amen......looking on the bright side.....thats the way to do it.......

 

the tech i did talk to mentioned something about while wearing glasses or sunglasses that the spots will be a lot more noticable. i wear glasses, so i'm gonna have to try taking them off and see if the spots stand out as much.

 

either way u know that the spots are there.......so do what is comfortable.......

 

*LONG POST*

good lord. sometimes I wonder about people here.

1 by 1. here we go.

white spots on the outside of the glass is from hard water and acid rain. Acid rain spot remover takes it off (same thing as diluted concrete cleaner [muratic acid]).

the uniform pattern seen IN the glass at times is a side effect of the tempering process, "strain pattern". these spots will be about the size of a quarter to a 50-cent peice and perfectly uniform over the entire window. Not removable and not important enough to obsess over.

THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS TRUE POLARIZED GLASS IN AN AUTOMOBILE. End of debate. It would be a lawsuit and a fatal car wreck waiting to happen. When two polarized sources are stacked together at 90 degree angles to each other, you see NOTHING. ZERO. PITCH BLACK. The polarization on two axis's cancel all light out. Get two pairs of polarized glasses and try it. If you had polarized auto windows and polarized sunglasses on at the same time, every time you shifted your head, the windows would turn solid black for a moment until you tipped your head into the right position again. So memorize it and tell idiot car salesmen they're morons when they mention polarized glass in a car. IT WILL NEVER HAPPEN! EVER!

Seeing spots or color waves while wearing aforementioned polarized sunglasses is called "harmonic distortion". When viewing heat-treated glass (TEMPERED) in certain conditions (polarized glass would be one of those "conditions"), a pattern of iridescent spots or shadows become visible. This is called the strain pattern of the glass and is related to the stresses introduced in the cooling process. Sharp angles such as those seen in a back glass of a car, polarized light from glasses , and applied coatings (WINDOW TINT) increase the visibility of the pattern. This is not considered a defect and is not correctable.

Here's how fix whatever one of these problems you have. White spots on the outside? Acid Rain remover from Pep Boys or make your own with diluted muratic acid (I'm not to blame if you don't know whether to pour acid into water or vice-versa when mixing...). Seeing spots with glassed? Get new unpolarized glasses, problem fixed.

Oh... "can I have my tint applied over them?" ... ugh... Tint goes on the INSIDE of the windows, not the outside. The spots are on the outside or IN the glass, you're not tinting "over" anything, you're tinting BEHIND them. If there's a problem, I'm sure the tinter will tell you before the work even begins, until then, quit worrying about it.

Case Closed.

 

took me about 15 min to read that....but wow.......well put.......

 

amen brother windowtint.. preach on preacher

(and yes I agree)

 

Thanx windowtint, I was about to post a comment that I'm probably the only one that will notice them anyway. 2ndly, I think the spots are getting less noticable lately. I will try the acid fix...sin

 

windowtint very well said.

 

Great post windowtint. I have the white-ish "waterspots" on my sunroof that window cleaner just wont remove. I will have to try the acid rain remover tonight to see if it helps. Very aggrivating though having a newly washed, sexy tC with these dang spots on the roof that I cant get off.

 

With all due respect to your post windowtint, is there anyone out there who has these tempered spots on their hatch window and got it tinted? If so, how did the tint turn out and are they just as noticable with the tint? I have these spots on my hatch window as well but I can only see them from certain angles/situations etc.. Thanks in advance for any feedback. Anyone?

 

I gotta try asking again. My back window looks like a checkerboard 70-80% of the time. It is annoying as all heck. Are there varying degrees of this tempered pattern? Is is possible that mine is worse than the norm? I called the dealership and spoke to someone and they said that's the way the glass is and when I asked them if I were to get my windows tinted, they said it "should" make it go away. Can anyone out there confirm this? My thinking is that the tint, since it is on the inside, should mask it when I am driving and viewing from the inside out,, but... When viewing from the outside, wouldn't it make the white tempered spots stand out more since the tint is underneath? I've owned 2 new cars prior to my tC, both hatchbacks, including a Celica, and I've never had to deal with this before. Any ways, I'd truly appreciate any help on this topic. Thanks.

 

i really shouldn't reply to this since everyone has explained a million times of what those circles are.. and yes it is normal.. welcome to having a normal car.. (welcome back to the early 90's when most cars were hatchbacks and it was quite a normal thing.. now that hatches are coming back.. welcome back to the circles) hatches show this more than other cars, based on the angle of the rear window is greater than most vehicles with a trunk... there is nothing you can do about it, except maybe a dark tint, but then again that might bring it out more.. yes my tC has it too.. it's time to accept that cars have this.. this isn't a defect at all.. and no there is no way around it.. unless you can help PPG glass or any other major glass manufacturer re-write the laws of tempered glass

and the celica's glass was NOT as large as this window either.. mustangs and escorts in the early 90's also had this situation.. even the honda CRX's had this.. and NO there is nothing wrong.. so just relax and accept you have a nice car.. can't you be thankful?

 

it's simply the nature of tempered glass. mine is swirled like the thumbprint of a giant. I think it's kinda cool.

 

Actually I am relaxed and I do love my car. I was just using this forum to ask a simple question. There is always a chance that mine is an extreme case as nothing in life is a given. I have seen posts in which someone's brand new Scion had rust spots all over it. Is that the norm? All things being equal, just because we both got a new car that's the same doesn't mean we couldn't have different things wrong with our cars. As for being thankful, I am very thankful, but you know what, I have a baby girl that's about to turn 1 year old, that's what I am thankful for. Don't make such a broad statement as to assume I am not thankful just because something annoys me. As for accepting that cars have this...I do. But I haven't seen one car yet that shows the tempered pattern as bad as mine. I appreciate your constructive input as I would do the same for anyone else, as for the other stuff, save it for someone you know better.

 

Wilder,

I couldn't really say if your spots are any worse than mine but I can tell you that after tinting my car, I haven't noticed the spots at all. So to answer your question, my personal experience is that tinting does help.

 

Thanks for the response Tc808. That makes me feel a bit better about the situation. I don't really have too many options any ways so hopefully the tinting will do the trick.