How hard can it be to tint the windows on the GT86

[Killerbee]

Hi guys

I'm currently pretty pissed and therefore would like to share my story

I droped my car to tint the rear windows Monday a week ago. On their website they claim to have 22years of experience, and perfect outcome is the only thing they accept. They even are giving a lifetime warranty on their work, which claims that everything that is not looking perfect will be fixed free of charge. Well, so far for the facts.

After only 2 hours I could pickup the car again. The windows where still "wet" from the - I guess- soap water used to apply the tintfilm. They told me this would go away in 2 days time and the result will be perfect. Well, since I was used up to now to leave the car overnight with the tinting company, I dint really bother, payed and took the car home.
Driving into the garage, i notice that the 3rd Breaking Light does not work. Fine i think, maybe they did not plug it in again. After a quick look, nope its plugged in. Checking on this forum I found some threads that if the 3rd breaking light is not disassembled right, it can create a shortcut and kill the light. So I call the tint Shop again and tell them that the light is not working, and if I can come in to check. That was Monday, first time I went to them.

The next day, I arrived again in the moring in the tint shop. They check the light, to found out that indeed they created a shortcut and killed the light. Without big hassle they order a new one with toyota, which takes untill next day to arrive. So I go home again - so far so go, shit happens, I'm not mad yet

So its Wednesday and I'm driving again out to them. Breaking light gets installed, works, fine so far, I'm going home quiet happy.

Weekend comes, car was until then sitting in the garage and "drying" out the soap water.
Okey, I have a look at the outcome, finding small very tiny bubbles in the rear window (really small, but I can still see them), got a small hair or dustthingy in the lower rear window (about 0.5cm) and the border around the Window is sometimes black, sometimes you can see the "dotted black" area the car has from stock. Okey, holidays pass, nothing I can do, maybe it will dry out.

Yesterday, still the same picture. Called them again, made an appointment for today to have a look at it. So I'm driving out again (4th time now) to the shop, showing my findings. And now I'm getting pissed. The hair/dust thing he acknowledges and can be fixed, however he tells me the little bubbles, as well as the boarders around the window are normal like that. As this is the 5th car I have with tinted windows, I'm telling him thats BS (I used a nicer word) and that this is not the idea of perfect to me. Well, his answer, either that way, or I'll take it of and refund your money.
At that point I agreed on removing the tint and getting my money back, so I leave the car for 4h with him.

Picked the car up an hour ago, windows are clean again, however interieur is a bit dusty since he did not vacumclean the interieur after cleaning the film of the window. Fine with me, at this point I just want to end this crap story and want go home. However, to make it even better, after handing me out my money, he tells me that when I let it tint in the "perfect" way I say it should be (with no bubbles and the border of the window in the same looking way all around) I should please come by and show it to him, as he does not belive it is possible.
I just took the money and left.... I mean, WTF! 22 Years of experience. Only perfect is good enough. yeah, my ass!

I have to credit them at least for taking care of the problem and honoring their warranty, and I also always got a new appointment quiet fast, anyway, I've been in that shop 4 times now, waisted alot of my time for this, and than I still have to get such an ending line from him, and not even an appologie... Thats what really pisses me of a bit.


So, as a question to the ones with tinted windows out there, is it really that hard to get a perfect tint job done on that car? I'm I just to picky?


sorry for the wall of text, but I write alot when I'm pissed ;-)

[Sportsguy83]

I guess its hard to tell without seeing it. It may have been you were extremely picky, it may have been they really didn't do a great job. I do think they deserve credit for taking the time to remove the tint and give you your money back. A lot of other places dance around you when it comes time to honor their agreement. Take it to another reputable place and compare the outcome from the first experience.

If it comes out perfect, go back to the guy and show him what you meant. He does not seem like a bad businessman, just could not fulfill your requirements.

I have my windows tinted and I'm very happy with the results. I admit it is not PERFECT, but the small imperfections are barely noticeable and don't bother me much. Good luck!

[Superhatch]

Do you have any photos of the job they did? I'm interested to see it in comparison to some members who have a clean rear window install. Maybe you could send him some photos of the differences.

[Readytoxplod]

I got mine tinted with a 3rd party from the dealership. He did a horrible job, tons of bubbles and scratches. The dealership offered to do it again, but gave the guy a second chance. He did a worse job than the first time and skipped town. The main problem area is the rear window, I'm going to get it re-done with a more professional company. But yeah, doesn't look easy.

[Dezoris]

My tint is 9/10. But lets face it robots are not installing the tint in a factory.
A few small bubbles and imperfections are ok when you see the pain in the ass the job is.

[riironman]

What percentage did u go? all Tint here is illegal but I am going to try it but not too dark so I dont get my balls busted.

[Jlin]

the rear window is really hard to tint mainly due to the space restrictions. it's hard enough to fit a child back there but imagine putting a full sized adult in the back and having unrestricted movement. It's not possible. I tried to clean the rear window from the inside and that proved to be a challenge. My rear tint isnt perfect either but I can understand the hardship they go through. You've got more than what you've paid for, a little bit of imperfection isn't going to kill your car. out of sight, out of mind!

[Gixxersixxerman]

Yeah I'd say my tint is a 9/10... The guy I took mine to a friend of a my best friend, deals with extremely high end cars and stuff in Ventura.. Ferraris and Lamborghini and stuff.. But he did tell me it was a bitch to tint the rear.. And I have a tiny bubble under the brake light.. Some small bubbles and maybe a hair in the rear.. My fronts and sides look pretty good.. I've tinted before and can understand how difficult it is to make it perfect.. I've seen perfect.. But 99.9% time someone can always find something in the tint on any car

[Killerbee]

Originally Posted by Superhatch

Do you have any photos of the job they did? I'm interested to see it in comparison to some members who have a clean rear window install. Maybe you could send him some photos of the differences.

Sadly no pictures done, it was raining most of the days, and in the garage the light is not good enough to take detailed pictures. And to be honest, I did not see him telling me that this is what the call perfect. I was rather in the impression they would correct the job, rather than getting the tint of and refunding my money. Dont get me wrong, I rather have it stock again than living with the job they did.

Originally Posted by riironman

What percentage did u go? all Tint here is illegal but I am going to try it but not too dark so I dont get my balls busted.

I had 86% (guess why) which is quiet dark, however still good enough to see outside in the night while reversing etc.

[Killerbee]

Thanks for all the replys.

I'm a bit confused, as I seem to be the only one used to perfect tinted windows. I cant judge on the FRS/GT86, however I've had the Windows tinted on my 200sx and my 350z, and they really where perfect. I agree that those cars are easier accessible than the GT86, however, a profressional shop should be able to either tint everything perfect, or telling the customer in advance it wont be perfect.

What I'm confused with is that the shop claims to do perfect work, but seems to be ok with small bubbles, imperfect borders etc. I would not have given them the job if I knew that in advance.

Anyway, my 200sx and 350z where done in another shop, which initially was planned also to do the GT86, however they had no time the next 5weeks and therefore I have choosen another shop to do the work. Maybe next time I just should be a bit more patient :-)
For the moment I'm living with stock and enjoying the car without any hassle

[Foobar]

The dot matrix border on our windows will not allow tint to adhere. That's just a fact of the raised surfaces preventing cohesion. The only way to address that is by paying extra to have it glued in or by cutting before the area and using a vinyl wrap instead.

Bubbles should go away after curing in the sun. If not, they should redo it. Hair should be removed.

It'll never be perfect, but there are some things they should address. The dot matrix border is not something that they address unless you specifically paid them to do a special job on that.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

[Flat Black VW]

Mine came out perfect around the dot matrix. I was concerned about that area and asked the tinter before hand and he just told me he knows how to get it done right. He didn't use any special glues or vinyl, I watched him do it, he was just able to make it happen. I'm sure there are some small imperfections somewhere on mine, but I haven't found them yet. The tinter I used works out of my shop and usually charges at least $300 for a 2 door and 4 doors start at around $450. He's good.

[gily25]

Bubbles as in expanding air or you can see bits of liquid? If it's cold then when it warms up they should dry up and it'll be fine. Ditto on the dot thing mentioned above. Some rear defrosters mess it up too fortunately our car isn't one of them.

[Foobar]

Originally Posted by Flat Black VW

Mine came out perfect around the dot matrix. I was concerned about that area and asked the tinter before hand and he just told me he knows how to get it done right. He didn't use any special glues or vinyl, I watched him do it, he was just able to make it happen. I'm sure there are some small imperfections somewhere on mine, but I haven't found them yet. The tinter I used works out of my shop and usually charges at least $300 for a 2 door and 4 doors start at around $450. He's good.

Would love to see a close up pic of your rear triangle Window showing the dot matrix border area. I'd like to show it to my tint guy if it was done without glue.

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