I’ll admit, this wasn’t my first choice for an Autopian Asks question. I was wrestling with picking between What Car Fluid Would You Most Like To Soak In or maybe something like If You Could Have Any Car, Why The Hell Would You Pick An Oldsmobile Omega? I ran these by the rest of the team in our Slack channel, and while they praised them as being “depressingly inane” and appreciated them for being “criminally and woefully insipid,” they nevertheless felt they’d rather see a different question. About window tint. Window tint! They all want to know what you think about window tint!
Personally, I’ve never really cared for much window tint. I like my windows like I like my Scientologists: clear. If I’m worried about too much sun I’ll just do what any good driver should do when sun-blinded, clench my eyes shut, stomp the gas, hold down the horn, and hope for the best.
But I do understand that lots of people appreciate window tint; there’s an aesthetic justification, as some cars just look better with dark windows, and, for those of us doomed to be homely, tinted windows do shield the rest of the world, innocent as they are, from our ugliness, which I’m sure is appreciated.
There’s also the privacy angle, and I understand that as well. Being inside your car often imparts the illusion of privacy, even though you’re essentially in a glass house. What if you want to eat a whole mess of ribs in your car without the shaming eyes of passers-by? What if you want to give your nose a really good, deep picking, doing some intense nostril spelunking? Or have a relaxing wank in the back seat? You really can’t – or shouldn’t – do any of these things unless you have well-tinted windows, right?
So, I’m open here. Do we like tinted windows? What about when it’s poorly done, and you have to somehow pull off that awful, bubbling, peeling film from a used heap you just bought? Does that ruin it for you?
Anyway, window tint, your thoughts, your feelings. I want to hear them all. Let’s do it.
I hate, despise, loathe, and am generally repulsed by window tint. I similarly dislike SUVs with dark windows that block my view so that I have to rely upon the timely display of their brake lights to schedule my own brake applications. I can only assume that such vehicles are driven by asshats. The only thing that I find even more negative feelings for are car designers that put big expanses of dark glass on a “car”, really they are mostly trucks but I digress, to give the appearance of windows where in fact there is no window at all.
Did I mention tinted windows suck and people who have them lowlifes?
You sound like a generally miserable person.
Only around tinted windows.
Legal tint is a must for the desert, it saves on sunburn, heat and it saves gas by reducing strain on the AC. I really can’t think of any downsides except cost.
You need to be more specific, if you just say “tint” people may think of front window tint and like 5% (which is illegal in many states)
Hate it. Rip it out first thing if I buy a car with it. Don’t like anything impeding my vision, especially can’t see shit at night.
Intellectually: keeps car cool, privacy, looks rad
Emotionally: I prefer seeing who is in a car, for safety sake. But, I’m fine with it an I get over that, (re: super dark tint).
But, I have ZERO room for you if you front window is tinted, even a little. Sit there honking at me, tap my bumper, I don’t give a shit. There is NO chance I’m letting you by asshole. There is zero chance that is safe at night.
Insert Eric Cartman “You can go to hell and die” GIF right here.
Insert “Old man screams at cloud” MEME here.
This is one of my commute pet-peeves, can-ya-tell???
“Insert Eric Cartman “You can go to hell and die” GIF right here”
That was Mr Hat yelling at Kyle. It’s my ringtone for spam calls.
Yeah, you’re right. Forgot about that.
It makes an AMAZING ringtone. I highly recommend it.
Have the darkest legal tint (in Australia… no idea what that is) for 2 reasons…
1. It keeps the car cooler inside in summer
2. Cars without tint look like fish bowls… especially vans and SUVs and the like
Fellow Australian, in Queensland, I find it’s very beneficial for heat reduction when driving and not getting sunburnt. I have had most of my vehicles since the late 70’s done and not for the aesthetics but for the UV protection.
Good to see yet another Aussie… I’m from the other end of the spectrum all the way down under… the sun is a killer even if it doesn’t get as hot… as for looks it’s mostly just being able to observe the people inside that puts me off… I prefer not to see people in cars, nor be on display
Dislike. Absent dark tint you can see what another driver is doing. Especially important when on a bicycle or motorcycle. Are they looking in my direction as I approach an intersection? Do they see me? Being able to see a driver in the car ahead of you enables you to anticipate.
Exactly why I don’t like them. I have had plenty of close calls on bikes and while out on runs. Now I don’t cross if a car is coming and I can’t see the driver. And I’m always wary of them even if I can see them.
My client actually got hit by a car 2 weeks ago on a morning run. She couldn’t see into the car because of the dark tint. Thankfully she saw it coming and slammed her hands on the hood as the car stopped. She only scratched up her knee but that could’ve been so much worse.
Not my thing, I like to be able to see out and don’t care if people see in. Have light colored cars inside and out. We have three cooler seasons here so heat is not a real problem.
I’ve been doing tint since my first car, 8 cars ago. I always did 5%, but because my wife can’t see in the dark well I did 20% on my GTI – and always hated it. Back to 5% after that. I always feel like everyone is staring at me when I’m in a rental. One thing that I do is always roll down all of the windows when officer friendly wants to have a conversation for some unknown reason : )
Tint is good. Especially if you live in hell, like I do. Factory tint is best though. The damn cops here have been turds about the factory tint on my Scion xB. Always enjoy proving that it’s both factory, AND DOT approved.
Besides keeping your interior cooler, tint also does wonders to help save seats, carpet, etc. from fading and splitting. Also helps obscure the view from the outside if you want to engage in something questionable, like a bong hit or two.
As another has mentioned, tint also makes it possible to drive at night. With all the bros and their dumb ass trucks and SUVs it was very tough to drive with everyone’s lights blinding everyone. YMMV.
I’m just about to do this to the rear window on the truck. It’s the like Sun’s own Morning Wood streaming forth from every Ford, Jeep, and Ram, with the occasional Tundra and Civic thrown in for good measure
How dark is the factory tint? I have never seen factory tint darker than 70%, which is barely visibly tinted.
Not sure. In the 10 years I have owned it the cops have never actually measured it.
I have family on the job, and usually they back off as they are pretty deferential about that.
The ones that are assholes, I just get out and open the doors so they can examine it. And observe the DOT approved logo/info on the glass.
And ironically when it comes to shitboxes, the crap that a lot of cops drive as personal vehicles would scare the crap out of you. You should see the shit my BIL owns and assumes is safe enough to be on the roads. Unbelievable…There’s no inspections here, and a car with 4 different tire brands, and 3 different sizes is legal. Until you kill someone. That’s when they write you the ticket for “unsafe vehicle.”
My brother once drove a 66 VW Bus for a year that had no windshield at all. Or a legal tag. A lot of folks drive around here with home made fake tags. And although liability insurance is required by law, it’s more of a suggestion until there’s an accident. Cue the banjo music…
Ooh, three different sizes is bad……
A window tint is a must for me. I’ve put a tint on every car I’ve purchased over the last 25ish years. The first one was entirely because I thought a tint looked good. But after driving that car I realized that isn’t the best reason for the tint. Keeping the car cooler in summer is important, as well as keeping the inside of the car a bit private. My favourite part of a window tint is nighttime driving though. Glare from other cars is eliminated, which is more amazing than it seems. Especially since I like cars, and everyone else likes SUVs.
The absolute first thing I do when I buy a car is get it tinted if it isn’t. Not, like, super-dark or anything… just 35 or so. But it makes such a huge difference with heat in the summer, and I also don’t like being in a clear display case.
I never really understood it, but then I got my car that had it already installed and wow is it great! The lessened amount of light and heat is just fantastic, and I’d certainly do it again. Also, aesthetically, it’s a coupe, but like a modern coupe, it has a B pillar. Coupes without B pillars where the windows all go down is the sexiest design trait in a car. With all the windows tinted, it gives the side glass that true look of one-piece, not divided like it would otherwise appear.
Badly want tint for most of the reasons already listed (privacy, heat), but love the greenhouse of my 80 series Land Cruiser so haven’t done it. May get clear tint to cut the UV rays, but is pricey, and no privacy benefit.
We live in an area with little cloudiness, and tint is absolutely necessary for heat and comfort reasons. I don’t have it on my TJ’s two side windows and curse myself for not tinting it during every summer drive. Our other vehicles are tinted, and we found it worth the expense.
As others mentioned, the so-called ceramic tint is available in a range of transparency and yet blocks most IR and UV. Recommended.
I am pro-window tint, in all of its rad 1990’s glory, for many of the reasons you list. The only downside is at night it can make backing a trailer (or other non-basic backing tasks) a bit more difficult at night.
As a 25 year Phoenician, I find cars without tint to look strange. They are few and far between here – it’s a necessity. Also, visible rust is a novelty.
I’ve always been a fan. I like the way it looks on most cars, but if it impairs visibility in any way like that 5% limo tint stuff, then it’s a hard no from me. My car that lives in Arizona has 35% tint all around (not the windshield), and I think it looks good, and it helps keep the temperature down a little bit, which is obviously a benefit being in the desert. My other car that lives in the PNW came from the factory with tint on the back windows as most SUVs do these days, but not on the front windows. That’ll probably change when it moves south.
I don’t mind a medium tint.
But a dark tint is illegal in CA.
I drive a convertible.
So my tint is RayBans and a ballcap.
As a fat dude who sweats real easily, it’s a must. And the current ceramic tints let you cut the heat with much less darkening.
Most tint: whatever, you do you.
Windshields with dark tint: murderous rage.
Agree. I’ve always thought a good job interview question would be “Have you ever elected to put window tint on the windshield of a car you own?” It would be both a good barometer for rational judgment and also an admission of intentionally breaking a law (I work in the legal field).
I bought my current car CPO, and the previous owner had a ceramic tint applied. I’ve never had tinted windows, and I like it for the most part. It seems to keep me cooler in the sun, but maybe that’s my imagination (I can’t exactly do a side-by-side comparison).
Love it. Mostly. Bad tint that ruins visibility is awful. When done properly with good film it can protect the interior from fading a bit and it keeps interior temps down a bit in the summer. Mostly I like it to avoid feeling like I’m in a fishbowl. I’m a girl who drives unusual cars, I don’t always like to feel like I’m on stage constantly, so a nice dark tint gives me a bit of privacy.
When I moved to Las Vegas with a 22 year old car that was still running R-12 A/C, the air couldn’t keep up, with non-tinted windows. I’d say 95% of privately owned cars have tint here, and well they should. If I lived in Saskatoon, I’d probably have clear windows.
You hate it… unless you live in a place that is sunny year-round, and has hot summers. Then you see why everyone has tints, even on the drivers/f passenger windows. It’s weirdly almost more helpful in the winter where I live.
Agreed. We tinted windows in three of our vehicles because summers without tint are brutal. As you hinted at, an unexpected benefit is after frost, the sun seems to warm the tinted windows faster than the windshield, and tinted windows in direct sun clear quickly.
Yep! Exactly
I find it really helpful in winter due to the angles that the sun is at when it rides lower in the sky
My opinion on tinted windows is that they are useful when kept minimal. The interior without tinted windows can really get hot and the A/C typically ends up having to be run harder in the summer. That said, I hate it when people use 25 or below tint (reminder that lower numbers are darker) since it becomes impossible to see through and it’s like a cave inside.
I hate it. The rear window on my first car was tinted so dark I couldn’t see out it when backing up with the back up lights.
Now there are a ton of new vehicles where tinted windows are MANDATORY! Personally I think cars with non-tinted windows look best, and they arguably offer the best visibility.