Window tint questions (Updated, now turned nightmare)

[OutofNowhere]

Howdy all! I'm looking into window tint for my new 2024 GT, and I've got a guy (at shop #1) telling me that it's going to be really hard to do the back window, because of how close it is to the back deck, and because of some foam strip that's between the window and the deck at the bottom.

The foam strip is apparently there to cut vibrations, and some of it comes up a bit over the dot matrix at the edge of the glass at the bottom just inside the corners (assembly was not perfect there, for sure). He was saying that he'd probably have to trim the tint up past the dot matrix at the bottom edge of the back window, and that there would be daylight showing through there, which just sounded like it would look terrible. I know I'd hate seeing that.

A guy at a different shop (shop #2) looked at it for a few seconds after I told him the other guy's concerns, and he said he didn't see that there would be any issue with it.

Now I just have no idea what to do. Has anyone had these issues with tinting the back window? Did the shop take the back deck out to do it?

I have a line on another shop in the area that might actually take the back deck out to do the back window, but I haven't made it over there yet. Shop #1 didn't want to do that, but shop #2 said it wasn't necessary. Thoughts?

Edit after tint job:

Took it to shop #2, and I had to take it back the very next day so that they could get air bubbles out of the edges of the back and front window in spots. Also, over a week later there are still a bunch of small bubbles in the tint (they said these might disappear, but they didn't), more than a dozen on one side on the strip on the top of the windshield as well as some on the other side, but also a scattered few on other windows.

I didn't have any of these issues years ago when I had my other car done at shop #1; I took the car in, they did the job, and I left and never had to return, because it was perfect. It wasn't ceramic tint in that car though; would that make a difference?

They'll redo it, but I'm wondering now how picky to be? I'm a pretty picky person (and I notice everything!), but what's an acceptable level of "perfection" look like? No bubbles anywhere at all? A couple pinhead-size here and there acceptable? What's the "accepted normal" for a $650 job (all windows with Lumar IRX 30%, the full windshield with AIR 80, and also a strip across the top)?

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[roadpilot]

Howdy all! I'm looking into window tint for my new 2024 GT, and I've got a guy (at shop #1) telling me that it's going to be really hard to do the back window, because of how close it is to the back deck, and because of some foam strip that's between the window and the deck at the bottom.

The foam strip is apparently there to cut vibrations, and some of it comes up a bit over the dot matrix at the edge of the glass at the bottom just inside the corners (assembly was not perfect there, for sure). He was saying that he'd probably have to trim the tint up past the dot matrix at the bottom edge of the back window, and that there would be daylight showing through there, which just sounded like it would look terrible. I know I'd hate seeing that.

A guy at a different shop (shop #2) looked at it for a few seconds after I told him the other guy's concerns, and he said he didn't see that there would be any issue with it.

Now I just have no idea what to do. Has anyone had these issues with tinting the back window? Did the shop take the back deck out to do it?

I have a line on another shop in the area that might actually take the back deck out to do the back window, but I haven't made it over there yet. Shop #1 didn't want to do that, but shop #2 said it wasn't necessary. Thoughts?

The first guy you talked about: Avoid at all costs. He's an amateur and will likely result in a job that looks like an amateur did it.

Absolutely NO issues tinting the rear. In fact, the installer found a few specs of dust under the tint on the rear window that he didn't like (but we couldn't replace then because he had also just ceramic coated the car and didn't want it wet), so I brought it back a few weeks later and he replaced it.

In short: Find a reputable shop that doesn't make excuses.

NOTE: Those lines are the shop lights above, not the tint.

More pics of the ceramic coat and tint jobs on my DH:

roadPilot's 2024 Dark Horse (R4964) | Mustang7G - 2024+ S650 Mustang Forum (Dark Horse, GT, EcoBoost, GT500, GT350, Mach 1)

 

[24grabbergt]

I second with what @roadpilot said, 1st guy is a bozo. No bubbles in my tint and looks perfectly fine, was no issue.

 

[Sf22giants]

Same as above. Had a highly rated, local shop do my rear windows. No issues.

If a shop is saying “it’s too hard” then that means you should never do business there.

 

[OutofNowhere]

The first guy you talked about: Avoid at all costs. He's an amateur and will likely result in a job that looks like an amateur did it.

Yeah, he was really complaining about how tight the space was between the deck and the back window, and in the end, just seemed like he didn't want to do the job anyway.

Thanks for the detailed reply and pictures!

Question for you though: does your tint on the back window go all the way to the edges, even over the black etching that's outside the dot matrix? It's kind of hard to tell from the pictures!

Thanks to @24grabbergt and @Sf22giants for the feedback as well!

 

[roadpilot]

Yeah, he was really complaining about how tight the space was between the deck and the back window, and in the end, just seemed like he didn't want to do the job anyway.

Thanks for the detailed reply and pictures!

Question for you though: does your tint on the back window go all the way to the edges, even over the black etching that's outside the dot matrix? It's kind of hard to tell from the pictures!

Thanks to @24grabbergt and @Sf22giants for the feedback as well!

Every square inch of glass in my DH is tinted (front windshield, driver & passenger windows, rear quarters, and rear glass)

FYI: If you don't post pics of your Mustang, you don't actually own one. POIDH !!!

 

[RLE55]

Also consider ceramic tint vs. regular tint...it has advantages.

 

[OutofNowhere]

FYI: If you don't post pics of your Mustang, you don't actually own one. POIDH !!!

Heh, this is actually the second Mustang I've owned, just don't have pics yet! My husband is washing and detailing this weekend (because the dealership did a crappy job of it, AND we drove 3 hours through pouring rain to get home with it!), and then, weather permitting, I'll get a few photos. For now, here's the old one:

I was pretty attached to it, and I miss it! Every drive for 18 years was awesome!

Does that count?

 

[OutofNowhere]

Also consider ceramic tint vs. regular tint...it has advantages.

Yes! I've already decided on ceramic. Thanks!

 

[roadpilot]

Also consider ceramic tint vs. regular tint...it has advantages.

Ceramic tint is the only way to go ...

 

[roadpilot]

Heh, this is actually the second Mustang I've owned, just don't have pics yet! My husband is washing and detailing this weekend (because the dealership did a crappy job of it, AND we drove 3 hours through pouring rain to get home with it!), and then, weather permitting, I'll get a few photos. For now, here's the old one:

I was pretty attached to it, and I miss it! Every drive for 18 years was awesome!

Does that count?

Yes, I've had many over the years, but truly miss my '14 GT 5.0.

But the Dark Horse is helping me get over the pain!

 

[smurfslayer]

FYI: If you don't post pics of your Mustang, you don't actually own one. POIDH !!!

As expressed on Ford Raptor Forum:
Pictures. Or it’s a prius.

In this case there are pictures, so no, it’s not a prius.

 

[MCS]

because the dealership did a crappy job of it, AND we drove 3 hours through pouring rain to get home with it!), and then, weather permitting,

I learned the hard way that the dealership tint, wash/detail, tint is garbage. I had all of that done for my current 21 GT before it was shipped from AB. The ceramic coating place said "Oh no, don't have them do it. We can buff that out in seconds" and they weren't kidding I watched them do it.

Getting a pro shop to do your work is always best and ceramic tint, as others have said, tops it all.

Pics or it didn't happen. This is after a pro job a couple of years ago. I just received a quote today for my DH Premium at the same shop so once it's built I will take her there too.

 

[Zig]

Heh, this is actually the second Mustang I've owned, just don't have pics yet! My husband is washing and detailing this weekend (because the dealership did a crappy job of it, AND we drove 3 hours through pouring rain to get home with it!), and then, weather permitting, I'll get a few photos. For now, here's the old one:

I was pretty attached to it, and I miss it! Every drive for 18 years was awesome!

Does that count?

Second? What do you call those other 4 standing there in the pic? . Anyway, it seems you didn’t tint the prior why did you decide to tint the new one?

 

[OutofNowhere]

The ceramic coating place said "Oh no, don't have them do it. We can buff that out in seconds" and they weren't kidding I watched them do it.

Yeah, this one had ceramic coating applied by the dealer apparently (though maybe they do that at the factory? IDK really), as well as LSF Clear Shield and an anti-theft tracking system, all of which I told them I didn't want and wasn't going to pay for. However, it's all still on the car, including the GPS tracking "anti-theft system" that has tracked me since I left the dealership even though I didn't pay for it and haven't "activated" it (NOT happy about that, and I'm going back and making them remove it ASAP, but that's another whole rant). I'm sure I can get a local shop to do better ceramic coating, but I'll need to do some research, obviously.

Second? What do you call those other 4 standing there in the pic?

LOL
"not mine"
"probably not Mustangs"
"handy props"

That pic was taken about six months after I took delivery in Germany, near a castle down the road from where I lived. I didn't have the tint done until nearly ten years later after I moved Stateside to the South where the summers are much longer and hotter. I'm still stuck here, and the new one is Carbonized Gray with Onyx Black interior; soooo much darker... so much hotter... need... tint... ASAP...

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