Layering tint/darkness with light interior?

[Guest Ben]

Please bear with me here. I never had tint done on any of my cars until last spring. I have a 2000 6th gen honda civic 4dr lx. I had 20% put on with a 50% full front windshield. Not sure what brand it was but I know it wasn't going to turn purple.

 

It wasn't dark enough after a while for me. Also had the side window metered and it was 24% though. Recently had it redone by someone else. He was so good that he could tint on top of tint. I had the 50% ripped off the windshield and had llumar metallic 30% put on with a 5% brow. He put 30% on top of the 24% on the sides and rear windshield as he would've charged for the removal of the other 5 windows so I opted to add a 2nd layer instead to save some money. It's pretty dark on overcast days and nights and looks good but when its sunny you can see right through the tint pretty easily. I have a lighter grey interior so don't know if that's why its easier to see in since its not a black interior.

 

I was pulled over not long after I had the retint. Cop metered side windows and it was 8%. He could only give me a verbal warning as the title is in my dads name and it also has out of state tags, so I'm not worried.

 

I'm wondering if I should've added a darker layer the next step down at 15% on top of the 24% instead or just got it all ripped off and 5% put on. ls there a big difference from the 8% I have on now to if I had 5%? I figured that 8% was dark enough and close to limo to where no one could see in as that was my goal as I sometimes have expensive stuff in my car and I also don't like people looking at me when I drive.

 

Lets say if they made an 8% tint would 1 layer look the same as 2 layers that equal out to 8% on the same car? Does tint do weird things once it's layered like look lighter than what it actually meters out at? I know how to do the math when layering tint so that doesn't need to be brought up. 

 

I just don't understand how you can still see in the car from the outside pretty well when its sunny. I don't know if it has something to do with the angle or thickness or size of the glass. My understanding was that 5% tint you can't see in no matter what time of day or weather is going on at the time. I'm sure that some brands meter out differently than others but why should the 8% I have on be much different than 5% and considering I have 30% front windshield that should help darken the rest of the car up even more.

 

What % does it look like to you? I might even go to a tint shop to see if it meters out different than what the cops came out to. It's just been bothering me that it didn't come out as dark as I thought it should have.

 

Thanks for reading and hopefully you will have some input on this topic.

 

Check out some pics I have in different lighting/weather below. Thanks!

https://www.flickr.com/photos/142348191@N06/?

Edited January 15, 2018 by Roach
Made it a little easier to read

[Go2Guy]

you sound like one of my customers . . . lol, and the response i give them is : Tint is designed to be seen thru if you coulndt see thru it then you would not be able to see out   . . . . simple as that . . . . if you dont want any one seeing in you might as spray paint your windows black or  install black out film or put some type of curtain over the windows. .  . the technical answer would be its all about the angles your looking thru it, clouds, reflection , sun angle, interior color, vlt of your factory glass, reflectivity of the film,   . Even limo 5 you can see thru in the right conditions, . . . Heck, I have double 15 on the back quarter panel window of my suv which should be about 1 or 2 percent and if my windows or down and im looking from the outside quarter panel window thru the open window you can still see thru in it , in short no film is 100 percent non see thru in 100 percent of conditions, except black out film, which is truly pitch black and the equivalent of you painting  your windows black. . . . 

 

Now for the morality of it. . . .I personally had 5 percent tint one of my cars when i was 18 [im 31 now] . I had just installed it and no more than a week later  i was at a gas station on the beach at night time and there was a crowd of people there and i was making a u turn in the parking lot AND COULD NOT SEE HIM AT ALL i almost rand a guy over. . ..  ..  if it wasnt for him pounding on my car i would of hit him. . .

story number 2: I also used to have 30 percent on the windshield one of my cars also when i was about 18 and at night if it was raining, I LITTERLY COULD NOT DISTINGUISH THE ROAD FROM THE GRASS, AND SWERVED OFF ROAD SEVERAL TIMEs. . .  

WHAT YOUR DOING IS DANGEROUS AND LIKELY TO GET SOMEONE KILLED, 

Do you really want that on your shoulders. . .

 

I know your gonna say you can see thru it just fine, but that is not true in all conditions, especially if its dark out and its raining . .  .  

 

for your answer, as for as im aware tell tint does not do "weird things" when layered. . . vlt is vlt.  . .minus it being twice as likely to fail since one layer is attached to another.

now for a solution that might actually help you achive your goal with out you killing someone. . .and being easily removable in low light conditions 
https://www.amazon.com/ShadeSox-Universal-Window-Protects-Included/dp/B00YI3IGA6/ref=sr_1_6?s=automotive&ie=UTF8&qid=1516061958&sr=1-6&keywords=window+shade

 

 

 

i currently have these for my car on the fronts, my suv has double 15 in the back quarter panel, 15 on the rear windows, and 40 percent on the front 2 and when i put these on the front 2 it makes them match the rear 15 percent nearly perfect,  if you were to put them on yours is would likley make it look like 1 or 2 percent which is extremely dark, but again you need to be careful and i would only recommend you using them when parked. . 

Edited January 16, 2018 by Go2Guy

[drtint]

Must be the clown section...I will hit the back button a few times.

Cheers

[Guest Ben]

Thanks go2guy for taking the time to comment! You brought up a lot of valid points. I'm 23 and I think I have come to this whole tint craze kind of late. It may sound cliche but it's interesting to me and I try to learn more about the stuff that interests me. It's also important to me because I buy and resell pretty expensive stuff which could be in my car at any one time and also like the privacy as well.

 

I normally just drive during the day but sometimes find myself driving at night or in the early morning. So far its been ok visibility wise knock on wood. It make sense what you were saying about if you can see looking from the inside out of a car then you should be able to see from the outside looking in depending on a couple factors. They wouldn't make tint if you couldn't see out of it. I knew someone was going to bring up the black spray paint too lol!

 

Those window shades are interesting for sure. I understand where you are coming from though as far as hurting or killing someone, luckily you were fortunate enough to not kill yourself either. My one friend and I were driving together and he probably has like 2% tint on his truck and almost hit a car when he was moving in a different lane driving at night because he couldn't see them and they did have their lights on.

 

That's why I was originally worried about going any darker than a layer of 30% and opted out of the layer of 15%. I regret not asking for the 15% but thought it would be more of a hindrance than a help.

 

I had the same tint guy my friend did that layered both of our tints but he's had his on his truck for 5 years and no issues at all with it peeling off. I guess for me maybe I had anticipated/expected too much from window tint in the end.

[Guest Ben]

Also thanks roach I forgot to separate it out!

[Roach]

On 1/15/2018 at 10:37 PM, Guest Ben said:

Also thanks roach I forgot to separate it out!

 

No problem. I figured you'd have a better shot at replies if people didn't have problems reading it all.