Everybody should have tinted windows, if for no other reason than it prevents windows from breaking into a million pieces and it cuts down on the chance of skin cancer.

After being used to driving tinted cars, it's really hard to drive a non tinted one. I remember borrowing somebody's car and driving it at night. The lack of rear window tint on the highway was awful. Even though it was pitch dark outside, all the vehicles behind me would have what seemed to be spotlights blasting the interior of the car with light.

I'd like to think it cuts down on the amount of A/C you need. But in Arizona it will probably be on all year anyways. Tint helps in the wintertime too. Since it's an insulator, it keeps your windows warmer which makes them fog up less.

If I could re-do the Sunbird again, I would have gone with 5% on the back 3 windows. If I could get away with 20% on the doors I would have. But the 35% never presented any problems with police.

Regardless, the tint on your front doors will make pulling out in traffic easier (less glare)

 

I agree, I'll never own a car without it again. it just makes everything more subtle.

The cars at night no longer blind me, on a clear sky day there's no glare - I might be taking my Bronco in tomorrow.......hope it wont be over 200 bucks..

 

Does UVA cause skin cancer? I know UVB does not penetrate glass, so I am wondering if there is any truth to this. I have never gotten a sunburn with my windows up.

 

Check my sig for pics, I have 5% on the back and 35% on the sides. You cant really see in it during the day, and especially not at night. The back window you cant see through even if you have a flashlight.

 

I got 15% all around my truck on top of factory tint. It's perfect not too dark, but dark enough to where you can't really see in.

PITA to get inspected though.

 

I'm not a fan of 5% on any of the windows. My mom has that on her Charger and it's damn near impossible to see. I have 35% fronts and 25% rear, and with the reverse lights on I can see clearly when I'm parallel parking.

 

UVB absolutely penetrates through glass. I used to get sunburt all the time before I tinted my car. Even in February.

Non tinted windows are 35% UV reduction.
Tinted are 99% UV reduction.

UVA and UVB are skin cancer causers. B is what gives you sunburn. A is what makes you wrinkly and old looking. Both cause cellular damage that acts as the catalyst for skin cancer.

 

Source? Everything I have seen says that car windows will block UVB. For example, check this out:

http://amos.indiana.edu/library/scripts/sunburn.html

Not the greatest source but there are others that back up my statement. I did find that UVA can cause skin cancer too though. The wavelength of UVB is much shorter which is why it is very difficult to penetrate glass.

 

Have you ever noticed your left arm and shoulder get more sunburnt than your right?

I'm white as white bread. I don't tan. EVER! I can feel a sunburn. It's different from just feeling hot. No tint on my car and driving with the windows closed, my neck would burn on the left side from 10 minutes of driving home. As soon as spring was in the air, my burning would start.

Yet I spent over 12 hours driving through the southern US in the middle of the summer with tinted windows and not a spec of sunburn.

I can put my window half way down so that part of my arm is shaded by the window and part of it is open to the sun. I can feel the sunburn happening on the exposed part of my arm.

The people who say that UVB is blocked by the window either
a) don't know what they're talking about.
b) have the skin colour of Mr T.
c) think that 35% UV filtration means that it's blocked from entering.

Most tint darknesses are 5%, 20%, 35% and 50%. There is also a 84% UV filter. The 84% is for people who don't want any tint but just want the UV protection. Personally I don't see the point as 50% is darn near clear when you look at it. I suppose it would be the legal way to protect yourself from the sun in places where you're not allowed to tint your front doors. It doesn't do anything for glare or heat reduction though.

http://www.courage.ca/windowfilm/uvfilm.htm

I always thought that was the dumbest rule, not being able to tint your front doors. They're the only ones that protect you from the sun when they're tinted.

I also noticed that my head and right shoulder stopped getting sunburnt when I had the sunroof tinted 5%. It was one of those sunroofs where the back flips up a few inches. I never noticed how much summertime glare was coming in through there until I got it tinted as well.

 

The window will be hotter with tint since you're absorbing the heat and reflecting it back. You can see window temps with no tint and various darkness levels here:
http://www.courage.ca/IMAGES/PerformX_Slate.pdf

I had the Perform X Slate tint. Not the best performance in the world. But on the other hand it wasn't that bad. I've seen other supposedly better tint brands have worse heat rejection. It lasted really well during all those Canadian summers. Had a nice dark colour to it. Very easy to see through. You can see the UV amount coming through on tinted vs non tinted at the above link as well.

 

I have 35% in the fronts and 15% on the back passenger and back window. I wish i would have done 5% in the backs. The darker you go in the back the darker the fronts will look because there is less light coming in the car.

 

I got a 2009 jetta sportwagon in arizona, first thing i did was tint...darkest everywhere exept rear and front side windows are one step lighter...I think rear at darkest is too dark when no street lights where I live

looks like a white limo

 

Uh...
Uhhhh....
Uhhhhhh...

Ever hear of plate safety glass?

 

I've always liked 15-20% all around. Thats what I had on my altima coupe, and it was perfect. The formula was already tinted.. 5% rear 15% sides. The rear is a pain sometimes, but I've gotten use to it, and love it at night when someone is behind me that doesn't know how to turn brights off, or is driving a lifted truck with the lights not re-adjusted

 

You claim that these people don't know what they are talking about. Where is your source? I still don't see anything other than you saying you get a burn with the windows up. I have never had that happen to me and neither has my wife and she burns real easy.