off the phone with Hugh @ Danny's Family Tint and we are going to try and get this resolved. I'm not doubting the skills of the installers, they were highly recommended and do the tinting on a lot of the high-end cars around Phoenix. Hugh has been great to work with and I honestly believe he wants to get this resolved. I will let you know what happens next....

Thank you for your help and opinions, I appreciate it.

Ryker · April 28, 2013

I did one a couple weeks ago....I was not excited about the bottom but I got it to go down by pulling back on the deck just enough to get it to let the film slide down. I started to take the C-pillar plastics off and remove the deck when I found air bags and the plastic was NOT coming off easy either....

I was not thrilled about the window and don't care if I ever see another one, but I am sure I will.

I even called James, Show Us Your Tints, and in this thread, and he said he hated them as well and had not found any good with them...

kevinbvw · June 11, 2013

i just finished up doing one of these tonight. back window was a little tricky, the bottom corners were pressed against the glass so i had to push down on the deck while sliding the film down. didnt seem too complicated tho. it was a hybrid with the slide back top like yours

autoimage · July 11, 2013

Just did the Hybrid after the first attempt ( you have cut the bottom perfect with the dotmatrix any excess will bunch up ) i pulled the back deck less effort than taking the back deck out of the new VW Jetta other than that the car is a cake walk