Possible, also possible is that the tint is "pretty dark," the car is somewhat sporty appearing and/or has other aftermarket mods, and Tony's son is in his late teens-early 20's. Either way, giving the cops an excuse to hassle you isn't a good idea, I agree with the plan of going ahead and ditching the tint and then if tint is desired replacing it with something that is clearly not pushing the bounds of legality. Remember if you can use 35% tint but you have factory A/C your windows already have some tint to begin with so your light transmission when the tint is installed will not be 35% if you use "35%" film.
yup, young male (presumably Asian, if you are using your real name) driving a STi? That's a cop magnet. Hope your son is good at staying legal. Not saying that it's RIGHT, mind you, but I'm thinking the perception of a lot of officers are that your son is a fast and furious wannabe, so he's got to be extra careful as opposed to if he were driving something like... um... well, I'm trying to think of something that a young male would want to drive that wouldn't be a cop magnet. a Jeep, maybe. (but then you'll have to watch your tires/fenders, bumper heights, etc. if you ever modify it)
But it's easy to find out what the state's requirements are (although I think Tony later posted that he's from Alberta.) Apparently *no* tint is legal on front door windows in Alberta, so removing the film is the right thing to do in this instance. From what I see the rear sides and rear windows can remain tinted, if you like. I was trying to find a reference but in the 45 seconds that I searched, I could only find secondhand info.
Thanks for the link. In my state, as I suspected, the permissible degree of tinting is objectively measured (must allow more than 25% of Visible Light Transmission).
Nobody said it was - but I was surprised when my Taurus SEL, which comes with tinted windows as standard equipment, actually DOES have "tint film" on the windows - unlike the "privacy glass" on my former Aerostars and Trans Sport.
My point, however, was that the "tint" on aftermarket film can be identical to the "tint" on OEM tinted glass.
Bad information. Bad idea. Bad form. He's always right because he has a gun and a stick made from very hard wood that won't break, and he can use them on you. When you get in front of the judge is when you have your chance to say the cop was wrong, and prove your point. At the scene, it's Yes, sir, and No, sir, because there is a little box that he can check if you are uncooperative, and there is a big section where he can put his own comments on your behavior and actions during the incident.
Wrong, wrong, wrong, again. The salon will tell you anything to get money out of your pockets. It does not matter if you have to scrape it off the next day. They already have your money.
Wrong-o. Cruisers usually come from the factory with the tint. If it is locally applied, don't know about your state, but in Utah, they can only apply a certain level of tint, and that is nowhere what they use on the police cruiser. Unless you can flash a badge, you can't buy what they can buy. The Interstate State Trooper and undercover cars in Utah have such a heavy tint, you could be arc welding inside there, and you couldn't tell from the outside.
I knew you'd get one right. The tint shop might have one of these. A better one would. But, if you are in a state, such as Nevada, you can put up any degree of tint you want. It was the reverse, cops citing their safety, but the will of the masses prevailed, and now there are outrageously dark tints in Nevada.
Any out of state vehicle that is registered in Utah must pass inspection, the light test being part of the inspection for registration. Every inspector shop has one, and almost every trooper has one, too. It is illegal in Utah to even drive through with tinted windows even if the car is registered in another state. DAMHIKT.
All said, one size does not fit all, so check your local regs. Your city's regs may even trump your state's regs, as Clark County Nevada cities do re: CCF. Don't know about tints, we're all legal. Now.
On my 2006 Dodge Ram, the driver, passenger, and front window are of a different tint shade than the back windows, and that is legal. Factory install. The back windows are noticeably a little darker if you stand back, but not too much so.
Ok, I just realized that wonderful Google Groups was down when I posted my response so here it is again.
On a hot day spray the inside of the glass with ammonia and place (smooth out the best you can) a black trash bag on the glass/tint. Let it sit in the sun for about 20 minutes. Remove the trash bag and then you should be able to peel off most of the tint after starting one of the edges (corners) with a single edge razor blade. Whatever is left can be removed by spraying with ammonia and scraping with single edge razor blades. Clean with glass cleaner when done.
Here's a video on how it's done.
You can ignore most of part one all he is doing is cutting the bag so it will fit the glass perfectly. Skip up to the 3:20 mark.
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Part two shows how it's done. Like I said do it on a hot day or at least have the sun hitting the piece of glass that you are removing the tint from.
After looking at the videos, it occurred to me that before spraying the chemical on the inside of the window, it would be better to already lay down the piece of plastic first. That would allow some of the overspray etc. to land on the plastic rather than on the interior of the car itself. Then pick up the plastic and attach it to the window on the inside.
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