Window Tint question .............. difference between films (vehicle, best, truck, warranty)

[Thinking-man]

hello all,
i'm trying to get my windows tinted.....and the company doing the tinting has two films to choose from:

1. Solar Guard ($175 for all windows and the back)
2. 3M ($250 for all windows and the back)

Does anyone have any experience with these two films? which one would you choose?

the company has a lifetime warranty on the film and labor for discoloration, peeling, fading, bubbles, etc.


thanks!

[Sonata36]

Get whichever is a metallic film. Dyed film turns purple. You get what you pay for.

[Mouser]

Originally Posted by Sonata36

You get what you pay for.

I'd agree

Who wants to have to take stuff back because of poor quality
products, do it right the first time !

All of my vehicles have 3M and have held up in the Arizona
heat for years.

[SpeedyAZ]

Originally Posted by Mouser

I'd agree

Who wants to have to take stuff back because of poor quality
products, do it right the first time !

All of my vehicles have 3M and have held up in the Arizona
heat for years.

Same as mine, my truck has 3M film and it works great, keeps the vehicle cool (cool is a relative term however in Arizona). I like it, holds up great.

[vegaspilgrim]

Use 3M Metallic film. If you're going to get tint, do not cheap out. I had it professionally done on my last car and still looked great after 8 years (including several years when I lived in Phoenix where the car was parked outside in uncovered parking 24 hours a day).

[Mac_Muz]

3-M is a great name brand. Just make sure it's all legal. In NH the ft windows are illegal.

[rbohm]

Originally Posted by Thinking-man

hello all,
i'm trying to get my windows tinted.....and the company doing the tinting has two films to choose from:

1. Solar Guard ($175 for all windows and the back)
2. 3M ($250 for all windows and the back)

Does anyone have any experience with these two films? which one would you choose?

the company has a lifetime warranty on the film and labor for discoloration, peeling, fading, bubbles, etc.


thanks!

first thing to understand is that there are only a couple of tint manufacturers in the US, and they produce a few different brands of film. 3M, imo, is the best. also understand that each brand of film has a couple of different levels, at least, so unless you are comparing apples to apples, you might have a shop that sells a couple of different brands of film, the cheapest of one brand and the best of the other.

as indicated, you get what you pay for. the better the film, the better the performance of the film, and the longer lasting the film will be. but understand also that even the best film will fail eventually. i also agree about going with the higher end film, and having it professionally installed.

[Tourian]

I don't think I've ever had solar guard but I have had 3M and Llumar. I would pick 3M as well.

[josh u]

Suntek, Solargard, 3M, Madico, Llumar & H-Optik are the professional brands and they're all good. Solargard is very common but most people haven't heard of them because they don't have household brand recognition like 3M. IMO 3M is overpriced.

You guys are behind the times. The best tints today are NOT metallic. Metallic may interfer with GPS/cell phone signals so the mfrs have been developing non-metallic film. Among those mfrs' lineups, the most expensive tints are all non-metallic.

Get the light non-metallic tints with high heat-rejection. They are legal in most states because they're not very dark so cops can see you, and a bonus is you can see at clearly at night. But they reject IR as well as 15% tint.

[Thinking-man]

thanks guys!