Looking for a shop that does quality car window tint

[RJPoli]

Can anyone recommend a shop that does high quality tint application? I grew up in Florida where the sun burns hot all year, and window tint was the first accessory for any car. Practically a requirement! Up here in NOVA far fewer cars have tint. Even fewer have nice looking tint. I am interested in your experiences with local shops that do window tint...good or not so good. Thanks in advance!

[John in VA]

We had a clinic at LA Tint in Manassas, VA this past fall. They also have a shop in Sterling, VA. They use Llumar products, including ceramic & the new Stratos line:
http://www.latint.com/

Ceramic:
http://northamerica.llumar.com/autom...ic-window-tint

Stratos:
http://northamerica.llumar.com/autom...os-window-tint

[pseto]

I have a guy in Aldie that does work out of his home. Check Speed & Tech Motoring on facebook

[RJPoli]

OK, I have an appointment with LA Tint tomorrow. I'll let you know how it goes...

Do they honor a NCC BMW CCA membership discount?

[pseto]

OK, I have an appointment with LA Tint tomorrow. I'll let you know how it goes...

Do they honor a NCC BMW CCA membership discount?

Don't know, but you should ask and report back

[Alan]

OK, I have an appointment with LA Tint tomorrow. I'll let you know how it goes...

Do they honor a NCC BMW CCA membership discount?

When you say "honor" - are you saying that they have offered a CCA discount in the past?

[John in VA]

OK, I have an appointment with LA Tint tomorrow. I'll let you know how it goes...
Do they honor a NCC BMW CCA membership discount?

You don't say which branch you are visiting, but Brien Looney (a company president) was our contact at the Manassas shop. He was offering a special to club members if we made an appt. at the time of the clinic. It won't hurt to ask!

[RJPoli]

I'm going to the Manassas location.

I don't know if they have given a NCCBMWCCA discount in the past, but I thought that since there was a clinic (club event?) there in the past they may... I'll ask Brien and of course report back about my experience.

[RJPoli]

Ok, reporting back with mixed results... Took my car in last Wednesday and was in and out in about an hour. Nice friendly folks and they did honor a BMW club discount of 10% (not the 20% offered at the club event last Nov., but I'll take it!). I got the Lumar Pinnacle, net cost $350 plus tax, a little pricey but...

The four door Windows look very nice. One or two small bubbles, but they may go away... My issues are with the opera windows and rear window, uneven bubbles around the "dots" and defrost/antenna lines. Is this common? Is this that hard to make consistently nice looking? See pics...

[John in VA]

The frit band (dots) can be problematic, and are something that I am concerned about as well. The weather has been cool, so give it a few more days to see if it improves after everything dries completely.

[jkxs]

The frit band (dots) can be problematic, and are something that I am concerned about as well. The weather has been cool, so give it a few more days to see if it improves after everything dries completely.

I'm not a NCC BMW CCA member, but I was quoted $389 for pinnacle on a 2016 Subaru forester today (only for tinting) and an additional $79-99 for doing the sunroof. Does that sound about right? This was the Sterling location with Geoff.

[John in VA]

I'm not a NCC BMW CCA member, but I was quoted $389 for pinnacle on a 2016 Subaru forester today (only for tinting) and an additional $79-99 for doing the sunroof. Does that sound about right? This was the Sterling location with Geoff.

For a "wagon" with many windows it sounds about right, depending on which film was chosen. A Z4 is cheaper than a 3-series coupe is cheaper than a 5-series sedan, so it stands to follow that a wagon/SUV could/would be more.

[RJPoli]

Price sounds about right for LA Tint. They are not the cheapest. They have different rates for two door, four door, etc. based on the number of windows. Also extra charges for sunroof (which I didn't have done since that looked like it was factory tinted), and for a windshield header strip (check with local and state DOT rules to see if that is legal where you live and drive).

Pay attention to the quality of the work you get. What you see when you leave is 99% of what it will look like when the tint dries fully. I am still trying to resolve issues with bubbles in my rear window tint. I'm bringing it back today to see what can be done... I'll report back with my results.

[jkxs]

Price sounds about right for LA Tint. They are not the cheapest. They have different rates for two door, four door, etc. based on the number of windows. Also extra charges for sunroof (which I didn't have done since that looked like it was factory tinted), and for a windshield header strip (check with local and state DOT rules to see if that is legal where you live and drive).

Pay attention to the quality of the work you get. What you see when you leave is 99% of what it will look like when the tint dries fully. I am still trying to resolve issues with bubbles in my rear window tint. I'm bringing it back today to see what can be done... I'll report back with my results.

I'm a little nervous because this would be the first car I plan on getting tinted. I'm definitely nit-picky about details, but I am a little relieved to hear that most people consider LA tint in Sterling to be the best around here. I plan on getting my tint waiver from the DMV and then getting 35% all around (not sure what % for sunroof yet). My forester just gets ridiculously hot (especially the sunroof) and so I'm hoping tinting helps reduce most of the heat transfer/reduces the glare from people on the road driving around with their high beams on at night.

I hope that they fix up the tint to your satisfaction, RJPoli. This review on Yelp has me a little worried because I think I might be expecting too much. Seems like the reviewer was expecting the tint to be perfect (which I admit I would hope so, for $480).

Did you by chance have to ask for a warranty card and proof of purchase, showing the type of film and date of installation (items required for Pinnacle warranty)? Or did they just give it to you without asking? Were your tints pre-cut? Did the bubbles show up after a while, or did they just never go away after the initial install? Thank you.

[pseto]

I'm a little nervous because this would be the first car I plan on getting tinted. I'm definitely nit-picky about details, but I am a little relieved to hear that most people consider LA tint in Sterling to be the best around here. I plan on getting my tint waiver from the DMV and then getting 35% all around (not sure what % for sunroof yet). My forester just gets ridiculously hot (especially the sunroof) and so I'm hoping tinting helps reduce most of the heat transfer/reduces the glare from people on the road driving around with their high beams on at night.

I hope that they fix up the tint to your satisfaction, RJPoli. This review on Yelp has me a little worried because I think I might be expecting too much. Seems like the reviewer was expecting the tint to be perfect (which I admit I would hope so, for $480).

Did you by chance have to ask for a warranty card and proof of purchase, showing the type of film and date of installation (items required for Pinnacle warranty)? Or did they just give it to you without asking? Were your tints pre-cut? Did the bubbles show up after a while, or did they just never go away after the initial install? Thank you.

Does your Forester have a lot of dot matrix around the edges of the window? If so, its very hard to tint over it and have it look right (similar to what PJPoli went through). If you have more than an inch of dot matrix, ask for a black vinyl strip to cover the dots and have them tint up to the vinyl; that's the only way it'll look nice.