Window tint

[Borderblossom]

Hello XCers!
Bought my XC70 in January 2003, and am loving it. I had my windows tinted in August due to the heat down here in South Texas, but not too crazy about the tint levels. My XC is Venetian Red, and feel like the medium tint on back and tailgate area appears a little too dark. Just wanted to see if anyone else has experienced with different levels on dark colored vehicles. I had them tinted to protect the leather interior; it gets pretty hot down here during the summer months, but found my car looked to blah. It took away the bright appearance of my XC. Requested that it either all get taken off, if no damage will be done to antenae, and either leave it off, or go light throughout? All suggestions welcomed!

[Hiro's XC]

37% is the ideal tint I feel. Dark enough to keep the car cool and yet still be able to see out the windows at night. Much lighter and then you might as well not have the tint IMO. You windows already have a UVA/UVB block in them so don't worry about the interior if you remove the tint. Almost all modern glass has this feature in cars.

[SpudRacer]

BorderBlossom,

A picture is worth a thousand words, do you ahve any pics of the tint so we can see for ourselves?

Thanks.

Tom

[Outrageous]

Borderblossom,
How does your tint compare to the factory tint on recent XC's? Are you mainly concerned with how the tint makes the car look from the outside?

[polvo]

just snapped these... pretty gloomy outside, dark and overcast german afternoon... we got a 30% tint which was the lowest / lightest that the guy had... job came out great, very happy... i just hope 'plod' (aussie for the ploiceman) doesn t make me remove the tint from the front windows when we get back to the usa...

[polvo]

from the rear... all 7 windows done for 270 euro (about 300 USD)

i m stoked

[polvo]

from the inside so you can compare the untinted front windshield to the side window.... remember it s a pretty overcast day...

[ifnt420]

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (polvo @ Sep. 28 2003,08:22)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">just snapped these... pretty gloomy outside, dark and overcast german afternoon... we got a 30% tint which was the lowest / lightest that the guy had... job came out great, very happy... i just hope &#39;plod&#39; (aussie for the ploiceman) doesn t make me remove the tint from the front windows when we get back to the usa...[/QUOTE]<span id='postcolor'>
Pvolvo, your tint looks great&#33;http://xc70.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/thumbs-up.gif

One off topic question regarding your XC70 though, I thought all 04 XC70 came with the new style mirror? (see photo)
Or are those only available in Europe?

[ifnt420]

Here&#39;s the photo. http://xc70.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif http://www.xc70.com/pics/albums/userpics/04%20mirror.jpg

[polvo]

mmmm, i m not sure about the mirror question ifnt420... mine is a US spec xc70 (my04) that was delivered in sweden... it has the intergrated 04 key (very cool i might add) but as for other 04 differences i can only hope they are there...

personally i like the mirrors on the car now, not too keen on that one in the photo so maybe it s a good thing... http://xc70.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif

thanks for the comments on the tint, i love it

polvo

[toma nova]

We tinted our XC with 38% back five and 50% front two. &nbsp;This is the legal limit in VA. &nbsp;The shop owner said it is more important to have a difference in tints if that&#39;s the law, than the actual numbers (very unlikely to get pulled over for 35 front and 20 rear as the police in VA would look for lighter fronts).

The tints look GREAT on our dark car. &nbsp;I hate seeing a nicely maintained car (clean, waxed) that you can see right through (clear windows). &nbsp;The 38% is not too dark at night, even backing up. &nbsp;You can still see in the back, but it takes alot more effort and you must be much closer.

Overall, I&#39;m very happy with the quality of the film (Forumla by Llumar), the installation (LA Tint in Manassas), and the look&#33;

Tom

[Borderblossom]

Thanks XCers for all your comments. First of all, I can&#39;t compare my vehicle to &#39;04s because XCs are rare down here. My vehicle stands out considerably. The volvo dealership is farely new. Until recently (maybe 2 yrs.) people had to travel to San Antonio if they wanted to buy a Volvo. You know, I don&#39;t even know the levels that were put on. All I know is that this guy does all kinds of custom detailing for several dealerships and he said the manufacturer was Johnson. He did also give me a great price in case I wanted the dash...etc. installed with a wood grain. He said the kit would was about &#036;200 something dollars, and he would just charge me the cost of the kit. My hubby is a banker, and financed his boat, so he would like to dress up my car a little, but don&#39;t know yet. My sis just bought an S-Type Jag, and I did like all the wood grain appearance in her car. Back to this detailer, he takes these cars apart and installs leather, woodgrain, DVDs, and the dealership turns around and jacks up the cost considerably. So, naturally I trusted him with my window tinting. I will ask him tommorrow about the %s on my window tint. Thanks a bunch for all the feedback.

Adios Amigos&#33; http://xc70.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif http://xc70.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif http://xc70.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif

[XCMark]

One more opinion&#33;

I&#39;m one who always tints the windows of my cars and I am about to do so on my new (15K) Silver Metallic. When I was single, I always got the &#39;illegal&#39; dark tint (sometimes called Limo tints). Had the darkest tints on a red VW GTI, Black VW Jetta and a green Isuzu Rodeo.

Now that I&#39;m married, and the wife needs to use the car at times, she didn&#39;t want the dark tint so I&#39;ll probably end up getting something lighter for her but dark enough for me. I agree with another poster, I really dislike having clear windows and seeing other cars have clear all the way around&#33; &nbsp;http://xc70.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/mad.gif

Here in Denver, I go to a place that only charges &#036;145 all around. Not a bad price, he guarantees it for the life I have the car, meaning it won&#39;t turn purple or bubble. GET 3M&#33;&#33; http://xc70.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/thumbs-up.gif

[SpudRacer]

While I agree that window tinting looks excellent, it also helps keep the interiors cooler during the hot summer days. &nbsp;http://xc70.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif

HOWEVER, window tinting also makes it much more difficult to see safely when driving at night. http://xc70.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/sad.gif

I, too, have tinted many vehicles in my past and plan to tint our XC70 once we get it to the states.

I think that anything more than 35-50% tint is just too unsafe at night. &nbsp;We all would agree that we buy Volvo&#39;s because they are the safest vehicle on the planet, and we love our families to protect them as best we can. &nbsp; Let&#39;s not risk that safety by tinting the windows so dark that we become unsafe drivers at night and accidentally injure a child while backing up.

Safety is number ONE&#33;&#33;&#33;

Tom

[XCMark]

Well said&#33;

Mark

[XCMark]

Just got the XC windows tinted this morning. The fronts are lighter (26%) and the backseat throught the rear are 35%. It looks much darker than when actually inside and driving. It is the 3M Titanium tint, I&#39;ve had it on other cars and won&#39;t turn purple or bubble at all. Now the leather and babyseat will be protected and stay cooler.

[SpudRacer]

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote </td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">Just got the XC windows tinted this morning. The fronts are lighter (26%) and the backseat throught the rear are 35%. It looks much darker than when actually inside and driving. It is the 3M Titanium tint, I&#39;ve had it on other cars and won&#39;t turn purple or bubble at all. Now the leather and babyseat will be protected and stay cooler.[/QUOTE]<span id='postcolor'>

Sweet tinting job, looks very nice&#33;

I think you may have gotten your numbers backwards though, a 26% tint lets in 26% of the light, which would make it a darker tint than a 35% tint which would let in 35% of light.

I just got the windows tinted on my Jeep Cherokee about 2 weeks ago:
5% on the rear windows
15% on rear doors
35% on front doors

Feel free to check out the pictures at SpudRacer.com (http://www.SpudRacer.com)

Tom

[XCMark]

Spud,

you are correct, sir&#33; Got the numbers backwards... http://xc70.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/confused.gif

Nice job on the Jeep&#33; That must me a blast to tool around in. The tint job is a great touch. http://xc70.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/thumbs-up.gif

Thanks for the clarification&#33;

Mark