How to tell if my tint is F1 Pinnacle or Classic?

lowincash · August 11, 2013

Couple of years ago, I had my car tinted with F1 Pinnacle 35% all around, or I thought I did. Cost me in the low $3XX range, that included stripping my old tint as well. Pinnacle 35% TSER is suppose to be around 54% but seems like I still feel a bit more heat hitting my arms compared to my old madico onyx which has TSER 50%.

Anyways, I didn't think much of it until recently when my friend wanted to get his car tinted and I called the same shop for a price quote. When I asked about the F1 tint, he quoted me in the $2XX range and I thought that was great. I then confirmed if that was for the Pinnacle series, he said no, it was for the classic series. Pinnacle is $4XX range. I told him about my car (same guy that did my car but doesn't remember) and he said he has never offered Pinnacle in that price range, especially with stripping of the old tint.

Now I'm beginning to wonder if I have Pinnacle or Classic. On my receipt it shows Pinnacle but does not note anything about removing the old tint. Anyway to tell what kind of tint I have?

Reason I'm asking is because I'll be getting a new car in a few months and want to use either the Pinnacle 30% or the new Spectra Photosync tint. I just wanted to see if getting the Pinnacle 30% would be good enough as I've been eyeing the Photosync tint for a while too but could not justify paying so much for it. Thoughts on this would be greatly appreciated.

I don't have a pic to show since last year I've added a second layer 15% rear and 70% front to make it darker and hopefully block a bit more heat

Tintguy1980 · August 11, 2013

Lot or batch number should accompany the warranty card and or receipt. This number can be used to trace the film to who purchased the roll back through every machine it saw during manufacturing since the day of inception.

I know of a recent incident where the film type was questioned and after weeks into months of speculating (no lot number) all was removed and retinted only to find the film sought by the customer was in fact the film that was installed.

Tint4Food · August 28, 2013

IR (infrared) meter can quickly tell if its Pinnacle or Classic.

Jayz81 · October 25, 2013

Ask them to show you the rolls they are cutting the film from. There is a shop near me waving suntek and sungard banners, but in the back of the shop all they have is Soltek film. If the dealer is Formula One, they should be pretty damn reputable. Its not so easy to become a dealer . Then again , who knows ? I work at a Formula One shop, and if a customer is skeptical , I show them the boxes ,load it in the plotter in front of them , and cut it right before their unbelieving eyes .haha. Ohh, and if you have any friends with a regular dyed charcoal film, you might be able to wear polarized sunglasses , and look at your car versus their car to see the difference. That is the beauty of Pinnacle, is that it has a charcoal look like the classic , but way better heat rejection, and hard to tell that it is a ceramic film if thats the right word for it . Also , price sounds love for removing film and re-installing Pinnacle, but every market is different. Hope this helps some .