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Were these scratches caused by the tint tech?

deeve
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deeve

deeve

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Posted (edited)

Hello, I just got the windows tinted on my 2019 Mini Cooper S. It was a lease turn in that we saw the day it was brought in prior to any dealership detail or checks. I mention this because the condition of the vehicle was immaculate from the previous owner and it was clearly well taken care of with low miles. 

 

A day after picking up the car from the tint place we noticed a bunch of scratches on both of the rear quarter windows.  We brought it back to the shop the other day and the guy told us those were scratches on the glass and that they use stainless steel blades that do not scratch glass.  Not sure if that is true. He also mentioned it is probably from the dealership as they use razor blades to remove the window stickers and they "see it all the time."  Well, this car did not have any stickers on when we got it since it was just turned in. Maybe originally when it was new, but those are on the front passenger window. I cannot guarantee that the scratches were not there prior to the tint, but I think we would have noticed them if they had been there. We went over the car in pretty fine detail prior to buying it, but I know scratches on clear glass are hard to see. 

 

Here are some photos. I apologize for the moisture/frost...it was pretty cold this morning.

 

What are your thoughts and any advise if you think the tint tech caused them.

 

 

 

 

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Edited by deeve
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Dano

Dano

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It's also possible that the prior owner had some film removed before turning it back in. If they are on the outside I would likely rule out the shop was at fault. No reason to blade the outside really.  Scratches always get more noticed once tint is applied because of the darker contrast.

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deeve

deeve

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Than you for the comments. They are on the inside. I can't feel them from the outside and you can a little

spot where the tint didn't lay completely flat over one of them. I also cannot feel them from the inside with my fingernail but I think that's because the film is over them. 
 

I spoke at length with the shop a bit ago. He insists it was not them. Not being able to prove 100% they were not there before I think I am out of luck. He said they have seen new cars with scratches. 

Edited by deeve
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DynamicATL

DynamicATL

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Honestly, a lot of them look like residue not scratches. As mentioned, maybe tint was removed and the new tint shop did not properly clean the windows. If they are scratches, I highly doubt the shop had anything to do with it since those scratches don't make any sense from a tint installation perspective. I assume they were there already and just was not noticeable when the glass was clear but now stand out due to the black background. Lastly, brand new 2023 vehicles are not immaculate, so that 2019 is definitely not. May be super clean but impossible not to have flaws. We had a 2023 BMW M8 Competition ($140k+) in recently and blew his mind when we pointed a bunch of flaws. He would have swore it was perfect and blamed us if he noticed damage after the tint job.

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Tintguy1980

Tintguy1980

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6 hours ago, DynamicATL said:

Honestly, a lot of them look like residue not scratches. As mentioned, maybe tint was removed and the new tint shop did not properly clean the windows. If they are scratches, I highly doubt the shop had anything to do with it since those scratches don't make any sense from a tint installation perspective. I assume they were there already and just was not noticeable when the glass was clear but now stand out due to the black background. Lastly, brand new 2023 vehicles are not immaculate, so that 2019 is definitely not. May be super clean but impossible not to have flaws. We had a 2023 BMW M8 Competition ($140k+) in recently and blew his mind when we pointed a bunch of flaws. He would have swore it was perfect and blamed us if he noticed damage after the tint job.

I came here this morning to say exactly what's said in the above quote minus the BMW story; fine scratches on many occasions are invisible to the eye until a window film is applied.

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