NewSpectraBlue

This is what I've been told.

Is this true? Should I expect 1 or 2 tiny (head-of-pin-sized) bubbles per window from a tint-shop?
Thanks

sciondrgn

really depends on the shop and brand of tint they use..

A Good realiable shop that uses good film it shouldnt bubble anytime in the near future.. Just like anything over time it will wear out..

I had my 1996 cavalier tinted with 20% all around and I had the car for 6 years before trading it in and the tint was still looking great with no bubbles that i could see in it!

I would ask around to people that have had there windows tinted in your area and get a general idea of who to use..

On my XB I tinted them myself and there are a few pin head sized bubbles but you cant seem them from the outside and there not noticable on the inside unless your looking for them!

THE_DON

Factory tint is not really "tint" but it's a darker colored glass. Whenever you add a layer of aftermarket tint film, you run the risk of having bubbles.

With that said, a quality install, at a quality shop should leave your car looking near-perfect, with no bubbles. And they should also offer a warranty if it ever does bubble.

You usually get what you pay for, so avoid swap meets, and ghetto looking shops that charge the least amount for tint. You may get a crappy job. If you have a few small bubbles from the start, in 2-3 years it could look horrible. That's why you need a warranty, and that's why you should make sure they do it right the first time.

Peace

-THE DON

sarcasmkillsme

I think you should be prepared to see a bubble or two. The way my tint shop says it on their 'care sheat'-"there is no perfect tint job but, if you would like to try for the perfect tint job, we will have to adjust our prices accordingly"

So unless you wanna spend alot, don't worry about your tint being 'perfect'.

NewSpectraBlue

Thanks for all the replies.

Basically, I've already got the tint... and it's got some bubbles. I did search around and got/read a number of recommendations for the place I went. They were friendly and have a lifetime warranty (as long as I own the car. It's non-transferrable) against "bubbling cracking or peeling due to manufacturer defect or installation problem"

Well, a week after getting the tint, I started noticing little bubbles in all the windows. One window has a LOT where it looks like there was dirt/something on the window when the tint went down.

I've been pretty stressed about this. The tint-job was $170 and I thought I had gone to one of the best places in town so I was none too happy. I was sure I'd go in and get screwed on the warranty and I don't take things like that very well. I don't like feeling 'ripped off' or deceived and it was possible it would end poorly with me screaming profanities.

So, I went in today. They agreed to re-do two of the windows but said the 1 or 2 spots on the other windows were to be expected as part of after-market tinting.

So, the good news is, they're re-doing 2 of the windows. The other good news is that I'm not getting charged anything for it. You might think that that goes without saying, but I've heard stories of tint warranties that only cover the tint and NOT the labor, so people get charged for the fix.

Oh well, I guess I'll live with it. Admittedly, when I first got the tint job, it didn't dawn on me that my wife's factory tint was actually part of the glass itself. When I found out how factory-tinting is done (versus aftermarket) I felt a 'little' better about my tint job. So if they fix a couple of the windows, I guess I'll be happy with that, and be satisfied that with the rest of my lifetime warranty I can go back in 3 years if any of the bubbles get worse.

Thanks

hotbox05

I think you are talkign about tiny specs or dirt under the tint not tint bubbles. that all depends on how well the shop cleans the glass

lalagimp

I wish I could see how my car is doing. i got it tinted I think a week or two before I gave it to the dealership to have the ac serviced.
They've had it since Saturday, and it sits outside in the lot out back. I REALLY WANT TO SEE HOW IT'S DOING!

ScionxR

Factory tint is nothing more than a chemical added to the glass to stain it. It also makes the glass more brittle and succeptable to breaking into thousands of pieces when hit. The bubbles come from dirt. If you clean the glass well and have it in a paint room where fans suck the dirt out of the air, and you use good tint film you will be bubble free for years and no fading

the_butcher

if you get tint in some place and somethihg comes out wrong like bubbles, particles betwen the film and window/ and or they cut it too short in a spot.. then you go back and tell them as soon as possible even if you cannot get it done that day you go and let them know what happend so that a week later if you didnt have time before they woudl know they f-ed up so you could get it done there and then... Dont be afraid to go back time after time if it has bubbles or anything noticeable because if its a good tint shop they should have no problem making the customer happy so they could tell all thier friends to go to this "So and So" shop.. if they dont wanna do it over demand them to take it off and give you your money back so you can spend it someplace where they will do the job right.... because thats what i did

windowtint

there are limits to how many flecks would 'acceptable' in a window. Some people are natrually, completely unreasonable and are convinced they own the most perfect car ever and that the stickers (tint) just totally ruined it (I'm not talking about you NewSpectra). There is no such thing as a "PERFECT" tint job, has never happened, never will - contrary to how many 100's of times a tinter has heard "well, I've had 11 cars tinted and they were all perfect!" ... yeah ok.. you say so.

Even if you managed to removed every single airborne fleck out of the air - pollen, dust, dirt, skin cells, volcanic ash (yes, there's lots of it), dander, smoke - then managed to removed every single piece of particulate matter from the water being used - and THEN managed to hermetically seal the car as so it would not realease any particles... THEN after all of that! ... what are you going to do about the little nicks, scratches, pits and bumps in the glass?!? And yes... brand new glass has damage - glass is a long way from being a perfect surface. It's not like they send the stuff to an aerospace lab for mirror polishing before installing it in a Toyota or Honda.

Now, I'm not trying to bust anyone's ___ here - but rather trying to make it clear that there are MANY factors in what can be seen as a "flaw" - which are not always the fault of the tinter (but... many are... so take it back and see hwat they say).

biggest thing is to not get all worked up about it... it's just TINT for god's sake. There are better things to fret over than a big sticker.

One tip is - if you stand 5' away and can't imediately point out the problem... it's not a problem. If you want a show car job, pay show car prices.

But still.. don't be afraid to go back and NICELY ask about your concerns. AS far as "demand to get your money back" - I can tell you now - if' it's all over dust dots - not only will that more than likely not happen, you'll probably be escorted off by the City P.D. - most shops will just simply drop any dealing with you as soon as you make demands. Most know that you'll never sue - and if you do, you'll lose. (and yes, that's wrong - but I'm just telling you straight up, the truth. - I am the one after all that's said 80+% of all tinters are total slime).

Just don't expect film to look like colored glass - it's not physically possible regardless of what any may ever tell you. If you want factory looking dark glass - take them out, send them and a $5000 check off and have them chemically colored.

NewSpectraBlue

Yeah, some of them were definitely that and they're going to redo that window because there were literally 30 or 40 of them, very small, in one area. There were also some larger bubbles, you know, like 3/32nds of an inch (none were quite 1/8th" I don't think). The one window that had 4 bubbles is also being redone. The other two have very small bubbles and aren't being redone.


Yeah, I think that it's the_butcher who you're referring to :D

I mean, I want the tint to be perfect, and I was annoyed when it wasn't. Having never gotten an aftermarket tint job before, I simply presumed that it would look as good as my wife's factory tint, so when I started spotting the bubbles (which now I can't avoid seeing) I started feeling ripped off.

But when I realized that factory tint was a completley different process, it made sense to me that something like this could happen. I still wasn't/am not thrilled about it, and I wanted to know what would be "acceptable" or "likely" and posted here.

Exactly. This is like the people who say "Let somebody run into your car, you'll win the lawsuit". The point is to not ever GO through a lawsuit. I simply don't have the time or energy to take anybody to court to demand my money back over a couple 'bubbles'.

Yeah, that's whay I did and they're going to redo 2 of the windows. And I'm prepared for them not to be perfect either... even though I wish they could be

Thanks for all the replies.

riccochetrabbit

I don't care what you say, take it back. If they won't fix it completely, they aren't reputable. Spots that you notice are unacceptable. My tinter charges me between $95-$110, depending on how many windows it has. He probably does the best tint work I've ever seen. I've never seen a bubble that's noticable in his work (even upon close inspection). I've seen about 100 cars he's done, possibly more. None of them ever have spots that are unacceptable. I've heard of one car coming back to him for a fix. I had to have one of my windows in my civic retinted as well. Not because of spots in it, or whatever. Because it was broken out when theives busted the window. He's probably done a bad window or two in his time. I've never actually seen it though.

windowtint

$95-$110 are crack ***** prices. And to top it off, you believe "perfect" exists. I can almost gaurantee that guy is slinging Accutech/Solartech film out of Florida (which only costs about $60 a roll... and is total garbage) in addition to whatever main line he sells, more than like Johnsons brand (which isn't bad, but is the cheapest good line out) - after 20 years in a shop, as a rep. and as an instructor ... I can spot these people a mile off. He probably does do decent work - but that doesn't change the fact that he's whoring the market. NO WHERE in the country is that a 'normal' price. Every town has a shop that sells at that rate - and the other shops actually don't mind it becuase they help filter out the price-shopper crappy cars.

The original poster is referring to pinpoint white dots - NOT "BUBBLES!". Two totally different problems. Wildly different. Also... most lay people DON'T notice any 'bubbles' in a good job, but you let a competing tinter look at and I gaurantee he will find TONS of them in a hurry. - ALSO... if you're looking at his work as it's fresh, OF COURSE you don't see any dots! NO ONE does. You don't see the pinpoints until the film dries out becuase that little tiny air pocket is still filled with water and isn't yet visible.

Again - it just comes down to there being no such thing as a "PERECT" film installation - it just doesn't exist - and especially if you expect that along with a $100 price tag for a full job. That's just ridiculous. And I still say you've got about a snowballs chance in hell getting your money back... what are ya gonna do? Threaten to beat him up? Sue him ?(for less than $200?? - filing fees are more than that and can't be recovered in small claims... LOL), tell all your friends? They don't care, those shops made it that far without you and your friends, and they'll continue on too. They already know this, and they know tinting is an impulse purchase, it's not a requirement that you HAVE to HAVE. There are no emergency's in the tint world (although 4 hour late customers will swear there is at 5 on a Sat...). And seriously - I'm not advocating that, hell, I don't even approve of that type of attitude - but I am telling you exactly how almost every shop in the country see's it from the inside. - what do I care!?! I don't. I make most all my money from rental houses... shop could burn down for all I care. I'll tell ya what tinters are like - and it's ugly. Work is a place to hide. LOL.

If I pulled a car around and told everyone in the shop it was a $100 job - no one would touch it (seriously). It would sit there until someone pulled it out and told the owner to go the hack shop down the road. The only way anyone that I know of has managed to get a reduced rate are people I know personally - all have been free... and I had to do the work myself! LOL.

I think NewSpectra's done exactly what he should have and by the sound of it, found a decent shop. They looked at it and they're redoing it. and yes - 30-40 dots in one small spot is excessive, it needed to be done over again.

One dot here and there guys - sure, they could redo it, but where would you like the 3 or 4 pinpoint dots located this time?

djct_watt

bubbling may be of concern, but for me, the problem was scratching. My tint was very succeptable to scratching. . .

hotbox05

95-100 eh? cheapest thing around here is 89.99 for rear three. only a few shops are this cheap and most charge more for limo tint. let alone the damn box having SOO many windows.

custom2k1

You get what you pay for. Window tinting is all about technique and how clean of a shop you have to tint in. Keeping the window clean is 90% of the battle. My friend does amazing work but hes been tinting for about 10 years now. If your in or around NYC hes one of the best. Hes got some amazing cars on his website. Check it out.

www.theartoftint.com

Hes also tinted a bunch of celebrities cars.

http://www.theartoftint.com/news/celeb_list.html

ScionDad

No question about it. A GREAT tint company (which will usually run more than $100 for sure) will be near perfect. By that, I mean you or anyone else will NOT see any bubbles. A speck or two if your really lookin, but NO visible bubbles. You and I both can do it with bubbles...a pro will not...and they take serious pride in that.

AldoRx

I wish I knew where my xB was tinted. I got it used with 10k miles....it has 5% tint all around and a large strip on the windshield. It is the most perfect tint job I have ever seen. I have inspected it over and over and cannot find one single imperfection.

The sad part is I dont know who did it, so I cant reccomend them to anyone.

My girlfriend just had her 71 Cutlass tinted by a reputable shop. It cost her about $150, including the giant rear windshield done in one piece. I havent looked at it really closely yet, but it looks near perfect.

riccochetrabbit

Really? You sure? See, don't run your mouth till you know what you're talking about son. This guy's been tinting for 21 years. He's the best tinter this side of the Mississippi. His tint is on cars that have won major shows, Nopi Nationals, HIN, etc... The reason I get mine at crack ***** prices, as you call it, is because I send him work through the shop I work at. For anyone else, it's about twice that. The problem here is you inferred. Don't infer before you know what you're talking abuot. Oh, and he doesn't use your cheap films you're talking about either, just so you know. Read my profile and see I work in the industry that I might have hook-ups before you go talking shi... well, you know. Instructor or not, I'll put his tint job against one that you might do all day long, and his film(which coincidentally he himself guranteesthe job and materials for life, as it's manufacturer warranty is only 25 years).


One more thing, he tints in an updraft paint booth, which removes particulates from the air.

ScionDad

He obviously is a pro