How do i know / test to make sure i've got ceramic ?

[thedoc46]

Both my VW's recently purchased from new, had tints already applied. I know my local dealer uses Llumar CTX, but these were dealer trades, and i tried calling the dealer and got bounced around with the answer of erm don't know to probably no. In all honesty, they didn't know the difference. But i was told all VW dealers all probably use the same. 

 

Anyway, there surely must be a way to test if i've got a carbon or ceramic tint ? Once the tint is on, is there any sure guaranteed way to know ? 

[DynamicATL]

There is no 100% way to know what it is...brand or type of film.  If the VW dealerships are owned by the same company, there is a chance they use the same film.  If different ownership, then most likely not.  If a dealership offers window tint, it is up to them to choose the tint shop or film to use...has nothing to do with the brand of vehicle.  You can post up photos so we can guess if it is CTX.  Another route is park the vehicle in direct sun, open your door, hold your arm up behind the window, and roll the window down.  If you feel much more heat when the window is down then you have a higher heat rejection film...could be Ceramic, could be something else.  If you don't feel much of a difference, then you most likely have base film.

Edited December 19, 2017 by DynamicATL

[thedoc46]

thanks, that's a bit annoying. Not knowing. I don't know if i want to go through all the pain of removing what's already there just to have a confirmed install of CTX installed.   Being that these are new cars, is there an easy way to remove the tint without spraying liquids all over the windows?  i'd hate to lose that new car smell with some god knows what chemical you guys use to remove a perfectly good tint. How do you even get the tint off ? can it be done without a spray of some kind ? What would an end user be expecting to pay to remove all four doors and tailgate on a new VW Gti.

[Film_Pro]

I think this topic has gone a bit over board. Unless you have money to throw in the garbage leave it alone. If it looks nice and it has not faded looking at the top half inch of the roll down windows enjoy the free tint. If it starts to fade or color change then think about spending a bunch of money. [emoji765][emoji765][emoji765][emoji765] in your pocket is better than "look I have ceramic tint" in my 25 years of experience.

[thedoc46]

The only reason I ask is because I live in Florida and my car is black. Brand new car. So ceramic keeps some of the heat out of the cabin and over the course of the life of my ownership would probably pay for itself in reduced AC and running fuel costs. But hate to remove what is already possibly ceramic. 

 

Ill try try calling the dealer again. It says on the sticker it cost $399 but these are stealerships after all. I wouldn’t put it past them to use carbon and charge more that a regular tint shop would change for ceramic

[highplains]

Your best bet would be to find out who does their tinting and then talk to them directly. 

[thedoc46]

1 hour ago, highplains said:

Your best bet would be to find out who does their tinting and then talk to them directly. 

 

I have but again, the best i can get out of them is whatever the basic llumar tint is, is what we use.. They won't put me in touch directly with the company they probably outsource the tinting too, or if they actually employee someone in-house ?  Eitherway it doesn't look like i have ceramic. My local dealer uses CTX, which is nice ! It's a shame that this dealer isn't as forthcoming. 

[blackoutauto]

best to ask the installer himself, if its a standard basic film then its most likely llumar ATC

[thedoc46]

1 hour ago, blackoutauto said:

best to ask the installer himself, if its a standard basic film then its most likely llumar ATC

 

As an experienced tinter, would you change ATC for CTX ?  taking into consideration i do live in the sunshine state. 

[blackoutauto]

That is quite difficult to say, you do live in a hot area, i would say drive around for a bit, do your real world test and see how you feel after a month. if you're ok with what you have then you could keep it, if you're not satisfied then i would say bring it to another llumar shop that has a BTU meter. Ask them to do the drivers window with CTX with the exact darkness match. Use the meter to test drivers and passengers side. See what the difference in performance is. If its the exact same then u most likely have CTX and you only paid to have one window redone. if the passenger side underperforms compared to the drivers then u could change it all. 

 

I don't know what else to tell you. That's the only idea i could think of.