MK6 Front Tint to match factory 'Dark Tint' option

[Schnapp]

Hi guys,

Not sure if this is the right place to ask

What tint films will best match the factory tint/privacy glass? As you know the fronts are not tinted whilst the rears are with the sports pack.

Tint A Car advises that their Formula One Plus is best suited but as far as i understand it this gives a bit of a greenish reflection?

I have also been advised by Express Tinting that their 3M Black range matches best to the privacy glass.

I'm hoping to achieve a consistent tint/look with the already tinted rears.

Any other recommendations for tinting places around the brisbane would be great too

Cheers

[glennbot]

I also have a Golf Mk6 with the sports pack and have had difficulty trying to match the factory tint.

When I purchased the car the dealer said they use a standard tint and then use a clear UV tint on the rear. I have no idea if this would match the greenish colour of the back windows.

If anyone has had there windows tinted, I would also like to here from you.

I don't know what others have found but every car window tinting company I have been to bags the hell out of other companys saying they all sell crap film and have bad warranties. I don't know who to believe?

Cheers,
Glennbot

[JasonP]

I had the dealer (in Brisbane)do the tinting of the front windows to match the rear Sports Pack privacy tint. Feel free to PM me for further details.

[Prawn07]

Firstly, I dont know why VW would tint the back windows and not the front. Doesn't make sense. Probably looks more sporty?

Anyway I think the factory tint is not legal in Aust. - i.e. too dark. I got my front windows tinted by the dealer who outsourced it. I believe they used the darkest legal tint in Aust. for the front windows. The front windows are slightly lighter than the back, but it hasnt bothered me too much.

[Corey_R]

As Prawn stated, you are allowed a much darker tint on the rear and side-rear windows than you are on the side-front windows. Matching the privacy tint used on the rear is illegal and would gain yourself an infraction from the law if they were inclined to notice.

But there are plenty of tint specialists out there that carry a range of products and can match or compliment....

[dopey]

Once we take delivery of our car I'm just going to see my tint guy and get him to pick from the various films he has available.

Any reputable tint person should be able to get a good match for you.

If Blacktown in NSW is not too far for anyone, try calling Martin from Groundzero Window Tinting on 0424 725 250 - he's done a few of my cars now. Not only is he the cheapest around but he's been exceptionally good at giving me exactly what I want with different films.

I had our Corolla done a couple of years ago with a "darkest legal" tint that looks very black from the outside -- no hints of green or "mirror like" reflections -- but is very easy to see out of from the inside. I'm thinking this is the kind of film that will best match on the Golf but we'll see.

By the way, I think going with a slightly lighter tint on the front windows can still look good. I opted to do this on my Silvia, with darker than legal privacy tint on the rears and darkest legal on the fronts. This allows me to see out of my mirrors safely while still keeping the car cool and allowing me to hide from prying eyes.

Pic:
http://img37.imageshack.us/img37/28/winglessside.jpg

[Schnapp]

According to the specifications in the Golf Brochure the sports pack tint is 65% light absorbing. Is this equivalent to 35% tint?

[glennbot]

I talked to a guy at Tint-A-Car and he told me that putting any tint on the factory rear windows is illegal.

Is this true?

[coastie]

http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2009/08/mk6side-1.jpg

This is with T35 on the front and UV clear on the rears. The sun shining in from the front and no tint on the windscreen also gives a slightly lighter appearance to the front windows.

[Lima]

Firstly, I dont know why VW would tint the back windows and not the front. Doesn't make sense. Probably looks more sporty?

As it is done from factory I guess it suits the European market better. AFAIK, in the UK at least, any tinting on front windows (ie. driver & passenger) is illegal.

[Flaps]

Matching the privacy tint used on the rear is illegal and would gain yourself an infraction from the law if they were inclined to notice.

Depends on the police officer. One of my best mates has been in HWY patrol for over 4 years and not once has he pulled someone over for tint.

You'd be very very unlucky if you got booked.

[JasonP]

Coastie, your tint looks identical to mine, & mines the same colour with Sports pack.

The front tint finished it off nicely.

[dopey]

Depends on the police officer. One of my best mates has been in HWY patrol for over 4 years and not once has he pulled someone over for tint.

You'd be very very unlucky if you got booked.

It's not really getting booked you need worry about. Insurance is the big hassle. If you have an at fault accident, they may find your dark tint as an attributing factor and throw your claim into the bin. Depends on the situation of course but it's something to be mindful of.

Either way, if the tint is darker than legal I'd be ripping it off quick smart before the insurance assessor looks at the car.

[whoistheg]

Subaru's have had this for the past 5 years (rear and no front).

Its kinda crazy.. The rears are tinted but the fronts are not.

But the crazy thing is these cars are being sold in AU and its legal to tint
the front windows here.

[Corey_R]

So I don't know about Subaru, and I haven't seen this 'Sports pack' thingy on the MK6 Golfs. But I haven't really seen cars with rear tint and no front tint. What I normally see is like what is standard on a lot of Lexus'. The rear has 'privacy' tint and the front side windows have stanard tint. The thing is that the privacy tint is so much darker than it can under various light conditions like look like there is any tint at the front, when there is!

I'd agree that no tint on the front would be stupid :D

[Schnapp]

Quick update for those who are interested.

Had the car tinted at Tint A Car (Albion, Brisbane - Fantastic service! only took half an hour for 2 windows.) with the Formula One tint. Looks pretty good. The tint has a slight green tinge which does match the privacy glass nicely. The privacy glass is just a very slight shade darker.

Overall im happy with the outcome :)

[glennbot]

What did Tint-A-Car charge for the 2x front windows?

Did they suggest any other options?

[mtj007]

Quick update for those who are interested.

Had the car tinted at Tint A Car (Albion, Brisbane - Fantastic service! only took half an hour for 2 windows.) with the Formula One tint. Looks pretty good. The tint has a slight green tinge which does match the privacy glass nicely. The privacy glass is just a very slight shade darker.

Overall im happy with the outcome :)

Would you mind posting some pictures? I'm thinking of getting my Golf done with Tint-a-Car Formula 1 (not that it has rear privacy glass but I'd like to see what your front windows look like so I can get an idea of what all my windows will be like). Thanks if you can.

[Schnapp]

What did Tint-A-Car charge for the 2x front windows?

Did they suggest any other options?


It was $154 to do the two front windows. Quite a good price I think.

Initially I asked about the midnight express, but they suggested the formula one tint as they said they had a few new golfs come through and they found the formula one tint to be the best match for the privacy glass.


Would you mind posting some pictures? I'm thinking of getting my Golf done with Tint-a-Car Formula 1 (not that it has rear privacy glass but I'd like to see what your front windows look like so I can get an idea of what all my windows will be like). Thanks if you can.

Dont have access to a decent camera atm, but when I do ill post some pics.

[mtj007]

Dont have access to a decent camera atm, but when I do ill post some pics.

No worries - my Golf's booked in to get Formula 1 on Monday. I saw it on a Magna they'd just done and I'm happy enough with it.

[glennbot]

MTJ007 - Don't forget to post some pics of the finished job :-)

[mtj007]

Dad's (dirty) untinted Mk VI:
http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2009/08/IMG_0550-2.jpg

My MK V:
http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2009/08/IMG_0551-2.jpg

Sorry for the crappy phone pics in the garage.. Just a quick comparison - I'm a bit busy at the moment but I'll have some whole car shots up this weekend after I detail it.

It looks darker when the car is out in the sun, I'm pretty pleased with it overall. My car didn't have rear privacy tint (and neither does dad's) so I don't know how well it matches up with that but hopefully that picture will give an idea.

[Zano]

My new golf has the sports pack which has the dark privacy tint on the rear windows. I am looking to tint the front windows with either 3M or Tintacar's Formula 1, depending on which matches best. In talking with Tintacar they said that the factory privacy tint on the rear windows offers zero UV protection and suggested that I should have a clear UV protection tint fitted over them.

I have Googled that the window glass in cars already provide UV B protection, but this was in general and an old article. Does anyone know what level of UVA and UVB protection is provided with the sports pack tint?

[Poe]

It could be wrong but I was told by my dealer that privacy glass provides no UV protection as well so I got tint put on. This was however on my rex... dont know if its different for the VW.

[Schnapp]

http://www2.pajeroclub.com.au/forum/showthread.php?t=4442

Not VW but pajero with privacy glass. VW shouldnt be any different...

All glass in a car should have UV protection.

Sounds like some extra $$profit for the dealer

[Yevvy]

uv doesn't go through the glass

[roy]

in golf6's spec, it said
Sport package Dark tinted rear side windows and rear window, 65% light absorbing

from my understanding, it absorbs 65% uv......

[cwcarruthers]

uv doesn't go through the glass

Ordinary glass will probably not block any useful amount of UV radiation:

From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uv:

98.7% of the ultraviolet radiation that reaches the Earth's surface is UVA.
UVA wavelength: 400 nm–315 nm
Ordinary glass is partially transparent to UVA.
Ordinary window glass passes about 90% of the light above 350 nm.

Obviously this is for ordinary window glass, and auto glass may be different. Does anyone have any stats on auto window glass standards?

[Corey_R]

in golf6's spec, it said
Sport package Dark tinted rear side windows and rear window, 65% light absorbing

from my understanding, it absorbs 65% uv......

I know more about non-automotive Window Tint than automotive window tint, but UV and visible light is different. You should have to look at the tint specs from a place like Solar Gard (http://www.solargard.com.au/commercial/Perf_Solar) that basically all window tint blocks 99% of UV, whether it only allows 10% or 35% or more light through. There are also differences in reflectivity for visible light, solar energy etc

[Maverick]

in golf6's spec, it said
Sport package Dark tinted rear side windows and rear window, 65% light absorbing

from my understanding, it absorbs 65% uv......

There's no correlation between light absorption and UV absorption.

Most UVB is blocked but most UVA passes through glass. You can still get burnt but it takes a lot longer and you can suffer damage long term. It's like going outside with mid range sunscreen applied.

[chilliman]

Getting my GTI done with Formula 1 at Tint-a-car on Monday .... 35% fronts, 15% rears. I was going to go midnight express but was sold on the better formula 1 ... got a decent discount for cash which closed the gap in the cost

[JLR]

chilliman. Picts please! :)

[nicandlance]

I'm in Rowville and due to pick up my car in just over a weeks time (I'm getting the 118 tsi with sport pack)

Can anyone tell me whether it's really obvious having the back windows tinted, but not the front? I don't understand why vw would do that.

I'm thinking this might look a bit odd, so thinking of getting my front ones done to match. Excuse my ignorance on the subject, but I'm a bit scared of having someone rip my interior door panels apart (is that how they do it?) and rattles occuring - not to mention non-matching front and rear tints.....

Anyone know of a reputable tinting firm in my area?

Oh, and what can I expect to pay?

[chopsticle]

I don't reckon it's too noticeable not having the fronts tinted.. I always found it strange that it was rears only and after reading this thread today, I'm considering tinting the fronts too..

[dopey]

So anyway, I decided that the factory tint was too weak

Excuse the crap pics, I'll take proper ones with the good camera in daylight when I get time.

http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2010/01/P1010375-1.jpg
http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2010/01/P1010378-1.jpg
http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2010/01/P1010372-1.jpg

Tinting by GroundZero Window Tinting
Martin: 0424 725 250
Unit 6/4 Third Ave, Blacktown NSW
sales@groundzerotint.com

[gregozedobe]

..... I'm a bit scared of having someone rip my interior door panels apart (is that how they do it?) and rattles occuring - not to mention non-matching front and rear tints.....

With good reason, there seems to be quite a few cowboys around. If you can find a recommendation for someone who had done Golfs before with good results it will be worth paying extra for a problem-free job.

[Corey_R]

Can anyone tell me whether it's really obvious having the back windows tinted, but not the front? I don't understand why vw would do that.

The law states that 35% of visible light must pass through the side (whether front or rear side) and rear windows when tinting is used. "Privacy Tint" is usually darker than 35% and is therefore technically illegal. However, there seems to be a 'grey area' as Vans and Trucks don't need to side rear windows or rear window at all, they can be solid panels. So in recent years we've seen some car manufacturers (like Lexus etc) place "Privacy Tint" on the side rear and rear windows, and standard 35% tint on the front passenger windows.

Having said the above, I don't know what the visible light transference of the VW "Privacy" tint is on the rear sides/rear, nor whether they do in fact put any tint on the front side windows, but when it comes time to order my Golf R I intend to fully clarify these things before ordering this "Privacy Tint" option. Because at $400 you could have an entire car done with the tint of your choice by a reputable person.

[roy]

The law states that 35% of visible light must pass through the side (whether front or rear side) and rear windows when tinting is ...

i think what coreying states is true... and that's why vw wouldn't provide all tinted windows is because of different law in different areas...
just to mention..i heard the factory tint is a little different from the aftermarket one...they put the film between two glasses(like a sandwich i guess) and the aftermarket one is to put the film on the glass...i'm not 100% sure and anyone knows the detail pls help to confirm...

[Corey_R]

just to mention..i heard the factory tint is a little different from the aftermarket one...they put the film between two glasses(like a sandwich i guess) and the aftermarket one is to put the film on the glass...i'm not 100% sure and anyone knows the detail pls help to confirm...

Yeah, this is why I need to investigate it later, because I have seen very little official information about the 'tint' that VW use.

I'm not sure whether there is tint that goes inbetween two laminates of glass, because that would mean the outside (of car) facing laminate would expand/contract at a different rate to the inside laminate, but I know that the metallic particles used for tinting purposes can be 'infused in the glass'* as part of the glass creation process (like 'Comfort-Tone tinted windows for new houses etc).

*I'm not sure 'infused' is the right word as I'm not specifically familiar with the process but I've had it recently explained to me in 'consumer speak' by a few industrial tint specialists whilst investigating commerical window tint to deal with heat management issues in a server room which faces north and is always in direct sunlight.

[ozvino]

we had the 3/4 tint come with our 147 Tiguan as standard, had no choice its mandated. I was told its laminated between layers of glass, the window tint company also felt that was the case

Personally I think its a pain in the ass, I eventually got the front windows tinited and pertty much matched but a full tint is a better outcome (IMHO); when I ordered my GTI I wasnt interested in the $400 Privacy Glass option, you can get a really decent full tint done for udner $400 in Melbourne

[nicandlance]

Barloworld have quoted me $300 for tinting (well, $330 to be exact), for the front windows. She gave me the hard sell about taking a risk by going to an independant tinters, because vw give a lifetime guarantee. She mentioned that several customers had damage done to a wire that courses around the interior of the golf. Scare tactics I know, but ????

[Corey_R]

There are a lot of cowboys out there. Just use someone recommended or reputable :)

[JasonP]

Nic,

I've replied to your PM, however in response to your post, having worked for a large car dealer in Brisbane, & having bought several new cars over the years, I've never seen any tinting completed as an after-build option by a manufacturer.

In every case I've seen, if you buy Tint from the dealer via the Aftermarket Girl, they just get a local tint shop to come & install it at the dealer.

The "lifetime" guarrantee she is referring to, is almost certainly from the aftermarket paint protection etc company, rather than VW itself.

If it was a VW tint, it would have been factory installed, just like the 2 side windows & rear screen.

Getting tint installed via a dealer will always be more expensive than if you get it done elsewhere (Tint-a-Car, etc), & will often be done by the same company & installers the dealer uses.

My advice is in my PM, & $330 is way too much to pay for 2 front side windows to be tinted. $150 & up to $200 is the money.

Good luck!

[nicandlance]

Nic,

I've replied to your PM, however in response to your post, having worked for a large car dealer in Brisbane, & having bought several new cars over the years, I've never seen any tinting completed as an after-build option by a manufacturer.

In every case I've seen, if you buy Tint from the dealer via the Aftermarket Girl, they just get a local tint shop to come & install it at the dealer.

The "lifetime" guarrantee she is referring to, is almost certainly from the aftermarket paint protection etc company, rather than VW itself.

If it was a VW tint, it would have been factory installed, just like the 2 side windows & rear screen.

Getting tint installed via a dealer will always be more expensive than if you get it done elsewhere (Tint-a-Car, etc), & will often be done by the same company & installers the dealer uses.

My advice is in my PM, & $330 is way too much to pay for 2 front side windows to be tinted. $150 & up to $200 is the money.

Good luck!

Thanks Jason for replying...

Yes, I know that VW don't actually do it as an aftermarket thing. She was a little evasive when she spoke about them having a 'factory up the road' where they get them done, but I knew what she meant...
I'm sure it probably IS tint a car or something similar :mad:

I'd really love to know if anyone knows where Barloworld send their cars for tinting... she is reluctant to budge on price, and even inferred that I would have to 'pay' if I want an umbrella.... Growl!
I'd prefer to go straight where they send their cars and cut out the middle man!

[Redman]

Yeah, this is why I need to investigate it later, because I have seen very little official information about the 'tint' that VW use.

I'm not sure whether there is tint that goes inbetween two laminates of glass, because that would mean the outside (of car) facing laminate would expand/contract at a different rate to the inside laminate, but I know that the metallic particles used for tinting purposes can be 'infused in the glass'* as part of the glass creation process (like 'Comfort-Tone tinted windows for new houses etc).

*I'm not sure 'infused' is the right word as I'm not specifically familiar with the process but I've had it recently explained to me in 'consumer speak' by a few industrial tint specialists whilst investigating commerical window tint to deal with heat management issues in a server room which faces north and is always in direct sunlight.

I have been told that the "privacy glass" is a manufactured process, so I gather it is what is discussed above, by an infused or laminate process.
I spoke to a window tinting place who told me that the NSW RTA law is that at least 35% VLT must be maintained, however this does not apply if the vehicle is manufactured with a glass of less than 35% or the vehicle had the tint applied prior to 1st AUG 1994

I can't find anything about the "Manufactured" rule (although I haven't searched the ADR's) in this RTA Standards Info Sheet. (http://www.rta.nsw.gov.au/registration/downloads/vsi/vsi03_rev3.pdf)

[roy]

Thanks Jason for replying...

Yes, I know that VW don't actually do it as an aftermarket thing. She was a little evasive when she spoke about them having a 'factory up the road' where they get them done, but I knew what she meant...
I'm sure it probably IS tint a car or something similar :mad:

I'd really love to know if anyone knows where Barloworld send their cars for tinting... she is reluctant to budge on price, and even inferred that I would have to 'pay' if I want an umbrella.... Growl!
I'd prefer to go straight where they send their cars and cut out the middle man!

300 is too much for just 2 windows..
BTW, tint-a-car also provides lifetime warranty for some products.
so just go and ask. do have to stick to the dealer

[Corey_R]

Yeah - I haven't specifically searched the ADR's but I haven't been able to find anything about the 'manufactured' rule or how Lexus etc are getting away with it.

[Redman]

I saw the RTA Authorised Inspection Station sheet on the front desk at a tinting joint.
Just googled the ADR but it's like finding a needle in a haystack :javacomputer:

[ozvino]

I asked on this website about Tiguan 147 factory tint matching and everyone was going in different directions; drove to a Tinter I know, asked him, he took a look, said you need this particular tint and the next morning he did it; I paid $120 to get 2 windows tinted on a Tiguan b(it was an ARMA shop); they did a great job, they did a previous car for me and zero issues

At the end of the day its stuck on; if you dont like it, it can be removed.....as long as the business is established, you should be ok; oh, and when I took the Tiguan in, the tint shop was stufffed with Nissans, Toyotas, a couple of Lexus and a VW, all BRAND NEW and pre-delivery

[Davel]

I tinted an A4 several years ago and then untinted 4 weeks later.

Just found it a pain to have to lower the windows whenever I came to an intersection.


Guess my eyes are bad.......

[Corey_R]

What % was the tint Davel?

I've had 35% tint on my car for 10 years, and I find it fine at night. HOWEVER, if it's a dark, wet, night and my windows and mirrors are dirty, then it can be a pain (so clean the car! lol).

But I've been in friends cars with a lower % tint (10, 15 and 25) and think that it's too dark for the driver or front passenger windows. You can't see properly at night. I think that it's less of an issue on the rear side windows and rear window though - as I've said elsewhere, some trucks and vans don't even have any windows there!

So I think I'd be happy with 35% for the front passenger and drivers windows, and 20% on the rest :)

[nicandlance]

http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2009/08/mk6side-1.jpg

This is with T35 on the front and UV clear on the rears. The sun shining in from the front and no tint on the windscreen also gives a slightly lighter appearance to the front windows.

Where do you get T35? Is that Tint a car, or somewhere else? Looks good!

[nicandlance]

Getting my GTI done with Formula 1 at Tint-a-car on Monday .... 35% fronts, 15% rears. I was going to go midnight express but was sold on the better formula 1 ... got a decent discount for cash which closed the gap in the cost

Got any pics of the finished job?

[Corey_R]

http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2009/08/mk6side-1.jpg

This is with T35 on the front and UV clear on the rears. The sun shining in from the front and no tint on the windscreen also gives a slightly lighter appearance to the front windows.

See that's the thing.... if it's 35% on the front passenger and rear side windows, and you're saying that the fronts match the rears (apart from appearing slightly lighter in the picture due to the front windscreen obviously not having tint, then it really isn't 'privacy tint' which VW are installing.

The next concerning thing is that you've also put UV clear on the rear windows. Is that because the VW 'Privacy Tint' doesn't filter for 'solar heat'?

You see that's the thing. The 'privacy' tint costs $400, yet it's not really privacy tint, it's just 35%. And to rub salt into the wound, you need to put UV clear film over the 'privacy tint' to also block solar heat.

My recommendation to everyone would be to NOT get the VW factory Tint, and just get the entire car done by the dealer or a local using the best quality 35% tint all around, or put 20% on the rear and rear-side windows if you truly wish to have 'privacy tint'. It should cost under $400 installed for the entire job.

[nicandlance]

Good suggestion, except I got the privacy tint as part of the sport pack for my tsi. It wasn't something that came as an add on or extra.
I am currently looking around for a reputable person in or around my area - Rowville - Glen Waverley once I pick up my car from the dealer for tinting to match the privacy glass.
Had a few suggestions but interested in speaking to someone who has had it done nearby and happy with the job they got.

[dopey]

See that's the thing.... if it's 35% on the front passenger and rear side windows, and you're saying that the fronts match the rears (apart from appearing slightly lighter in the picture due to the front windscreen obviously not having tint, then it really isn't 'privacy tint' which VW are installing.

The next concerning thing is that you've also put UV clear on the rear windows. Is that because the VW 'Privacy Tint' doesn't filter for 'solar heat'?

You see that's the thing. The 'privacy' tint costs $400, yet it's not really privacy tint, it's just 35%. And to rub salt into the wound, you need to put UV clear film over the 'privacy tint' to also block solar heat.

My recommendation to everyone would be to NOT get the VW factory Tint, and just get the entire car done by the dealer or a local using the best quality 35% tint all around, or put 20% on the rear and rear-side windows if you truly wish to have 'privacy tint'. It should cost under $400 installed for the entire job.

Err, Ok.

The standard glass, even without the tinting, is listed on the spec sheet as "Heat Insulating" This would lead me to believe that it does in fact help block some UV.

Where did you get "Privacy Tint" from? The factory tinted rear glass is a part of the Sports Pack, and is not listed as Privacy Tint. In fact the specification sheet reads:

"Dark tinted rear side windows and rear window, 65% light absorbing" - so yes it is "35%" and they aren't advertising it as anything other than just that.

The blurb on the brochure states that it provides added privacy - which, of course it does. It's not available as a factory option on it's own - it is part of the Sports Pack only. Any other tinting is a dealer option and therefore would be aftermarket film sold with a heavy markup.

Quite frankly, you're a sucker if you get window tinting done at the dealer, and it's stupid to pay anything over $200 for a hatch to be tinted - even with the best film.

[nicandlance]

Err, Ok.

The standard glass, even without the tinting, is listed on the spec sheet as "Heat Insulating" This would lead me to believe that it does in fact help block some UV.

Where did you get "Privacy Tint" from? The factory tinted rear glass is a part of the Sports Pack, and is not listed as Privacy Tint. In fact the specification sheet reads:

"Dark tinted rear side windows and rear window, 65% light absorbing" - so yes it is "35%" and they aren't advertising it as anything other than just that.

The blurb on the brochure states that it provides added privacy - which, of course it does. It's not available as a factory option on it's own - it is part of the Sports Pack only. Any other tinting is a dealer option and therefore would be aftermarket film sold with a heavy markup.

Quite frankly, you're a sucker if you get window tinting done at the dealer, and it's stupid to pay anything over $200 for a hatch to be tinted - even with the best film.

Thanks Dopey,
I agree with you and that's why I have told the pushy 'after sales' girl that I'm not prepared to pay $330 for 2 windows to be matched with the privacy glass. I'd hate to think how many people she sucks in with her 'pay for what you get' ramble.
(As I've discussed with another forum member, paying for what you get is fine - but the way this woman sells it, you'd think VW were actually doing the job themselves, when they don't at all!)
Just got to find someone I can trust......
Wish I could find the tinters Barloworld actually use..... Hmmmm....
Might need to investigate further!

[gtimal]

Wish I could find the tinters Barloworld actually use..... Hmmmm....
Might need to investigate further!
There company shirts were black with a yellow pin strip on there sleave's is that Tint A Car :confused:.

Cheers

[nicandlance]

There company shirts were black with a yellow pin strip on there sleave's is that Tint A Car :confused:.

Cheers

How do you know that? Have you seen them there? :confused:
I know there's no Tint a Car in Glen Waverley anymore, and she says they have a 'factory up the road', so not sure.....
she said the tint is called 'carbon' something or other....

[Corey_R]

Err, Ok.

The standard glass, even without the tinting, is listed on the spec sheet as "Heat Insulating" This would lead me to believe that it does in fact help block some UV.

Where did you get "Privacy Tint" from? The factory tinted rear glass is a part of the Sports Pack, and is not listed as Privacy Tint. In fact the specification sheet reads:

"Dark tinted rear side windows and rear window, 65% light absorbing" - so yes it is "35%" and they aren't advertising it as anything other than just that.

The blurb on the brochure states that it provides added privacy - which, of course it does. It's not available as a factory option on it's own - it is part of the Sports Pack only. Any other tinting is a dealer option and therefore would be aftermarket film sold with a heavy markup.

Quite frankly, you're a sucker if you get window tinting done at the dealer, and it's stupid to pay anything over $200 for a hatch to be tinted - even with the best film.

Well thanks.... this is my point mate.
I don't know why everyone is calling it Privacy tint, because it's not! So we agree.

I also know that most cars these days have heat insulating glass, although the quality and amount of heat they insulate varies, but that is why I was questioning why coastie needed to get UV Clear on the windows that had the factory tint optioned on them.

Anyway - the summary of this all is, do not pay for the dealer OR factory tint as it's much better to get elsewhere.

(So ok, it's part of the 'sports pack' for the 118TSI/103TDI, but it's an individual option for the GTI).

[gtimal]

How do you know that? Have you seen them there? :confused:

Hi Nic
Yes.but I'm not sure if they were from Tint A Car .
I checked the tint price on the Gti and it was $250 to do the whole car .
I know Nissan payed Tint A Car $150 to my Maxima 6 years ago because I accidently got the invoice :smile:

[nicandlance]

Thanks GTIMal! That's certainly a good start. Anyone else got any clues? Just would like to go through someone VW trust to do their pre deliveries... :cool:

[chilliman]

Got any pics of the finished job?


Just noticed you live in Rowville, I work in Rowville you could always pop round & have a look! otherwise will try & get some pics sorted!?

Got mine done at Tint A Car FERNTREE GULLY, Unit 1/ 1662 Ferntree Gully Rd, SCORESBY VIC 3179. I'll have to see if I can dig them out but got a voucher someplace for a discount if I refer someone. They were way cheaper than other Tint A Car franchises & did a real good job.

[nicandlance]

That would be great... where abouts do you work?
Might come past later in the week or even next week for a look.

Do you know whether they do below the door trim? The after sales girl was trying to hammer that as a selling point - not sure if tint a car do that.
Did you get the formula one tint?

[Brendan_A]

For them to do the job properly they have to take the door card off. Tint a car here in Qld where I live did take the door cards off.

[nicandlance]

My new golf has the sports pack which has the dark privacy tint on the rear windows. I am looking to tint the front windows with either 3M or Tintacar's Formula 1, depending on which matches best. In talking with Tintacar they said that the factory privacy tint on the rear windows offers zero UV protection and suggested that I should have a clear UV protection tint fitted over them.

I have Googled that the window glass in cars already provide UV B protection, but this was in general and an old article. Does anyone know what level of UVA and UVB protection is provided with the sports pack tint?

Just found this thread... I am picking up a tsi with sport pack tomorrow, and wondering how you went with your tint. Did you go with Tint a Car, and were you happy with the job?

[Skoda Convert]

The long and the short of it is the privacy glass in all manufacturers id just for that intended purpose 'privacy'. No Euro country is like Oz with the extreme UV and heat we experience and they do not cater for this as we are a pooftenth of their total volume.

If you want protection from the sun and something anti cancer related then you need to get the dealer or a independent to cover the 3 rear glass panels with clear UV and the fronts in normal tint. Coreying has made some good suggestions above

To suggest it is a profit centre only is a bit misleading. It is a business after all and what would they make on top $100 (if you neg hard) maybe and it saves you given up your car for the day and provides you with a product you see value in.

[dylan8]

uv doesn't go through the glass

This is what i thought... Has anyone ever got burnt from sitting in there car with the windows up? I know it feels like it but i dont think UV passes through

[Corey_R]

Um guys, glass doesn't block all UV. Even WITH tint, depending on the type used it doesn't block all UV.
Unfortunately I'm overseas on a project and I can't find the documentation which had just 'plain glass' tested. But the reason you get 'curtain fade' and other fabric fades in homes is because glass DOES NOT block all UV.
It's also why you get dashboards fading and cracking over time etc.


http://www.solargard.com.au/Auto/Performance

The other thing is that there is a big difference between 'Total Solar Energy Rejection' between different films - and it isn't neccessarily related to the 'Visible Light Transference' which is the '35%' rating often discussed as the lowest legally allowed on vechiles. TSER directly relates to how 'hot' you'll feel in direct sunlight and how hot the car will get inside, even if all UV is blocked.

So yeah... there is more to the quality of solar films than just "will it turn purple and bubble" and how much does it cost....

It's not as bad as it used to be, as many car windows are treated for UV even if they're not tinted - but then they also never really tell you how good the UV protection is.

[PassatB6]

This is what i thought... Has anyone ever got burnt from sitting in there car with the windows up? I know it feels like it but i dont think UV passes through

Got caught out by this one many years ago at Uni when I was told the same by a lecturer but it proved to be incorrect. You can get sunburnt in a car.

While glass blocks out most UVB, the cause of burning, it does not block out UVA. UVA causes skin aging and skin cancer also. Skin burning is still possible through glass although it would take longer due to lowered UVB levels. Skin damage and cancer risk is still high through lack of UVA protection.

[prise]

http://www.deltakits.com/newsletter/articles/0505-1.html

Most new vehicles these days have a slight green tint to the glass which gives more UVA protection than plain glass.

[prise]

http://www.climaguardspf.com/stellentdev/groups/climaguard/documents/native/gi_004941.pdf

This is probably more any of us want to know about glass and UV !

[dylan8]

Got caught out by this one many years ago at Uni when I was told the same by a lecturer but it proved to be incorrect. You can get sunburnt in a car.

While glass blocks out most UVB, the cause of burning, it does not block out UVA. UVA causes skin aging and skin cancer also. Skin burning is still possible through glass although it would take longer due to lowered UVB levels. Skin damage and cancer risk is still high through lack of UVA protection.

hmmm, knew i should have paid more attention at school.

Either way, think your better off then fat arming it windows down for kms on end haha

[G-rig]

I don't know why anyone would order or want privacy glass. You can't match the front windows without it being illegal darkness and two different tints look crap.

It's pointless if it doesnt cut out much UVA as well and factory tint (ie 5%) doesn't really do anything.

[Zano]

Just found this thread... I am picking up a tsi with sport pack tomorrow, and wondering how you went with your tint. Did you go with Tint a Car, and were you happy with the job?

I did go with Tint a Car and their Formula 1 for the front two windows. It matches very close, and you wouldn't notice the colour difference unless someone pointed it out, and even then you would have to study it carefully. Pretty happy with the result.

[nicandlance]

I don't know why anyone would order or want privacy glass. You can't match the front windows without it being illegal darkness and two different tints look crap.

It's pointless if it doesnt cut out much UVA as well and factory tint (ie 5%) doesn't really do anything.

You don't order it... it comes with the sport pack. Going to have to try and match as best I can..... Everyone seems to say Tint a Car's Formula one.

[G-rig]

I thought it was an option like on some of the other models, no dramas. Should be able to get something close to match.

[nicandlance]

I emailed tint a car for prices etc, and the guy there has said they have used MNE and Formula One for the Golfs with sport pack. Has anyone got MNE and does anyone know the difference between the two?

[Brendan_A]

I have MNE on my Jetta. It's not a bad tint. The difference between the two is MNE is a lot darker than the Formula 1 but the Formula 1 has the higher SPF 50 rating. When my MK6 golf turns up I'll be getting Street Legal tint on the front windows. Apparently it matches the sports pack rear windows better.

[nicandlance]

Is that Tint a Car as well, and are you going direct or through the dealer.... (surely not?) :cool:

[Brendan_A]

I'll be getting the golf done at the dealer as the Tint on the front windows will be free. I wasn't really happy with the way Tint a Car treated my car, they didn't put one of the trims back on properly (which caused a rattle) and they also damaged another trim which I managed to get replaced under warranty. So make sure you check your trims! My dealer up here has there own in house tint guy. So if they brake anything they replace.

[nicandlance]

Has anyone else had these problems and can anyone recommend a reputable tinter in Melbourne?
I could have gone through the dealer but their markup was disgraceful. Trying to figure out who Barloworld use... someone has said Tint a Car, but there isn't one in Glen Waverley... I'm thinking it's someone else.....

[ozvino]

pick a reputable tinter who has been around for a while and it will not be an issue; they do this day in, day out.....

If you think a dealer hunts down a supplier based on quality, well, I dont want to burst your balloon, but they source suppliers based on cost, just like all other business transactions.........

I guarantee if you drive around to your local car tint shop it will be loaded with new, pre-delivery cars...some far more valuable and exotic than a Golf...

I had an Audi tinted by Tint a Car in Camberwell from memory (Audi dealer suggested I use them) about 6 years ago and they were fine; more recently I have used ARMA and they have been fine also; have had 3 cars tinted by them

[nicandlance]

pick a reputable tinter who has been around for a while and it will not be an issue; they do this day in, day out.....

If you think a dealer hunts down a supplier based on quality, well, I dont want to burst your balloon, but they source suppliers based on cost, just like all other business transactions.........

I guarantee if you drive around to your local car tint shop it will be loaded with new, pre-delivery cars...some far more valuable and exotic than a Golf...

I had an Audi tinted by Tint a Car in Camberwell from memory (Audi dealer suggested I use them) about 6 years ago and they were fine; more recently I have used ARMA and they have been fine also; have had 3 cars tinted by them

No, I didn't think for one minute that the dealer picked tinters based on quality... I was just interested to know who they used because obviously whoever that is would be familiar with the Golf and which tint matched well.
You said you have used ARMA... which colour tint of theirs did you go with?

[ozvino]

Apparently matching the European tint esp. VW is a challenge, its got a green tinge as you might have noticed, the JAP cars have dark colouring as opposed to the more expensive laminating the Europeans use. I got the Solaris from memory (its the non metalic one they use), 35% tint, two windows $120; I think it looks good, its close to the Tiguan 147 tint, has a slight greenish tinge also, if anything slightly lighter but I doubt its much. I was advised to go lighter if anything, that way it wouldn't stand out, plus you would have read that 35% is the legal limit - its my wifes car and shes happy with the match

Ive got a GTI on order and I will most likely take it to ARMA also

[nicandlance]

I have been talking to tint professor about their tint.

This is the reply I got. Has anyone had work done with them and do you recommend them? (Mind you, I'm not going to let them pick my car up.... now I've got it, I don't trust anyone else with it!)





Thanks for your inquiry.

To tint your VW Golf Hatchback with the best grade of window tinting on the market costs $265, which includes free pick up and delivery. Your window tinting is guaranteed perfect for life, any problems we fix, no questions, no charge.



With the VW Golf Hatchback we would recommend putting a slightly lighter film on the back as this will give you the UV and Heat protection that the privacy glass doesn’t have. We would then blend the two front windows into the back of the car with a darker film. This slightly darker film is no extra cost.



To book your VW Golf Hatchback in for tinting or for more information please contact us either by e-mail or telephone (1300 668 663) and please remember the price includes our free service of pick up and delivery anywhere within the Melbourne metro area, please allow about 3 hours.

[Corey_R]

The first thing I would say is, that the 'Privacy Glass' is already 35%, so to have heat and UV protection on those rear windows without breaking the law, you'd have to use a 'Clear Tint' which allows the majority 'transfer of visible light', yet rejects as much UV and solar energy as possible.

The next thing I would say, since they were basically advising you to break the law, without mentioning that fact, I would probably seek some other company that knows what they're talking about more :)

[bigmouthmedia]

Nic, I've finally decided on ARMA Box Hill - they're not that far for me to go, and while they don't have the free loan cars (or them picking it up, I wouldn't want it to be trusted either !) - I'm getting all 4 windows bar the back (for the signage) for $250, done in about 2-3 hours.

I'll let you know how it goes, and will post some photos for all to see !

[nicandlance]

When do you think you'll be doing that... is it all booked in?
Looking forward to seeing the results!

I'm a bit sceptical about Tint professer... I was questioning their suggestion about putting another colour on the rears... too dark. Leaning toward tint a car in Scoresby, but will see how yours turns out. Difference is that yours hasn't the sport pack, so you don't have to match privacy glass. Wish VW had just done all four windows and saved me the trouble lol!

:rolleyes:

[Corey_R]

Nah - you should really wish that VW had not done any as part of the sports back - that way you can just go get proper tint and not have to worry about having some tint which doesn't appear to be blocking UV or solar energy all that well....

[nicandlance]

It does block 35% though doesn't it? I'm happy with that - but I'd be happier if all the windows were dark...
Oh well, after Monday they probably will be! :-)

[bigmouthmedia]

Nic, I've replied on your email - but the car is being done right now - so i'll post some pics up here once it's done, they seem pretty nice people and at a good rate.

I'm getting the "Sonic" brand - the Solaris is apparently a bit reflective/mirrorlike on the outside - i prefer not to look like I listen to 80's pop music :)

[Corey_R]

It does block 35% though doesn't it? I'm happy with that - but I'd be happier if all the windows were dark...
Oh well, after Monday they probably will be! :-)

Hi Nic,

Tinting is a really complicated thing. Most people think the only thing which matters is colour and the '35%'. I refer you to the Solar Gard Tinting FAQ (http://www.solargard.com/Commercial/FAQs)

The '35%' that gets quoted on car tinting means that it only allows "35% of VISIBLE light TRANSMITTENCE"

But there is more than just 'VLT'.

The other common 'performance ratings' on Solar films include:
Solar Energy Transmittance, Absorptance and Reflectance.
Visible Light External and Internal Reflectance (in addition to the Transmittance)
Emissivity
Thermal Energy U-Value, Shading Coefficient and Solar Heat Gain Coefficient.
UV Light Transmittance
and commonly an overall 'Total Solar Energy Rejected'

It appears that the VW 'Privacy Glass' is either not designed to block Thermal Energy or UV Light Transmittance, or doesn't do a good job of it (again, we're relying on information posted on various forums and from tint specialists, as VW themselves don't really give any information on this). This is why other people have been getting 'clear tint' which does not block too much more visible light (so the 35% won't change too much), but does give much better results in all those other values I've listed above.

I hope this helps :D

[Corey_R]

I'm getting the "Sonic" brand - the Solaris is apparently a bit reflective/mirrorlike on the outside - i prefer not to look like I listen to 80's pop music :)

So to relate this back to the information on my post above, that would mean that the Sonic Solaris tint has a higher Visible Light External Reflectance % than other common automotive tints.

It should also be noted that highly reflective or 'mirror' tints are illegal in Australia. As are 'coloured' or 'fading' tints (except along the top of the front windscreen). Mind you, from what I've seen of the specification, they don't give specific % values of what is legal or not in relation to colour and visible light reflectance - just visible light transmittance.

[nicandlance]

Thanks for that information, you really are a fountain of knowledge aren't you lol!? It does clear up a few questions I had though... shame VW can't give better information on what sort of tint it actually is!

Thinking I'll go with the Formula One tint at Tint a Car... going to go have a look on Monday. He suggested another to me as well (MNE), but I think Formula One has better protection and quite a few other members have gone with it as well.
Just got to get past my fear of having them stuff up my interior door panels and giving me rattles that will drive me bonkers! :eek:

[nicandlance]

Nic, I've replied on your email - but the car is being done right now - so i'll post some pics up here once it's done, they seem pretty nice people and at a good rate.

I'm getting the "Sonic" brand - the Solaris is apparently a bit reflective/mirrorlike on the outside - i prefer not to look like I listen to 80's pop music :)

Saw you changed Comfortline to Comfort Pack lol!! :cool:
Hope that tint is looking good... looking forward to pics!

[roy]

Hi coreying,
u mean the factory tint coming with the sport package can not block Thermal Energy?
because i think i absorbs 65% light (including UV) from the SPEC..

anyone with the factory tint do u feel anything about that?
how about u nic? what do you think the privacy tint?
otherwise probably i need to tint all the windows instead of only the front 2

[Corey_R]

Hi Roy.

Light and heat are not the same thing (please see the link to the Solar Guard Tint FAQ (http://www.solargard.com/Commercial/FAQs).
The VW Spec (at least for the GTI) also does not actually say that blocks UV - nor does it say what type of UV. Nor has anyone at this site, or any of the dealers questioned, been able to provide any actual specifications for the tint....

We're all individuals, so make your own decision - but please check out the Tint FAQ to help understand all that encompasses a 'tint film'

[roy]

the reason no one questioned that i guess because it's too 'common sense'...e.g for me i took it for granted the light on spec includes UV, infrared radiation...etc
thank you for your link i'll check it out.

[Corey_R]

But it's not 'common sense'. Heat and light are two different things. So I would agree that it is 'common misconception', but definitely not common sense.

UV A, UV B and UV C are three separate things.
Have a look at ANY of those Tints on the Solar Gard site, or from any other manufacturer for that matter, and you will see that there are LARGE differences amoung '35% tints' in their ability to block heat, even though they all block the same amount of light.

Also note that there is also a LARGE difference in their ability to regulate the tempurature contained within - Emissivity.

[roy]

But it's not 'common sense'. Heat and light are two different things. So I would agree that it is 'common misconception', but definitely not common sense.

UV A, UV B and UV C are three separate things.
Have a look at ANY of those Tints on the Solar Gard site, or from any other manufacturer for that matter, and you will see that there are LARGE differences amoung '35% tints' in their ability to block heat, even though they all block the same amount of light.

Also note that there is also a LARGE difference in their ability to regulate the tempurature contained within - Emissivity.

u r right. i mean miscoception and that's why i put ' ' on it.
it'll be better if the manufacturer provides more detailed info, such as what kind of light blocked, how much percent...otherwise we have to do our homework
BTW didn't find a lot dealers in VIC...

[nicandlance]

No worries - my Golf's booked in to get Formula 1 on Monday. I saw it on a Magna they'd just done and I'm happy enough with it.

My Golf is white with Sport Pack... would love to see pic of yours with Formula One tint..... please? :rolleyes:

[bigmouthmedia]

And here's the result of ARMA Tint Box Hill's efforts today....they're just fine, the only thing I'd have a word about is the fact that I dropped it off at 8:30am, expecting a 1pm or so delivery, but I had to call them at 2:30 to be told they were flat stick with delivery cars - if you as a paying customer had organised to come in, wouldn't you take any precedence ?

All said and done, I'm happy with the job - no rattles, no issues. Now it's just a case of DON'T TOUCH THE WINDOW CONTROLS for 2 days :)

http://gallery.me.com/bigmouthmedia/100164/IMG_0257/web.jpg?ver=12651015880001

http://gallery.me.com/bigmouthmedia/100164/IMG_0259/web.jpg?ver=12651015830001

http://gallery.me.com/bigmouthmedia/100164/IMG_0258/web.jpg?ver=12651015780001

[ozvino]

The factory "privacy glass" isn't applied film, its laminated into the glass when its made (when the glass is made)

It works just as well as "tint" or film (in my experience)

[nicandlance]

Anyone been to Just a Tint? They use a Solar Gard product called Supreme35 which is apparently a bit lighter than Privacy tint, but still with the greenish tint. (Ferntree Gully)

[midlifecrisis]

Can anyone provide opinions and costs on getting Formula One tint at Tint a Car on a Golf with a Sports Package?
It sounds like the it might be the right package but I dont know if they will do decent clear UV on the rear already tinted windows, and what it might cost.
And has anyone had any issues with this tint?

[Corey_R]

I believe Coastie had it done - so maybe you could PM him. He's the one that posted the 118TSI with sports package and had the clear UV on the rear windows. Not sure who did it though.

[nicandlance]

Quick update for those who are interested.

Had the car tinted at Tint A Car (Albion, Brisbane - Fantastic service! only took half an hour for 2 windows.) with the Formula One tint. Looks pretty good. The tint has a slight green tinge which does match the privacy glass nicely. The privacy glass is just a very slight shade darker.

Overall im happy with the outcome :)

Hi Schnapp,

I'm booked in for Wednesday to get my two front windows done in the Formula One. What did you pay?

[midlifecrisis]

Ok, newbie question, besides the sides do people get the rear window tinted when they already have the sports package?

[Corey_R]

The front sides (i.e. driver and passenger windows) require a 35% tint. The rear side windows as well as the rear window requires a 'clear tint' for heat and 'total' UV blockage (or as close to total as possible). Unfortunately the clear tint is more expensive than regular tint as it usually is made using real gold foil - although so thin that it's "clear".

[Brendan_A]

And who says you have to put clear tint on the rear windows when you have the Sport pack?

[Corey_R]

Apparently the Sport's pack owners who've taken the car to third-party tinters and posted previously in this thread and others. Because everything that people have been able to find on the 'Tint' as part of the sports pack (or option on the GTI) says that it only protects vs 1 type of UV and doesn't provide any more heat insulation than the standard non-tinted treatment VW uses.

[Golfitup]

I have ordered a new Golf with the sports pack so the rear windows will be tinted but not the front.

The dealer is offering front window tinting for $380 and they said it is the closest you will get to matching the front.

A friend said its a good idea to wait until winter as tint companies will have specials...what are your thoughts?

[Brendan_A]

Mate, I wouldn't be paying $380 to tint 2 front windows! They'll tell you anything. I would try and get them to do it for free or even $50. I'm getting mine done for free.

[Golfitup]

I dont think I will be getting any more stuff thrown in for free. I got all I wanted at a good price and they aint going to budge.

What would the cost be to tint the front windows to match (as much as possible) the sports pack?

[WhiteJames]

^I paid $295 for my two front windows (5 door) for Street Wise Tint (Solaire I think). Front windows will be max legal, but will be slightly lighter shade than the rear factory privacy glass.

Cheers.
WJ

[moniker]

I'm picking up a 103 TDI with sports pack on Tuesday.
Late last week the 'pre-delivery' manger called me and said along the lines of 'We are doing a few cars todays, and as the privacy glass on your car does NOT offer any heat or UV protection, I recommend you get it tinted as it'll be a special price"
When I asked how much for this, she replied $500.
I politely rejected !
(Got my Bora done with the best metallic tint for around $250 IIRC)

After delivery, I'm going to see what I think about heat transfer etc and then probably get a light or clear UV / heat tint put on.
(I've tinted EVERY car I've ever had - over 20 years now. I don't understand why people DON't get tint to be honest)

I'm in Perth - can get pretty sunny here :)

[WhiteJames]

I wouldn't bother with the film on the inside of the privacy glass. Longer-term, the heat demister would cause the film to peel off as seen on many older hatch-backs. If their is an issue with the film, I only have the two front windows to concern me. The Street-Wise Tint is a Blue/Black tint most suited to the privacy glass, as the blue/black tint appear darker than the greenish tint. Blue/Black tint also looks better on Black, White or R-Blue.

Cheers.
WJ

[moniker]

You know, quite often when I've seen the crappy purpleish tint bubbling off cars there's a Tint-a-car sticker on the back.
Not just old cars either.

Cheap tint will go crappy - full stop.
I've yet to have decent tint- properly applied -have any issues at all.
I always get the 'metallic' tint and have NEVER had issues with rear windows with demisters.
The wife's car is nearly 8 years old - the tint looks as good as the day it was applied.

Rayban metallic.

[Axis]

Personally I've had Tint-a-car Formula 1 tint applied to two cars in the past. One was a 5 door hatch and the other was a 2 door coupe.

The hatch was around ~$500 and the coupe was ~$350. Both these prices included all the windows (aside from the windscreen of course). The tint was excellent on both counts and I'd definitely get the same again.

[Golfitup]

Has anyone had experiance with the Tint Professor?

[nicandlance]

I have ordered a new Golf with the sports pack so the rear windows will be tinted but not the front.

The dealer is offering front window tinting for $380 and they said it is the closest you will get to matching the front.

A friend said its a good idea to wait until winter as tint companies will have specials...what are your thoughts?

Yes, that is absolute B****hit.
Markup of about 100%!
I had the same problem.
Got mine done by Tint a Car (Formula One tint) for $130 (two windows)
Took about half an hour - very happy!

As it happens, they do all the pre delivery cars for Burwin in Ferntree Gully, so I know they are familiar with the cars.
Don't get sucked in by the after sales girl.... she is after her commission.
(And VW don't do the tint themselves, they send them out to places like tint a car for a big markup!)

[glennbot]

I also had my front only windows tinted at Tint a Car ( with Formula One). The colour and darkness match is very close.

The guy at Tint a Car Underwood (brissy) was very professional and did a great job. Last place I got a car tinted at completely stuffed it by damaging the door trim. I was very critical with the job with Tint-a-car and thou you might pay a little more it's well worth it. Perfect job - no marks scratches.

Cheers.

[VWEAPN]

the rear privacy glass is not dark enough in my opinion. subaru privacy glass is the way to go!
ill be tinting the jetta in a couple of days i think 25% should be about right

[DracZ]

Anyone tint over the factory privacy glass? I'd like to get the rears darker, but also be able to match the fronts. If so, perhaps you could list the different % tints used on the front/rears and how they turned out?

[Corey_R]

You'd really need to know more than just the percentage - you'd need to know the type so that you could match the shade....

[DracZ]

You'd really need to know more than just the percentage - you'd need to know the type so that you could match the shade....

Figured most people would state the product / tint percentage together, the same percentage tint from different brands can definitely look different etc. Cheers for the heads up nonetheless

[Hoversloth]

Hey Guys,

I did a quick search and couldn't see where this was answered. I'm looking to get Tint-a-Car to put on 35% Forumula 1 all around my GTI. The GTI Brochure says that a standard feature of the vehicle is "Heat Insulating Tinted Glass".

Does anybody know what % tint this is? I know the optional privacy tint is 35%.

I guess the reason I want to know is to make sure that placing 35% all round on the car won't technically make it illegal? i.e the factory tint is a certain percentage so adding 35% all round increases that percentage making it illegal?

Hope I'm making sense! :confused:

[Corey_R]

Does anybody know what % tint this is? I know the optional privacy tint is 35%.

It's not _realllly_ tinted. Well - it's kinda tinted green - but the % of VLT blocked would be very minimal (I would say like that it is really so minimal that it's probably just about the same as a thick piece of glass anyway - since even normal glass reduces VLT by a certain percentage).

[mycl]

Was told by a reputable tinter that the Formula 1 tint (e.g. from Tint a Car) is too green for the dark rear privacy glass and that it appears that it is very hard to find a good matching tint for the privacy glass!:eek: Do ppl here concur? Opinions? Other options? Places in Melbourne? Would appreciate ppl's thoughts!

[Corey_R]

I personally haven't seen a MK6 with the factory tint yet, so I can't comment. But being that it's standard on the Golf R, I think we're going to have a lot more of this coming up!!

Btw, this is NOT privacy glass. Now that I'm a mod, I'm editing the thread titled to correct this cause it's annoyed me for ages! :D

[MurphyTheElf]

I could find out what the dealer fitted to my front windows because mine came with factory tint and all the windows seem to match perfectly. Maybe they don't, but I haven't noticed a difference - nor has nobody else said anything. Looks great to me.

[Corey_R]

yeah - that'd be useful Murphy, thanks :)

[dopey]

I could find out what the dealer fitted to my front windows because mine came with factory tint and all the windows seem to match perfectly. Maybe they don't, but I haven't noticed a difference - nor has nobody else said anything. Looks great to me.

I thought GTI's come with no tint at all from factory? At least that's what I've noticed around here - lots getting around with no tint at all on all windows. That may explain why everything matches perfectly with your dealer fitted window tinting - they tinted all windows? Correct me if I'm wrong :)

[MurphyTheElf]

I thought GTI's come with no tint at all from factory? At least that's what I've noticed around here - lots getting around with no tint at all on all windows. That may explain why everything matches perfectly with your dealer fitted window tinting - they tinted all windows? Correct me if I'm wrong :)

No, dopey, there is a factory tint option that uses tinted glass on the rear window and the rear passenger windows. The fronts always come with clear glass from the factory. The trick is to match the tint film for the front with the tinted glass on the rear windows.

[WhiteJames]

Dealer tells me that the Street Wise Blue/Black Tint (Solaire) most closely resembles the factory privacy glass. Here is the NSW RTA guidelines for the window tinting:

http://www.rta.nsw.gov.au/registration/downloads/vsi/vsi03_rev3.pdf

Most glass window manufacturers state that their glass prevents up to 98% of harmful UV rays.

Max legal for NSW is 35% VLT.

Cheers.
WJ

[dopey]

No, dopey, there is a factory tint option that uses tinted glass on the rear window and the rear passenger windows. The fronts always come with clear glass from the factory. The trick is to match the tint film for the front with the tinted glass on the rear windows.

Oh well there you go... it seems nobody around my area has fancied the tint option then! As mentioned before, I had only seen them with completely untinted glass on all windows.

[MurphyTheElf]

I spoke to a rep from the dealer tint company. He was a little cagey to give me full details, but he did tell me that it was a 35% green tinge tint - and I finally got him to tell me it was a Llumar product.

A quick search for these details gave me this forum (http://forums.vwvortex.com/zerothread?id=1278419), that details a product called Llumar AT 35 Green. Whether or not it still has the same name, I can't be sure.

The factory privacy glass is a 17% so they can't legally match it, but this looks pretty damn close to me.

Hope this helps someone.

[Corey_R]

The factory privacy glass is a 17% so they can't legally match it, but this looks pretty damn close to me.

You see - this is what I hate about the factory tint, because there is just not enough specs on it.

Firstly, VW is only calling it 'Dark Tint', not privacy glass. I've searched but cannot find any reference to 'privacy glass' in VW documentation made publically available.

In the Golf brochures VW state it's 65% light absorbing - which in itself is probably a rubbish statement. But most people, myself included, have taken that to mean 100-65 = '35% Visible Light Transmittance'. Of course, if it really did absorb 65% of light, then you'd also have to take out what it reflects to reach how much it transmits, amoung other factors too technical to think about.

But this new figure of 17% is something new. I personally doubt that as none of the photos posted would seem to show it as being that dark. Although admittedly it's always hard to tell from photos.

Does ANYONE have any specifications for the VW factory tint?

[G-rig]

I'd just get it as dark as you have to to match it, not from the dealer.

Sucks the privacy glass is so dark and differing intensity tints look crap IMO.

20% would prob be fairly close, as long as it's a green tinge.

Given the choice i'd give privacy glass a miss as the UV properties aren't as good as normal tint either from what i gather.

[emuexport]

unfortunately the privacy tint glass comes with the Sports pack! :(

Will be having a look when it arrives and definetely re-read this to find out the best option!

[G-rig]

No, dopey, there is a factory tint option that uses tinted glass on the rear window and the rear passenger windows. The fronts always come with clear glass from the factory. The trick is to match the tint film for the front with the tinted glass on the rear windows.

I thought you could get GTI's with no tint at all (ie dont tick factory tint and later you can get dealer tint ie all windows match?).

Seems like you have to with the sportspack on the 118TSI, and the Golf R is rumored to come with it stock as well.

[kennyc]

I have ordered dealer tint when i get my car.
They will tint it when the car comes in.

[G-rig]

Anyone got some more pics of 'dark glass' and dealer tinted front windows? As long as the colour is the same i dont mind if it's slightly lighter, as it would be obviously illegal if you matched it up.

I'm not sure if this is no tint or 35% on the front windows:
(don't know why manufacturers bother with privacy glass, doesn't seem to offer much/any UV protection as well as costing $400):

http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2010/03/09_2009_vw_gti_live-1.jpg

http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2010/03/05_2009_vw_gti_live-1.jpg

[Corey_R]

G-rig. All the photos I've seen the tint has matched. As I said on the previous page, this IS NOT privacy glass and I have NEVER seen ANYTHING from VW which says that it is. The VW specs say '65% light absorbing', and everyone so far has considered this to mean '35% tint'.

The post yesterday from MurphyTheElf is the first time anyone has posted anything about it being anything else. I'm still waiting to see anything to backup the remarks though (not doubting Murphy, just what he has been told).

[G-rig]

Cheers Coreying, just need to see a pic of this 'dark glass' with the dealer matched tint (seems like it's pretty close). It's also true that more light comes in from the front windows.

Just hope it's not as dark as the pic above, but i'm guessing the front windows in that pic aren't tinted at all. Don't want too dark on the front (ie >= 20%) as it's a pain to see out of and a safety issue.

I got Sungard Eclipse on my last car, and it was stunning and very easy to see out of. Being a bit reflective it rejects a lot of heat, and was surprised when i was in the back of my sisters Mazda 3 which had tint, seems like i could feel the heat. Perhaps the aircon wasn't blowing in my face etc).

http://img25.imageshack.us/img25/4503/resizeofresizeofdscf119.jpg

[G-rig]

G-rig. All the photos I've seen the tint has matched. As I said on the previous page, this IS NOT privacy glass and I have NEVER seen ANYTHING from VW which says that it is. The VW specs say '65% light absorbing', and everyone so far has considered this to mean '35% tint'.


Yeah call it what you like, i meant to say 'Dark Glass'.

So what kind of glass is on the back of that GTI?

Here's on the the R, which is dark glass is meant to be standard isn't it? With a camera it wouldnt be that much of a big deal tinting the front a 'bit' darker than 35% if it matches well.

http://img691.imageshack.us/img691/1280/x35ry88o.png

[MurphyTheElf]

The post yesterday from MurphyTheElf is the first time anyone has posted anything about it being anything else. I'm still waiting to see anything to backup the remarks though (not doubting Murphy, just what he has been told).

Yes, I was just passing on the specs given to me by the tint rep. My dealer has an in-house tint company since they are so large. He said the factory tinted glass was 17%, which they can't match with film for legal reasons. Not sure where his figures come from.

[WhiteJames]

^A couple of dealers have told me that they cannot legally match the front windows with the rear privacy glass on the MKVI GTI; which suggests to me that the rear glass has lower light transference than 35% - the legal limit for tinting windows. This creates a grey area in the regulations if the rear privacy glass has a lower VLT (17% as mentioned above) on the rear three windows.

I'd imagine that the over-riding ADR certification allows for these windows to be darker than allowed with an aftermarket tint, providing that they are the rear three windows only as stated to be the case in Europe.

Where does that leave us with tinting the front windows?

I can't see any rule or regulation in NSW not permitting tinting the front windows up to 35% VLT with rear privacy glass of (possibly) 17% VLT. My argument for this is that the vehicle is ADR certified and NSW RTA say I can tint front windows as much as 35% with no mention of max factory tint on the rear windows - the grey area in the law.

Normally the front side windows appear to be a lighter shade in colour due to the clear front windscreen. Having a slightly mismatched tint from front-side windows to rear-side windows should not impact too much on the overall look of the Golf; although its important to have the closest match in terms of colour. The pics poster earlier seem to show a Black colour on the GTI and Green colour on the Golf R.

I prefer slightly less light transference (higher VLT) as it aids visibility.

Putting clear expensive tint is going a bit overboard ... esp in my case as the GTI is garaged at home mostly and undercover at work when driven to work.

My 2 cents worth.

Cheers.
WJ

[Corey_R]

Yeah - I mean, technically you don't require a rear or side rear windows AT ALL! Just look at trucks and many vans. So having side rear and rear windows tinted with values less than 35% VLT is no issue with me. Other companies (Toyota/Lexus etc) do it, but they also have the front side windows tinted in 35% to match the rear glass either.

My issues with this dark tint are:-

Volkswagen do not seem to be able to disclose what the specifications for their factory 'dark tint' is.
65% 'light absorbing' is not a useful figure on its own.
It does not reject all types of UV
It is only the rear 3 windows and the front windows are left untinted.
Finding a matching tint is difficult and limits your options
Members who already have it have stated that it does not provide comparable heat rejection to other aftermarket film tints
If the previous is correct, the cost of 'clear tint' (which actually uses real gold in the manufacturing process) is much more expensive than good quality dark film tint.


It just seems like too much hassle.

I'd prefer to just not have it, and then be able to use the tint that I'd like instead.

It'll also be much cheaper than $400 to get the entire car tinted, instead of just those rear 3 windows like the VW option :D

[Corey_R]

Yes, I was just passing on the specs given to me by the tint rep. My dealer has an in-house tint company since they are so large. He said the factory tinted glass was 17%, which they can't match with film for legal reasons. Not sure where his figures come from.

Ooh. Just saw this. Yeah, thanks mate. I thought that was the case. Hopefully some day Volkswagen will expand on the specifications for us, and provide at least the basic figures that you can get on other glass and film products! :D

[DracZ]

Currently have an MK6 118TSI w/ sports pack, went to Tint a Car a week ago to get a tint done, guy used Midnight Express 17% for the fronts. The % tint might have been a match, but the color was certainly completely off. I went down there again today and got my money back. I had a look at the 35% Formula One and it does not have a green tinge either.

Following up with what MurphyTheElf mentioned earlier, I noticed in the back room of Tint a Car that a lot of the boxes had the Llumar brand on it. A quick chat with the owner revealed that the distributor for Llumar, mepfilms, also owns Tint a Car and Motor One.

According to the threads supplied in the same post and numerous ones linked to it - it seems nothing thats currently off the rack will match the color perfectly bar Llumar's AT 35 Green (AT35GN), which some Touareg owners over in the US have had great success with.

After the easter break I'll be calling up Motor One / Tint a Car branches to see which one of them stocks this particular film, or is willing to order it in etc. Will keep you guys posted!

[chilliman]

Better late than never my car with formula one tint done a tint-a-car. Went for maximum legal tint on the front and darker on the rears in line with the privacy glass option ... very happy with results!!

http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2010/04/IMG00078201002281824-1.jpg

[mycl]

Dealer tells me that the Street Wise Blue/Black Tint (Solaire) most closely resembles the factory privacy glass. Here is the NSW RTA guidelines for the window tinting:

http://www.rta.nsw.gov.au/registration/downloads/vsi/vsi03_rev3.pdf

Most glass window manufacturers state that their glass prevents up to 98% of harmful UV rays.

Max legal for NSW is 35% VLT.

Cheers.
WJ

Just to let you know, I had the solaire 35% from ARMA installed for the fronts to match the 'privacy' rear tinted glass, and it isnt as green or as dark as the rears .... at least when directly comparing it against a whitish coloured wall in a lit garage. Maybe in daylight it would look better.

[G-rig]

A quick search for these details gave me this forum (http://forums.vwvortex.com/zerothread?id=1278419), that details a product called Llumar AT 35 Green. Whether or not it still has the same name, I can't be sure.

The factory privacy glass is a 17% so they can't legally match it, but this looks pretty damn close to me.

Hope this helps someone.

Has anyone found this stuff yet?

I have Solartint BPIR 45 which matches well but not sure if 45 is right, sound too light? Wouldn't mind something darker and would be good to get an exact match whether it's legal or not. The tint on the front has a kind of washed out look from inside the car but looks good from the outside.

Still considering whether to tint the rear windows with clear UV protection, can feel the heat a bit through all windows.

Edit: Apparently the stuff we want is Llumar AT 35 GN SR HPR. I've emailed Llumar Australia to see if anyone stocks it or if it can be ordered.

[G-rig]

Update: I called MEP Films by Llumar and mentioned the film people were using in the states AT 35 GN SR HPR. They have never had it over here but are going to mail me an A4 sample of something called 'Deco Green' which is ~30%.

Will see how close it looks to the factory glass when I get hold of it.

Also found this data sheet:
http://www.llumar.com/pdf/en/LLumarParameterSheetGlobal.pdf

[irossiter]

Only after questioning a few dealers did I find out the what the story is with the factory glass. The rear side and back glass has NO UV protection built into it. The glass is actually coloured dark and does not have a film on it. If you want any UV filtering in these windows you must have a clear film applied to it (and at an extra cost of course of $100). When I was quoted for my new GTI, every dealer added in the "Factory tint" rear glass as an option, even though I did not ask for it. $300 plus for something I did not ask them about! It was not standard but "everyone gets it," I was told! I decided to specifically refuse to have the factory rear coloured glass built into my car and have all 5 windows tinted (not the windscreen obviously) by the dealer. The windows will then match and have the UV protection. VW Geelong are charging me $30 more to have all 5 windows tinted instead of having the extra cost option rear factory privacy glass and UV film over the top of that. I would then have to pay for the fronts to be tinted as well. And of course they would not match the factory glass anyway. Looks rather poxy I think when the fronts don't match.

[Corey_R]

Yeah, I personally wish the privacy glass wasn't standard (on cars like the R) or bundled into these packages. I mean, if they did give competitive heat rejection and uv blockage and also did (the legal limit on) the driver and passenger windows then it'd be fine - but they're only doing a half arsed job of it, so it's more of a pain than anything else.

[G-rig]

It's freakin useless not having any UV protection & annoying having to pay to get it covered in clear as well as $400 as an option. Not sure if the glass is any thinner, appears to be. A layer of clear would help the glass together if it was smashed.

Pretty hard to match the front windows as well and i'd rather pay $395 elsewhere to do the whole car with good film (such as the Sungard Eclipse I had which was rad). I can feel the heat when the sun is on me compared to my old tint.

If the car didn't pop up for immediately delivery there's no way i would have ordered it but better than waiting 6 months.

[emuexport]

:(

It comes by default with the sports pack on the 118TSI.

Oh well will have to see how we go.

[Maverick]

The rear side and back glass has NO UV protection built into it. The glass is actually coloured dark and does not have a film on it. If you want any UV filtering in these windows you must have a clear film applied to it (and at an extra cost of course of $100).

BS, the rear side glass and the hatch glass do have UV protection. They don't however have the same level of protection as some of the tint films you can install and the UV protection is similar to the front untinted glass. It was discussed earlier back on this thread IIRC.

[DracZ]

:(

It comes by default with the sports pack on the 118TSI.

Oh well will have to see how we go.

Considering how bloody impossible it is to find green colored tint that matches it perfectly, I would've prefered it come without the privacy glass at all.

[manol]

I just emailed Tint-A-Car Ferntree Gully for a price on their Formula 1 tint, and they quoted $385 for my MKV. That seems a little high doesn't it =\?

[Maverick]

I just emailed Tint-A-Car Ferntree Gully for a price on their Formula 1 tint, and they quoted $385 for my MKV. That seems a little high doesn't it =\?

Who was the company that did BY's R32? That company was highly recommended IIRC and had done many cars for forum members and did them for a good price (under $300??). I know they had the issue with the trims but that was all fixed up so might be worth checking out?

[G-rig]

Who was the company that did BY's R32? That company was highly recommended IIRC and had done many cars for forum members and did them for a good price (under $300??). I know they had the issue with the trims but that was all fixed up so might be worth checking out?

That was sungard, but they stuffed up another car up here in BNE as it changes owners sometime after I had mine done.

[Big Yellow]

Yep sungard, tint is still looking good after 2 years!!

Yes my car was damaged, but it was all fixed and arranged by tinter.

Would i go back, probably.

[Maverick]

That was sungard, but they stuffed up another car up here in BNE as it changes owners sometime after I had mine done.

Was that the $4500 repair one?

[Corey_R]

Eeek... what could a tint technician possibly do to cause $4500 of damage?

[G-rig]

Was that the $4500 repair one?

It was a fair bit, but the quote was also very expensive (Exclusive Auto) so probably 3-4 times more expensive than any other place.

Sucks how tint companies let apprentices who don't give a **** work on brand new $60 cars. The previous guy that did mine did quite a good job, but a lot of people will say that due to the curvature of the windows the MK5 Golf isn't that easy to do.

The film itself was awesome and still miss it.

[Maverick]

Eeek... what could a tint technician possibly do to cause $4500 of damage?

Screw all the trim by scratching it up during the install.

[G-rig]

Screw all the trim by scratching it up during the install.

That was probably one case but is usually pretty good as the dealer just sends them to a tint shop anyway, they dont have vw technicians installing it.


I just emailed Tint-A-Car Ferntree Gully for a price on their Formula 1 tint, and they quoted $385 for my MKV. That seems a little high doesn't it =\?

That's not a bad price for whole car.

[dave_r]

I would've prefered it come without the privacy glass at all.

That is gonna be one item on the R that will probably annoy me. I mean having to tint and match only 2 bloody windows, I bet they charge the same price as a full car!

[WhiteJames]

My GTI has factory tint on the rear windows.
The front windows were tinted by Total Car with Solaire Street-Wise Blue/Black tint.
Factory tint has a slight green tinge to it and appears not to block the sun as effectively as the aftermarket Street-Wise tint.
Visibility of the factory tint is much better and quality is faultless.
The Street-Wise aftermarket tint does reduce the crystal clear view to a degree.
The aftermarket Street-Wise tint on the front nearside window has bubbles in it and may have to be replaced in the next few weeks - just need a few dry days to clear up any moisture in the air.
Both the front windows were tinted - the driver's window is a fantastic job - the passenger's window is worrisome atm.
The aftermarket Street-Wise tint is darker than the Factory tinted glass, which suprised me as I thought it would come out lighter than the factory tint.
The upolostry has a certain amount of UV shield built into it.

See pics in post #238 of WJ Suspension & Wheel Thread for pics of my GTI with Factory & Street-Wise Blue/Black aftermarket tint.

WHITE JAMES: Suspension & Wheel Reviews - Page 11 - VW GTI Forum / VW Rabbit Forum / VW R32 Forum / VW Golf Forum - Golfmkv.com (http://www.golfmkv.com/forums/showthread.php?t=100863&page=11)

Cheers.
WJ

[G-rig]

I was lead to believe the factory dark glass was ~35% so perhaps your other stuff is more reflective or could be darker than 35% (unless it's just that colour).

Once you put clear UV film on the rears the 100% good visability will be gone anyway.

[Corey_R]

Just to clarify your post WJ....

My GTI has factory tint on the rear windows.
The rear windows were tinted by Total Car with Solaire Street-Wise Blue/Black tint.
Does this mean that you've put the Street-Wise blue/black tint on the already factory tinted windows? If so, what % was used (I presume a much higher number %). Also, what % was used on the fronts?

Cheers.

[WhiteJames]

^ My bad ... typo error.

Rear - factory tint.
Front - Total Care/Solaire Streetwise Tint (aka Sutherland VW Dealer Tint).

Both factory rear tint & aftermarket Street-Wise Solaire tint are stated to be 35% light absorbing.
I had the Street-Wise tint on my White MKV - it was a fantastic job & really contrasted well with the White vehicle (my neighbour has the same on his Blue MKV R32; also looks the business).
For consistency - I'd go for an all aftermarket tint - front & rear; otherwise have the factory rear tint & leave the front windows un-tinted.
I dislike the reduction in vision of the aftermarket tint as my eyes, being laser treated, have lost a touch of their sharpness.
The aftermarket tint is better than nothing imo, esp on longer journeys where it prevents truckers right arm.
Next time around I may ask for a slightly lighter shade of Street-Wise tint for the front - if available.
Atm - I'm annoyed at the fact that the front nearside passenger's window may have to be stripped clean for another dose of Street-Wise tint - this could turn out for the better or worse.
Salesman reckons its a 50/50 chance tint has to be replaced - I have up to 20 bubbles in the front nearside passengers door atm.
Hopefully some dry hot weather may correct the bubbles; but I still don't like my chances (of hot dry weather or the film correcting itself).
If you check the pics I posted in WJ S&W thread post # 238 - you can see the contrasting difference in the two tints.
Sometimes its very noticeable; well I noticed immediately upon approaching the new MK6 GTI that the Street-Wise was darker- see first 2 or 3 pics.
Occassinaly the variation from front factory tint to rear aftermarket tint is barely noticeable - last pic of post # 238.
Not bothering to add any clear gold type film as vehicle is garaged most of the time & may trade up in 3-7 years, well before the interior becomes cactus.
Manufacturers do use & treat interior seat fibres to be UV resistant to a degree.
The handover of this GTI was not as good as the handover of the MKV GTI from the same dealer - tint compromised & MK6 GTI not registered with Euro plates.
Not bothering to change std plates to Euro plates; a bit over that now.

Cheers.
WJ

[G-rig]

Get euro plates WJ, look great.
Woudln't they still buy them for you if it was in the contract?

P.s Got the samples of this Deco Green film, it looks like green cellophane almost so not sure it will match but may change colour when holding it on the glass. Mine is a fairly good match so may not even bother but still isn't perfect.

Edit: Deco Green stuff isn't even close..

[G-rig]

I think i'll just leave my tint as it is, didn't have to pay for it and it's fairly close anyway. Sometimes looks lighter than others and from inside the car seems a bit light.
(Solartint BPIR 45)

http://img576.imageshack.us/img576/6870/resizeofpicture028.jpg

http://img139.imageshack.us/img139/9279/resizeofpicture029.jpg

[Simz]

just got my car tinted by oztint.
i got the black ice 25% on the front and 35% on the back to make the black look all around.
yes i know 25% is under legal limits but my police friend couldn't tell the difference at all, they told me to when they do a check they dont have a light sensor.
they jsut check by looking through the windows to see if they can see through the other side, i am pretty pleased with the whole thing.
the costs are 240$ for everything took them around 1 hr while i sat and waited

[Christopher]

FYI for those Melbournians out there..

Heavy tinting being blamed for increased crash risks in Melbourne | Herald Sun (http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/victoria/heavy-tinting-being-blamed-for-increased-crash-risks-in-melbourne/story-e6frf7kx-1225885515333)

[Pepe]

+1 for having my dealer tell me the fronts couldn't be legally matched to the privacy glass... seriously, how can they get away with selling it like that? Surely leaving themselves open to trouble in the case of an accident? Oh well, got it in writing at least.

Anyway, tintacar have quoted me nearly $400 for Midnight Express on the fronts and clear UV protective tint on the rest of the car. Seems a lot, but apparently clear tint isn't cheap? ME seems pretty dark, and I swear the privacy glass really doesn't seem that dark. Would hate to end up with darker fronts than at the rear. Anyone gone down that particular path before?

[Corey_R]

There are many manufacturers who have the rear and rear side windows in "privacy tint" and then have the front side windows in 35%, being the darkest legal. For example, most Lexus' are sold this way. Although it appears to be a grey area in the law, there is no requirement to even have rear side or rear windows. Look at trucks and vans for example.

So it really is your passenger and drivers side windows which are most important.

The frustration is that VW only do some of the windows and not all the windows.
The other thing is that VW only say it's 65% light absorbing (which in itself means nothing, what TYPE of light... how much gets reflected, how much gets transmitted). It's such a bull**** specification.

Again, we've been over this so many times, I just wish VW would either do the job properly and also factor tint the front side windows (with a matching legal tint) or just not do it at all.

[hooba]

+1 for having my dealer tell me the fronts couldn't be legally matched to the privacy glass... seriously, how can they get away with selling it like that? Surely leaving themselves open to trouble in the case of an accident? Oh well, got it in writing at least.

Anyway, tintacar have quoted me nearly $400 for Midnight Express on the fronts and clear UV protective tint on the rest of the car. Seems a lot, but apparently clear tint isn't cheap? ME seems pretty dark, and I swear the privacy glass really doesn't seem that dark. Would hate to end up with darker fronts than at the rear. Anyone gone down that particular path before?

My dealer used these guys for the fronts and they are as good a match to the factory rears as you can expect.

Street Legal Window Tinting | Vehicle Protection with MotorOne (http://www.motorone.com.au/car_care/street_legal_window_tinting.php)

[Corey_R]

My dealer used these guys for the fronts and they are as good a match to the factory rears as you can expect.

Street Legal Window Tinting | Vehicle Protection with MotorOne (http://www.motorone.com.au/car_care/street_legal_window_tinting.php)

That's also the tint that Dermot said that Wangara VW in WA have found to be the best match locally.

[hooba]

That's also the tint that Dermot said that Wangara VW in WA have found to be the best match locally.

Ah yes, however Pepe is in Sid-er-knee. ;)

[Pepe]

My dealer used these guys for the fronts and they are as good a match to the factory rears as you can expect.

Street Legal Window Tinting | Vehicle Protection with MotorOne (http://www.motorone.com.au/car_care/street_legal_window_tinting.php)

Thanks for that... will give them a buzz tomorrow and find out what they can do.

[DracZ]

That's also the tint that Dermot said that Wangara VW in WA have found to be the best match locally.

I had my fronts done with midnight express and I found them to be a poor match in terms of color. The privacy glass has a green tinge to it, most if not all local tints have a grey/charcoal tint. Extremely obvious difference especially in the sun, despite the match in "darkness". I've since removed the tint, rather have it clear then a different color.

[Corey_R]

Well that's good that Dermot has recommended a tint (confusingly called) "Street Legal" (http://www.motorone.com.au/car_care/street_legal_window_tinting.php), not Midnight Express.

[DracZ]

Well that's good that Dermot has recommended a tint (confusingly called) "Street Legal" (http://www.motorone.com.au/car_care/street_legal_window_tinting.php), not Midnight Express.

MEP Films, the distro for Llumar tints owns, and provides both Motor One and Tint a Car with their films. Street legal, midnight express .... basically your getting the same charcoal tints in slightly different variants. Bottom line is that neither of those companies supply a green based tint that completely matches the privacy glass found on VW vehicles.

[Corey_R]

Yeah, I know. The company that VW partnered with to develop a matching film-based tint for the fronts does not appear to bring the required tint to Australia. So "Street Legal" is apparently as good as it'll get here. There is no way I'd not have a tint due to heat and UV etc.

Yet another reason why VW should just not subject it's customers to a half-arsed job.

[coastie]

On the tint report my front transmission is 35% and the rear is 17% with only UV clear applied, so there will always be a mismatch in light transmission if they remain legal at 35% on the front.

[Corey_R]

On the tint report my front transmission is 35% and the rear is 17% with only UV clear applied, so there will always be a mismatch in light transmission if they remain legal at 35% on the front.

What brand and model "UV Clear" did you use? Because a "clear tint" will still only transmit a certain % of Visible Light (VLT). Even "clear glass" doesn't transfer 100% VLT.

For example, Solargard's LX70 (http://www.solargard.com.au/Commercial/LX70) only transmits 72% VLT when installed on 3mm glass and yet it is considered virtually invisible.

The reason I ask is that, the 17% VLT on your rear windows may be much lower than the Volkswagen Factory Tint would be without the UV Clear on it.

[dave_r]

Yeah, I know. The company that VW partnered with to develop a matching film-based tint for the fronts does not appear to bring the required tint to Australia. So "Street Legal" is apparently as good as it'll get here. There is no way I'd not have a tint due to heat and UV etc.

Yet another reason why VW should just not subject it's customers to a half-arsed job.

I wish they didn't fit it at all, I haven't bothered with tint for years so not really fussed. But the more I see cars with factory tint on the rear and nothing on the front the more I think it looks retarded.

I noticed a lot of people put those mesh shades over rear windows to stop sunlight hitting the precious kids (never did me any harm), its not something crazy like that is it?

[Corey_R]

No... the factory tint is in the glass itself, not even a film. So it has the potential to be better than a film tint. The issues are:
Volkswagen have not published the specifications of the tint
The tint apparently does not block all types of UV
The tint apparently does not block anywhere near as much heat as many quality film tints
The tint is only applied to the side rear and rear windows
The tint is difficult to match in colour to the film tints available on the (Australian) market
It costs about what it'd cost to get the entire car tinted with film anyway (where individually optionable)
"Clear UV" tint film to increase the UV and heat blocking effectiveness of the VW tint is more expensive than regular tint and then means you lose all the advantages of having a glazed tint anyway!

So as I said... well done VW... you've done a bang-up job ;)
*sigh*
:D

[hooba]

I noticed a lot of people put those mesh shades over rear windows to stop sunlight hitting the precious kids (never did me any harm), its not something crazy like that is it?

It is more about protecting them from direct sunlight, when they are strapped in (can't move out of its way) and are too young to understand how to block the sunlight when it hits them in the face by themselves. The normally tell you this by crying / screaming, which annoys the crap out mummy / daddy who are probably already sleep deprived.

[dave_r]

The normally tell you this by crying / screaming, which annoys the crap out mummy / daddy who are probably already sleep deprived.

LOL fair enough then :)

[Super]

On my GTI I opted for no tints at all from the factory, with a view to getting the dealer to organise for the whole car to be tinted once it arrives at the dealership. They've offered Street Legal tinting, but said they offer only one shade of darkness (which seemed pretty light in the grand scheme of things).. and want to charge me $595 for it.

Presumably an aftermarket tinting place could do a 5dr Golf for less than $600? I'll be making some phone calls this week to find out for sure, but can anyone give me a rough idea about how much doing 5 windows might cost??

[Corey_R]

You'd be best to check the other tint thread.... http://www.vwwatercooled.org.au/f112/best-window-tint-business-40510.html

[diop]

Hi guys, thought this little bit of info would be of interest to many of you/relevant to this thread...

I happened to come across a PDF file of New Zealand's specs & options for MY10 VW Golfs/GTI's and noticed that the rear window & rear side window privacy glass is a $650 option on all models of TSI/TDI/GTI. The file seems to have been around prior to release of the R, so it would be reasonable to assume it is also an option on the R.

Here is the link: http://www.ausmotive.com/downloads/Volkswagen/Golf-VI-NZ-specs.pdf

Hmmmm.......

[Corey_R]

Specs have been availabe for the Golf R in Australia for a long time now. We already know that rear window & rear side window tint is standard on the R, an option on the GTI/GTD, and as part of the "Sports Package" on the Comfortline and not available on the Trendline models.

I'm not sure what the point of posting irrelevent specs from other countries is....

[diop]

Yeah sorry coreying, I didn't make myself clear, the comment about the R was just an aside...my main point is that you (as well as many others on the forums) have voiced complaints about the privacy glass being standard (with sports pack) instead in of being optional, as far as the trouble people seem to be having in regards to finding a matching tint for front & rear windows are concerned (seems to be much more difficult with the privacy glass than without). Also, it seems to be 'compulsory' in Aus with the sports pack, but not in NZ. Do you catch my drift now?...

[Corey_R]

I kinda catch your drift. Are you saying that if it is optional in NZ that we should be able to "unoption" it here?
That'd be nice - but unfortunately each country has their own spec, and for Australia we cannot unoption it on the R or unbundle it from the Sports Pack.

[diop]

That is exactly what I'm saying ;) ...it would be very nice!
I understand that each country has their own specs, but it is very frustrating nonetheless....particularly with Aus & NZ you would think our specs would be very similar due to our geographical proximity.

(By the way, my initial post was in reference to all models TSI/TDI/GTI/R, not singling any one of them out)

[Pepe]

Just posted my recommendation in the Window Tint Business thread, but to the OP of this thread :

I won't quote the % involved publically (PM me if you want the details of what I got), but on my car, he did a tint that was +22% more on the front than the back (just using one % value compared to another). Whilst I could tell slightly by looking at it that the back had the privacy glass, after it dries out in about a week, it's going to be a near perfect match. Guy that did my tint measured afterwards, and the light passthrough was consistent all around. And yes, it's not so dark all around that you can't see through from one side to the other, even on the back with the privacy glass. My main concern around the darker front stuff was a lack of optical clarity, but he showed me some fitted to his truck and it was very good.

Got a very slight tint added to the sunroof because I wanted the UV protection.

Will post up some pics in about a week after I clean the car and the tint has dried out and settled. Needless to say, the RB with black wheels/lights and tint all around looks awesome ;)

[Pepe]

Okay, took some photos today... car is filthy and it was just with the camera phone, but it was a sunny day, so I figured why not. Didn't take a shot right behind the car with the sun in front as I didn't want to get run over on the Pacific Highway, but you can still see the general effect.

Also, I was driving for about 90 mins last night ferrying the wife around and I can say there's no issues with visibility at night. It is of course a little darker than just the privacy glass, but at no point was I left without a more than comfortable level of visibility.

http://img411.imageshack.us/img411/2522/29082010206copy.jpg

http://img72.imageshack.us/img72/6286/29082010203copy.jpg

http://img825.imageshack.us/img825/8581/29082010205copy.jpg

[REXman]

So yep, now that I have seen some nice quality photos of the RB with black, definitely wish I went the bllack rims.

GF, friends and fellow posters, along with crap photos elsewhere, made me think the silvers were the "better" idea.

Im cut about it now and yeah that looks awesome.

Black rims FTW.

[Flighter]

They've offered Street Legal tinting, but said they offer only one shade of darkness (which seemed pretty light in the grand scheme of things).. and want to charge me $595 for it.

I had my car tinted by the dealer, but as they knew absolutely nothing about the product range (other than "this is what 98% of people buy"), I eventually got details of who does it on their behalf and spoke with them about the specific properties of each. What might be of interest is that the "street legal" tint they offered is not street legal at all, being 27% (if I remember correctly) and not 35% as required. They also showed me how they get access to the bottom of the side windows; they simply pull the tops out by a couple of inches by clawing in between the glass and the trim with their fingers, and push them back in when they are done.

[dave_r]

Okay, took some photos today... car is filthy and it was just with the camera phone, but it was a sunny day, so I figured why not.
Looks good mate.


GF, friends and fellow posters, along with crap photos elsewhere, made me think the silvers were the "better" idea.
Haha you poor bastard but I still think silver is the better choice on RB.

[ravun]

Looks awesome Pepe. The dark tint, with the black rims and black head lights ties in very well.

I am liking the black rims alot. Thinking I might have to look into getting black Oz Racing Ultraleggeras now :O

[Corey_R]

Okay, took some photos today... car is filthy and it was just with the camera phone, but it was a sunny day, so I figured why not. Didn't take a shot right behind the car with the sun in front as I didn't want to get run over on the Pacific Highway, but you can still see the general effect.

Also, I was driving for about 90 mins last night ferrying the wife around and I can say there's no issues with visibility at night. It is of course a little darker than just the privacy glass, but at no point was I left without a more than comfortable level of visibility.

http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/

http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/

http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/


This looks great man.
The Solar Gard HP Supreme (http://www.solargard.com.au/Auto/HP_Supreme) looks to be a fantastic match. I've got a Solar Gard tint on all my apartment windows, and it's made a big difference to both the cooling AND heating costs of my house (because tint also has an "Emissivity (E) which indicates the ability to retain heat - important for winter).

I particularly like the fact that at least from these photos the front and rear "color" of the tint appears to match perfectly (particularly the last one where we look through both left windows then out the front windscreen). I'll definitely be looking at the Solar Gard HP Supreme when it's time to tint my car. Cheers.

[ravun]

Old topic - but I have more questions before making my decision which way to go, in particular for the Golf R owners in Melbourne.

The privacy glass on the rear of the vehicle is at 16-20% already, which is legal since it is privacy glass, but if you were to get dark tint on the fronts to match it would be illegal. Does anyone have pics of a legal front tint and how it compares to the rear privacy glass?

Where have the Melbourne Golf R owners been going to get their front windows tinted?

[Corey_R]

Hey ravun, why do you say that the "privacy glass" on the rear of the R is 16-20%?
Volkswagen don't give a "VLT %", they just say that it's "65% light absorbing" - they also call it "dark tint" and not privacy glass. In addition, "privacy glass" still has to comply to the laws of 35%. I'm not sure of how to navigate VICROAD's site, but here is the link to the rules on the NSW RTA site (http://www.rta.nsw.gov.au/registration/downloads/vsi/vsi03_rev3.pdf). As you can see, on passenger cars, 35% is the minimum even for the rear side and rear windows...

Not only that, but one of the other members who recently had his windows tinted had the factory tint measured at 42-43%.

I actually had my windows tinted this morning. We were in a bit of a rush so we didn't measure anything.
I had it done by Rob from Hunters Hill Window Tinting Service. He's done numerous Golf R's now (both private and dealerships) and was extremely helpful and professional. He's an official Solargard dealer (http://www.solargard.com.au/Default.aspx?Section=Dealer_Locator&Page=find_a_dealer&State=New%20South%20Wales), which is good, because they're the product I wanted.

I initially wanted a HP Supreme 35 (http://www.solargard.com.au/Auto/HP_Supreme) on the front and the Supreme 70 (http://www.solargard.com.au/Auto/Supreme) on the rear sides and rear window, but on his advice, used the HP Quantum 52 (http://www.solargard.com.au/Auto/Quantum) on the rear sides and rear instead.

The reason for the swap from the Supreme to the HP Quantum on the rear was three fold:
Supreme has a greenish tinge to it to match privacy glass, but since we were putting this on top of privacy glass, the silverish tinge of the Quantum would help neutralise the green a bit.
The "HP" products have much better TSER properties (Total Solar Energy Rejection... i.e. heat rejection)
Since the "privacy" glass was so light the 70 wasn't dark enough so the 52 was used instead.

I don't have pictures yet, since it was only done this morning, but I'm really happy with the results. The rear side and rear are definitely less than 35%, but not enough to attract any unwanted attention, and the front windows having the 35% film will measure within the variation to pass inspection with the VLT measuring device the RTA/police use. The colour difference and light between the two sets of windows is also much closer than previously. It looks great.

Pepe used HP Supreme on his car too (pictures on the previous page), but used darker ratings than I, so he would have had no need to use HP Quantum on the rears to try and even the colouring. He did use a lighter version of the HP Supreme on the rears as compared to the front though, which is why the photos of his car look so good and the balance between the windows looks good.


Summary, if 35% on the front, use HP Supreme 35, and if you want the rear's a bit darker and to match nicer, use HP Quantum 52. If you're going darker, then you could probably use HP Supreme all around - but do that at your own risk.

So that's my advice on the product to use.
To find the dealer in Melbourne, a good place to start would be the Solargard Melbourne Dealer list. (http://www.solargard.com.au/Default.aspx?Section=Dealer_Locator&Page=home&State=Victoria)

[ravun]

Thanks Corey_R. I went to a tinting company and he said from looking at it that the rears were around 20% already. This was just by his eye, and no official measuring device. He then went on to say he had no product that would match well.

I appreciate your advice and will get in contact with a local Solargard dealer.

[Corey_R]

Hmm - maybe the lighting conditions were strange, or maybe there have been "different batches" of the factory tinted glass - but the tint on mine (and obviously a few others) is rather light - quite obviously lighter than the 35% VLT that was on my Polo GTI.

Good idea to contact a local Solargard dealer.
Don't forget to check out the Best Window Tint Business Thread (http://www.vwwatercooled.org.au/f112/best-window-tint-business-40510.html) to see whether anyone has already recommended someone good in Melbourne :)

[Klink1313]

Pepe used HP Supreme on his car too (pictures on the previous page), but used darker ratings than I, so he would have had no need to use HP Quantum on the rears to try and even the colouring. He did use a lighter version of the HP Supreme on the rears as compared to the front though, which is why the photos of his car look so good and the balance between the windows looks good.


Pepe, any chance that you advise the combination of tinting that you used?

[Pepe]

Pepe, any chance that you advise the combination of tinting that you used?

PM'd you with them.

[Klink1313]

PM'd you with them.

Thanks just replied via a PM, but can't find it in my sent items. Hopefully you got it

[Romp]

Hey ravun, why do you say that the "privacy glass" on the rear of the R is 16-20%?
Volkswagen don't give a "VLT %", they just say that it's "65% light absorbing" - they also call it "dark tint" and not privacy glass. In addition, "privacy glass" still has to comply to the laws of 35%. I'm not sure of how to navigate VICROAD's site, but here is the link to the rules on the NSW RTA site (http://www.rta.nsw.gov.au/registration/downloads/vsi/vsi03_rev3.pdf). As you can see, on passenger cars, 35% is the minimum even for the rear side and rear windows...

Not only that, but one of the other members who recently had his windows tinted had the factory tint measured at 42-43%.

I actually had my windows tinted this morning. We were in a bit of a rush so we didn't measure anything.
I had it done by Rob from Hunters Hill Window Tinting Service. He's done numerous Golf R's now (both private and dealerships) and was extremely helpful and professional. He's an official Solargard dealer (http://www.solargard.com.au/Default.aspx?Section=Dealer_Locator&Page=find_a_dealer&State=New%20South%20Wales), which is good, because they're the product I wanted.

I initially wanted a HP Supreme 35 (http://www.solargard.com.au/Auto/HP_Supreme) on the front and the Supreme 70 (http://www.solargard.com.au/Auto/Supreme) on the rear sides and rear window, but on his advice, used the HP Quantum 52 (http://www.solargard.com.au/Auto/Quantum) on the rear sides and rear instead.

The reason for the swap from the Supreme to the HP Quantum on the rear was three fold:
Supreme has a greenish tinge to it to match privacy glass, but since we were putting this on top of privacy glass, the silverish tinge of the Quantum would help neutralise the green a bit.
The "HP" products have much better TSER properties (Total Solar Energy Rejection... i.e. heat rejection)
Since the "privacy" glass was so light the 70 wasn't dark enough so the 52 was used instead.

I don't have pictures yet, since it was only done this morning, but I'm really happy with the results. The rear side and rear are definitely less than 35%, but not enough to attract any unwanted attention, and the front windows having the 35% film will measure within the variation to pass inspection with the VLT measuring device the RTA/police use. The colour difference and light between the two sets of windows is also much closer than previously. It looks great.

Pepe used HP Supreme on his car too (pictures on the previous page), but used darker ratings than I, so he would have had no need to use HP Quantum on the rears to try and even the colouring. He did use a lighter version of the HP Supreme on the rears as compared to the front though, which is why the photos of his car look so good and the balance between the windows looks good.


Summary, if 35% on the front, use HP Supreme 35, and if you want the rear's a bit darker and to match nicer, use HP Quantum 52. If you're going darker, then you could probably use HP Supreme all around - but do that at your own risk.

So that's my advice on the product to use.
To find the dealer in Melbourne, a good place to start would be the Solargard Melbourne Dealer list. (http://www.solargard.com.au/Default.aspx?Section=Dealer_Locator&Page=home&State=Victoria)

Hey corey i remember researching this and i found somewhere on the rta website that dark glass that came standard on the vehicle from the factory is exempt from the 35% ruling... Ill look it up when im back home from vacation but i definitely saw it on there

[ravun]

The guy I was talking to also mentioned that factory privacy glass can be darker than 35% and it is legal. But if you then decided to put a clear tint on to block out UV then it becomes illegal.

[DAL344]

Finally got mine done yesterday & used Corey_R's advise..
Only difference was I had the ultra performance 75 on the rear as I didn't want to go to dark.
The tint guy would have basically fit anything I wanted... But wanted to be reasonably responsible!
I had mine done by Trent @ TKO Tinting in Welshpool!
Just waiting for it to 'settle' but looks a good job so far & a reasonable match. Certainly better than STD privacy glass & no front tint!

[Callumgw]

I had guy at my local tint-a-car put a light meter on the windows and the rears were only 40% while the fronts measure 75%, so both ends or not 'illegal' even from factory. That's on a MY11 Golf R 5 door.

How does the supreme35 look on the front with no extra rear tint? or the with UP75 (basically clear...) on the rears?

C

[Corey_R]

The HP Supreme 35 looks good on the front... but to be honest, I didn't have it on my car long enough (as in about 15 mins) before the rear HP Quantum 52 was applied.

As you've mentioned, the rears are only measuring at around 40%, the fronts at 75% with no tint. Whilst (most? all?) tint manufacturers rate their tint "installed" (meaning, no glass is 100%, so the 35% is what you'll get after installed on "glass"), the front windows WOULD BE DARKER than the rear windows if you simply put a 35% tint there. So the rears need "something". "Clear" tint, such as the Solargard LX70 (http://www.solargard.com.au/Residential/LX70) is also still not "100%" - in fact, it's only 72%. So maybe if you got your front windows with 35% and at least got a "clear tint" on the rear, that would be enough to equalise. But... I'd go with your installers advice maybe :)

[Callumgw]

Thanks, My local installers seem to have limited film choice and seem to only carry one level in each film, despite most having multiple levels. So I reckon I'm going to have to look a bit further a field in Melbourne.

Any recommendations always welcome

C

[Corey_R]

Maybe try the Best Window Tint Business (http://www.vwwatercooled.org.au/f112/best-window-tint-business-40510.html) thread and see if there is someone else recommended in your local area.

[m3103]

Sorry guys, I tried reading through all 21 pages to see if my question was already answered but after about 6 pages i've thrown in the towel.
Just wanted to know if it's legal to tint the windscreen at all?
And i mean any level of tint.
Thanks

[Corey_R]

Sorry guys, I tried reading through all 21 pages to see if my question was already answered but after about 6 pages i've thrown in the towel.
Just wanted to know if it's legal to tint the windscreen at all?
And i mean any level of tint.
Thanks

This PDF is for NSW, but I'm sure VIC is the same. (http://www.rta.nsw.gov.au/registration/downloads/vsi/vsi03_rev3.pdf)
For the Windscreen it says "Tinted or opaque band allowed at the top of the windscreen. It is not to extend below the portion swpet by the wipers or 10% of the depth of the windscreen. No film at all permitted on the lower part of the windscreen."

So that's a No :)

[m3103]

Thanks Corey_R.
Much Appreciated

[stucam]

Hi tintas. As a newbie and as an expectant father of a new mk6 GTI, I am concerned that my rear factory tinting will look like crap, having reviewed other comments in here. My tints were a peace offering from salesman, but I am a little uneasy now. Any calming comments welcome! S

[markwid]

stucam, it will be fine. It is ok for the rear factory tint to be darker than front tinted windows. Still looks fine anyway. Stop worrying yourself silly and enjoy the delicious anticipation of your new GTI.

[Corey_R]

Hi tintas. As a newbie and as an expectant father of a new mk6 GTI, I am concerned that my rear factory tinting will look like crap, having reviewed other comments in here. My tints were a peace offering from salesman, but I am a little uneasy now. Any calming comments welcome! S

The factory tint is actually quite nice. As it's actually not a film and is simply part of the glass, it's extraordinarily clear (from an optical point of view). The only thing you need to ensure is that, as per the comments in this thread, you don't tint the front windows too dark. Because whilst it's fine for the rear windows to be darker than the front windows, it looks a bit silly the other way around :)

[stucam]

The factory tint is actually quite nice. As it's actually not a film and is simply part of the glass, it's extraordinarily clear (from an optical point of view). The only thing you need to ensure is that, as per the comments in this thread, you don't tint the front windows too dark. Because whilst it's fine for the rear windows to be darker than the front windows, it looks a bit silly the other way around :)

Thanks Corey. That's what I thought initially. It's easy to become uneasy reading some of the threads in here, although most are incredibly useful. I am looking forward to a new GTI CW 5DR (with tint!) late Feb! Can't wait. Cheers, S.

[REXman]

Sorry guys, I tried reading through all 21 pages to see if my question was already answered but after about 6 pages i've thrown in the towel.
Just wanted to know if it's legal to tint the windscreen at all?
And i mean any level of tint.
Thanks

LOL really?

[Hoofee]

Hey ravun, why do you say that the "privacy glass" on the rear of the R is 16-20%?
Volkswagen don't give a "VLT %", they just say that it's "65% light absorbing" - they also call it "dark tint" and not privacy glass. In addition, "privacy glass" still has to comply to the laws of 35%. I'm not sure of how to navigate VICROAD's site, but here is the link to the rules on the NSW RTA site (http://www.rta.nsw.gov.au/registration/downloads/vsi/vsi03_rev3.pdf). As you can see, on passenger cars, 35% is the minimum even for the rear side and rear windows...

Not only that, but one of the other members who recently had his windows tinted had the factory tint measured at 42-43%.

I actually had my windows tinted this morning. We were in a bit of a rush so we didn't measure anything.
I had it done by Rob from Hunters Hill Window Tinting Service. He's done numerous Golf R's now (both private and dealerships) and was extremely helpful and professional. He's an official Solargard dealer (http://www.solargard.com.au/Default.aspx?Section=Dealer_Locator&Page=find_a_dealer&State=New%20South%20Wales), which is good, because they're the product I wanted.

I initially wanted a HP Supreme 35 (http://www.solargard.com.au/Auto/HP_Supreme) on the front and the Supreme 70 (http://www.solargard.com.au/Auto/Supreme) on the rear sides and rear window, but on his advice, used the HP Quantum 52 (http://www.solargard.com.au/Auto/Quantum) on the rear sides and rear instead.

The reason for the swap from the Supreme to the HP Quantum on the rear was three fold:
Supreme has a greenish tinge to it to match privacy glass, but since we were putting this on top of privacy glass, the silverish tinge of the Quantum would help neutralise the green a bit.
The "HP" products have much better TSER properties (Total Solar Energy Rejection... i.e. heat rejection)
Since the "privacy" glass was so light the 70 wasn't dark enough so the 52 was used instead.

I don't have pictures yet, since it was only done this morning, but I'm really happy with the results. The rear side and rear are definitely less than 35%, but not enough to attract any unwanted attention, and the front windows having the 35% film will measure within the variation to pass inspection with the VLT measuring device the RTA/police use. The colour difference and light between the two sets of windows is also much closer than previously. It looks great.

Pepe used HP Supreme on his car too (pictures on the previous page), but used darker ratings than I, so he would have had no need to use HP Quantum on the rears to try and even the colouring. He did use a lighter version of the HP Supreme on the rears as compared to the front though, which is why the photos of his car look so good and the balance between the windows looks good.


Summary, if 35% on the front, use HP Supreme 35, and if you want the rear's a bit darker and to match nicer, use HP Quantum 52. If you're going darker, then you could probably use HP Supreme all around - but do that at your own risk.

So that's my advice on the product to use.
To find the dealer in Melbourne, a good place to start would be the Solargard Melbourne Dealer list. (http://www.solargard.com.au/Default.aspx?Section=Dealer_Locator&Page=home&State=Victoria)


Hi Corey_R,

Did you use Hp Quantum 52 on the rear window too? Looking it up on the SolarGard website they say that it's a metalic film and I have concerns about it affecting the aerial on the back window. I remember when I got my STi done about 6 years ago that they told me not to use a metalic film because it affects the reception or something along those lines.

Obviously technology might have improved since then, but thought I'd ask in case it's a non-issue these days.

[Corey_R]

Yep, sure did.
Tint goes on the inside of the car, so the aerial is on the outside of the tint (since it's in the glass, or on the glass, of the rear window). I haven't had any reception issues with FM... I haven't tried AM. I mostly don't listen to the radio anyway.

[Hoofee]

Thanks Corey_R,

FYI. I decided to contact SolarGard to see what they had any more information on using metalic films on the rear window, this was their reply:

<SNIP>
Quantum is a fully metalized film which means all the ‘tint’ or colouring you see in the film is from layers of metal. This is often but not always an issue for AM radio reception. It is only an issue when the car’s radio antenna is built into a window which will look like vertical bars in the glass. I am not sure if your model has an in glass antenna, nor if it does then which window it is in as it differs between sedans, wagons etc. but a tinter will be able to determine this for you instantly on viewing your car. If for example your car has an aerial in the rear window then placing metalized film on the other windows won’t effect reception at all.

I say that often the AM band is interfered with by metalized film as I have known variations in the rule where one car will have critical reception issues where the next one won’t and some cars only have an issue when you get towards the edge of the broadcast range for the AM signal. The safest rule of thumb is to use a non-metalized film on the window with the antenna and metalized elsewhere.
<SNIP>

Like you, I'm not planning on listening to AM radio in this lifetime, so I'm fine with that. I didn't realize it was only AM that was affected.

Cheers,
Dave.

[Corey_R]

Yeah... and using a non-metallzed film would mean having tint that turns purple etc after a few years - and that would suck.

Who listens to AM anymore anyway?! ;)


(Yes, I know that AM stations still have the most listeners in the morning...)

[police state]

I went for Tint a Car F1 on the front and clear on the back, on the basis that there is definitely a green tinge to the factory tint. It looks good and if you look really hard, perhaps the front is ever so slightly lighter. I'm very happy with the match, especially colour-wise.

I looked at the Street Legal tint from the dealer, but to my eyes it was grey/charcoal.

[Lucas_R]

Can someone please post some nice pictures of their tint rather that just talking about it. Obviously it is helpful to know what % tint you used to achieve a uniform colour between the privacy tint and the non tinted front windows - but as they say, a picture says a thousand words.

Pictures please guys. Im sure im not the only one thinking this. I would like to get my windows tinted in the next week or two so i would like to be armed with the info and suggestions for the tinter.

[Corey_R]

There are pictures of Pepe's car several pages back. This was asked of me this morning too in the "Best Window Tint" business thread. I'll get some next time I wash the car... but the problem obviously is that almost no one has calibrated cameras and screens etc (just look at how many different "Rising Blue" colours there are in the picture thread ;)). So the only real way is to see it in real life, or just get it done :)

[police state]

So the only real way is to see it in real life, or just get it done :)

I couldn't agree more, I don't think you can tell with photos, I also think the tints look different depending on the light. If you look at my car side-on in good light, the tint looks identical front and back. If you look at an angle from rear of centre towards the windscreen, you can tell that the F1 is slightly lighter than the factory tint. From inside the car, both tints have a greenish base, which is why I picked F1 and am very happy with my choice.

I think if you went with a grey or charcoal based tint like Midnight Express or Octane or Street Legal, it might look good outside but you might notice two different colours inside? Who knows?

[Pepe]

There are pictures of Pepe's car several pages back. This was asked of me this morning too in the "Best Window Tint" business thread. I'll get some next time I wash the car... but the problem obviously is that almost no one has calibrated cameras and screens etc (just look at how many different "Rising Blue" colours there are in the picture thread ;)). So the only real way is to see it in real life, or just get it done :)

This is the post btw : http://www.vwwatercooled.org.au/f112/mk6-front-tint-match-factory-dark-tint-option-32781-21.html#post554052

And yes, you just have to get it done... but in order to match it, you will need to go dark. I've seen tons of Mk6s around with mismatched tints front/rear, its really obvious when it's sunny.

[Lucas_R]

Robert from Hunters Hill Window Tinting did my Golf on Saturday as well as my sisters Audi TTS. Both of us are very happy with his service and professionalism. Rob came up to Newcastle to do our cars. Took about 4.5 hours to do the cars with a few coffee stops and a lunch thrown in.

The rear windows (which had the privacy tint from the factory) are still ever so slightly darker than the front windows, but they are at least the same charcoal colour now.

I would certainly recommend him to anyone in the Newcastle / Central Coast / Sydney area.

Pics of my car: (pics were taken early this morning on a semi cloudy day)

http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2011/05/img0287z-1.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/824/img0287z.jpg/)

http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2011/05/img0288f-1.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/705/img0288f.jpg/)

http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2011/05/img0292ax-1.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/34/img0292ax.jpg/)

http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2011/05/img0294z-1.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/638/img0294z.jpg/)

http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2011/05/img0284t-1.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/541/img0284t.jpg/)

[Corey_R]

Hey Lucas_R. Thanks for the pics. It's always very hard to tell tints from pictures, but being that there seems to be such a close match on them, I'm guessing Solargard HP Supreme 22 on the front and HP Quantum 52 on the back?

[Lucas_R]

Robert suggested 16% on the fronts and then used 35% over the top of the privacy glass area. So that's what I went with.

The other option was, as you mentioned, 22% on the fronts with 52% on the rears.


Hey Lucas_R. Thanks for the pics. It's always very hard to tell tints from pictures, but being that there seems to be such a close match on them, I'm guessing Solargard HP Supreme 22 on the front and HP Quantum 52 on the back?

[Corey_R]

Aaah cool, very dark then!
So it was the combination of Supreme and Quantum?

[Lucas_R]

Im not sure Corey. I was paying attention but not that much attention as to note which styles of tint he was using. But as im sure you know, he has it down pat and knows what he is doing.

In hind sight, i probably should have picked the lighter 22% (fronts) and 52% (rears) combo, as the 16% and 35% is quite dark from the outside looking in. I was umming and arring on the day but he convinced me to go with the darker one.


Aaah cool, very dark then!
So it was the combination of Supreme and Quantum?

[SilvrFoxX]

Now I have a reference point I think I would probably prefer a lighter tint, that looks very dark

[Corey_R]

Im not sure Corey. I was paying attention but not that much attention as to note which styles of tint he was using. But as im sure you know, he has it down pat and knows what he is doing.

In hind sight, i probably should have picked the lighter 22% (fronts) and 52% (rears) combo, as the 16% and 35% is quite dark from the outside looking in. I was umming and arring on the day but he convinced me to go with the darker one.


Now I have a reference point I think I would probably prefer a lighter tint, that looks very dark

Yeah, on my car I have the HP Supreme 35 on the front sides, because I've been in cars with 22 on the front sides and I personally feel it's too dark at night, plus 35 is the minimum legal amount for most states in Australia (SA is 70!! eek). I've then got HP Quantum 52 on the rear side and rear window. That makes it roughly 22 (the VW "factory tint" is ~42, so the math is .42 x .52 = .2184.)

So on my car the front windows are slightly lighter than the rear, yet colour tone wise, the Quantum combines well with the factory tint to match almost identically in colour tone with the Supreme. If I had wanted 22 on the fronts, then the light transference would have matched perfectly too.



Update:
I have got in contact of a mobile guy who is a friend of a friend (he has a workshop where he does a few caryards from as well)
Once I get my car he was going to come over and tint mine.
He has done quite a few Golfs and knew exactly all the % to match it closely.
Even was able to tell me it was Solaguard HP supreme and was explaining the different colours it will produce given the front glass is more green than the rears.

If it all works out I will see if he wants his details shared out.

The reason the Rob from Hunters Hill suggests Quantum on the rear of the R is because the VW factory tint is even greener than the front windows, even though they're darker (colour and lightness/darkness are two separate things). Whilst the Supreme compliment european OEM glass well, the Quantum is slightly silverish making the front and rears balance even better.

I think this combination is even more important if you still to 35 on the fronts, as the darker you go the less important colour match is, but at 35, colour match is still very important.

[Corey_R]

Ok, so I've taken some photos of my car's tint.

I cannot stress enough how much I hate taking photos of tint as it's almost useless to give an actual indication of what it's like in real life, but since you asked for it, here you go. The day is overcast, the car hasn't been washed for 3 weeks.


http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2011/05/Tint01-1.jpg

The tint was installed by Rob at Hunter's Hill Tinting on Christmas eve (from memory).
The tint used is Solargard HP Supreme 35 on the front passenger and drivers window (http://www.solargard.com.au/Auto/HP_Supreme), as well as Solargard HP Quantum 52 on the rear side and rear windows. (http://www.solargard.com.au/Auto/Quantum)

The HP Supreme 35 was used on the front windows as it was developed to compliment European "greenish car glass" well and as it is 35% LVT it is 100% legal in most states in Australia, except at least South Australia where they have a minimum of 70% VLT for the front row of windows.

The Volkswagen "factory/dark/privacy tint" has been measured to be around 42% VLT so on those windows we used a HP Quantum 52 which is 52% VLT rated film to bring the VLT down to about 21% VLT (.42 x .52 = .2184). Whilst that isn't legal for passenger vehicles, if it were a commercial vehicle there is no requirement to have any rear side or rear windows at all, so I don't believe them to be important, and I don't believe the police would have issue with any respectable driver and the rear windows anyway.

The reason Rob suggested using HP Quantum 52 for the rears instead of sticking with the Supreme was that the Quantum is slightly more "silverish" and therefore balances out the colour tonality between the front and rear windows better. If I were going really dark on the car like Lucas_R did (16 VLT front, plus 35 VLT rear for an effective ~15VLT, then this might not be as important - but I would 100% trust Rob's advice there.

Another option for those who want darker front windows than I is to have the HP Supreme 22 on the front row. Whilst that's not legal in Australia, it would match both colour tonality and % VLT with the HP Quantum 52/Privacy glass combination.


http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2011/05/Tint02-1.jpg

So as I said, the front windows are completely legal as they're a 35% VLT film. Yet they are not so much lighter than the rear windows ~22% VLT that they look out of place - at least in my opinion.


http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2011/05/Tint03-1.jpg

On the above picture you can just see a small wedge of grass and fence through the left rear and then front window, to compare the ~22% VLT to the left front's 35% VLT.


http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2011/05/Tint04-1.jpg

Car is too shiney...


http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2011/05/Tint05-1.jpg

From the other side to just get some difference in light...


http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2011/05/Tint06-1.jpg

From the inside. Please note that it is not glarey in the car, it's just the camera is now trying to compensate. You can see the difference between the 22% VLT of the rears and 35% VLT of the fronts.


http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2011/05/Tint07-1.jpg

And finally from the other side. On this one I was actually standing outside the front passenger door, with the door shut but window down. I've used an angle to get the sunroof in. I have NOT added any tint to the sunroof - so that's the standard VLT level that VW ships their sunroofs with. Just in case anyone wants to use that as any reference point.

But again, remember when looking at those photos, particularly the last two, that the driver's and front passengers window there are 35% VLT and is the darkest legal in Australia. The rear is 22% and is darker than legal. I've no idea what the sunroof VLT is because I don't know anyone who's measured it.


As I said, I really don't think that the average camera, the average monitor, and the average photographer, can do anything useful to accurately represent what the tint looks like in real life - and I can assure you, these photos are no different - but I guess it's at least another reference point.

[SilvrFoxX]

Hey Corey, thanks for posting, first, what a great colour for an R

Now this gives me some indication of what mine should come up like, though I note your rear windows do look a smidge darker than the fronts. I will have to see mine in the light to see how they currently look.. just havn't had time today