Explaining the pricing of various car window tint options is, strangely enough, more difficult than detailing how window film works. The main reason for this is that car tinting costs vary wildly – for example, if you’re not too worried about quality you could get a cheap $100 job done at one of the less established tint shops, and if you’re going for classy you can expect to pay upwards of $400 at a luxury tint shop. What is important to realize, however, is that both options can be deemed “reasonable” depending on certain factors, namely:
Your Car Type
Some car makes and models are simply more difficult to tint than others. If they haven’t already seen your car, a good tint shop will always enquire about the specific type of vehicle you want to tint beforehand, as they will need to determine how big of a job it will be and how much you will be charged for it.
For instance, cars with curved or steep rear windows (e.g. Volkswagen Beetles, Corvettes) require the most work, and hence demand a heftier price. In general, though, the higher the total surface area of your windows, the more window film your car will need – which explains why tinting a sedan costs less than tinting a station wagon or SUV.
Type of Tinting Film
As with most products for cars, the quality and price differs vastly among the various tinting films out there. The cheapest tinting film goes for a fraction of what you’d pay for the more higher-end films, but at the end of the day you should always remember: you get what you pay for.
Budget film might not look bad in the beginning, but soon enough you may start seeing bubbles, color shifting, and drastically reduced heat protection. Fully-metallized films using sputtering or deposition technology like SolarGard HP offer much higher quality and superb fidelity, as well as a lifetime warranty.
Performance Warranty
Because warranties vary between shops, you should always enquire about the Performance Warranty before handing over your money. Some warrantees last a lifetime, whereas others are only valid from as little as one year.
Important: The most standard warranty you’ll be offered only covers you for bubbling, peeling, cracking and glazing. There are also other special types of warrantees, however, such as the “Color-Safe Warranty”, which ensures that your film will be replaced if it starts to lose or change its color. “Transferable” warrantees are the most valuable, as they will stay valid even if you sell your car.
Caution! Even if a tint shop offers you a “Lifetime Warranty”, this can only be backed up if the business is still around when you need to get a replacement. Always keep this in mind when dealing with a relatively unknown or budget tint shop, as it will be a waste of money giving the job to a shop that isn’t going to stick around.
Dealer’s Reputation
The best tint shops are respected in their industry, and have many satisfied customers. They take pride in their work, and take pains to offer the highest standard in expertise, film quality, and customer service.
As mentioned earlier, though – you get what you pay for, so these tint shops won’t come cheap. A reputable and respected dealer will be easy to spot, but to make sure you are at the right place for your needs, here are some good questions to ask when choosing a tint shop.
Here are two of the best window tinting resources you might want to use when buying car tint for the first time:
- Pre-Cut Car Tint Kits will set you up with a solid and affordable car tint. At $80 for a 4 door sedan and $60 for a 2 door coupe, you can get high quality Solargard HP film already cut to your car’s dimensions. All it takes from there is a few hours at home and you can cut out the dealer and install it yourself.
- Car Tint Price Quote makes it easy for you to find reputable dealers in your area. TintCenter dealers provide top notch service coupled with the best quality film at affordable prices.
Happy tint shopping, and good luck!
