Question 1

What percentage is legal in Texas?

Accepted Answer

As a general rule, 25 percent or lighter on the front side windows and a strip above the AS-1 line on the windshield, with more latitude behind the driver. Rules change and there are medical exemptions, so check the current state law rather than taking a tint shop's word for it — including ours. The visualiser labels every shade on every window.

Question 2

What is the difference between ceramic and carbon?

Accepted Answer

Ceramic rejects more infrared at the same visible darkness, which is the whole point — you can have a light film that still does something about the heat. Carbon is cheaper and looks the same from outside. Neither interferes with a phone signal, which is the old objection to metallic films.

Question 3

Will it actually keep the car cooler?

Accepted Answer

Yes, and we are not going to give you a number in degrees, because it depends on the glass, the car, the angle of the sun, and what the cabin was doing beforehand. Any shop quoting you a specific temperature drop is quoting a lab test on a piece of glass, not your car in a car park.

Question 4

How long does it take?

Accepted Answer

Two to three hours for a full car, plotter cut from a pattern rather than hand cut on your glass. Leave it a couple of days before rolling the windows down, and expect a faint haze for about a week while it cures.

Question 5

Can you remove old tint?

Accepted Answer

Yes, and it is a genuinely horrible job when the film has failed and gone purple — that is the top of the range on the price list. Rear windows with defroster lines take longest because the lines lift if anybody rushes.

Question 6

What does the warranty cover?

Accepted Answer

Bubbling, peeling, and colour change, for as long as you own the car, on ceramic and carbon both. It does not cover scratches from a stuck window seal or somebody cleaning it with an ammonia glass cleaner in the first fortnight.

Six, and the third one refuses to give you a number.