Dark tint

[dreamerman]

Has anyone been pulled over for having a dark tint that fall short of 35% VLT? I used to have 15% on my dual cab (used for private purposes) and never had an issue despite being pulled over several times for RBT. Maybe that is because cops think my dual cab is for business. But 15% on a Pajero?

[dreamerman]

Did my tinting yesterday - 15%

[womble]

I always have 15% and have never had a problem with the police even looking twice. Only would think they would be looking at defecting because of tint if you were doing the wrong thing and they were looking for anything they could to get you for something

[dreamerman]

The tint guy told me that he did a CRV the day before he did mine and the driver wanted 5%. So 15% does not sound too bad now.

[erad]

In 2013, we bought a new Pajero and a new Outlander. Neither of them had any decent form of window tinting, so we looked around for someone to do the job for us. We got the Outlander done in Tamworth because it was summer, it was damned hot without tinting and we were already there. We asked for the darkest possible tint for the rear doors etc, and the darkest allowable tint for the front doors. I cannot remember the light transmission values, but 5% and 15% sound about right. The tinting made a big difference to the Outie so when we were next visiting Tamworth with the Pajero we took it back to get that one done as well, but we chose to have only 15% tint because the 5% was too dark. Even 15% (or whatever the darkest allowable tint is) is too dark for me to feel comfortable driving in city environments. Fortunately I rarely go near a major city so this is not such an issue, but if I lived in the city, I would strip the tint from the front windows and go back to original glass. I believe that dark tinting is a serious safety issue.

[Aspey]

I believe that dark tinting is a serious safety issue.

Not as serious as all the drivers out there that don't pay attention while driving.
Unless someone had ultra dark front windows then I doubt the police would specifically target tinted cars.

[CptStinky]

very dark is a headache. Cant remember the numbers but I had very dark on a ute a couple of cars ago and it was a pain. First thing in the mornings with dew on the car, I couldn't see out properly and had to wind down the windows to check for bikes and pedestrians.
Then in winter coming home after dark- same thing. Always worried I'd missed something.

[nj swb]

very dark is a headache. Cant remember the numbers but I had very dark on a ute a couple of cars ago and it was a pain. First thing in the mornings with dew on the car, I couldn't see out properly and had to wind down the windows to check for bikes and pedestrians.
Then in winter coming home after dark- same thing. Always worried I'd missed something.

I agree. When I first bought my NT it was horrible to reverse at night - until the night I had my window down, and it was a revelation! 15% tint looks cool in bright sunshine, but it heavily restricts vision in low light conditions - night, or driving in the rain when idiots don't put their headlights on, or insist on only using their parking lights.

To get it registered in SA I had to strip the tinting, and there was no way I was going to put 15% back. I've got 70% on the front, 35% elsewhere. Definitely doesn't look as cool, but I can see.

[dreamerman]

Have driven with 15% tint for 6 years with no dramas. I think 5% is too dark. Maybe some 15% is darker than others? Mine's Solartint - understood to be a very average generic brand.

[Merts]

Have driven with 15% tint for 6 years with no dramas. I think 5% is too dark. Maybe some 15% is darker than others?

15% is 15% regardless of brand. It's the measure of how much visible light can pass through the tint, so unless some manufacturers are fiddling the figures (which is highly unlikely as they'd be found out the first time someone used a light meter during a RW inspection) they are the same.

Btw, I have darkest legal tint on all windows on an XTrail and you have to wind the windows down at night so you can see enough in the rear view mirrors to back out of a driveway. I'm pretty happy with the factory tint on my Triton, as I was with my VRX Pajero.