What are reasonable window tint prices?
Oddly, this is a even harder subject than explaining how window film works. The price for a car tint can vary dramatically from the cheapest fly-by-night tint shop from $100 to the luxury tint shop's $400 or more or merely $80 for a DIY car tint kit. For each of these situations, the price can be considered reasonable. If we really break it down, a reasonable price is depends on many factors:
Your Car Type
Quite simply, a small percentage of cars are harder to tint than others. When getting a price quote, a tint shop always asks you for the make and model of your car. This isn't to see how much money you have and charge you up the wazoo. (Often it is with less reputable tinters)
Tinters know which cars take more time to tint properly. Some cars with steep and curved rear windows like the Volkswagon Beetle or Corvette tinters often charge a premium to tint. Additionally, each additional square foot of window on your vehicle requires more window film to tint. This makes tinting a SUV or station wagons cost more than sedans.
Type of Tinting Film
Just like comparing a Hyundai to a Porsche, there are wide performance and cost differences in tinting film. The cheapest tinting film is many times less in price than top quality window film. Again, you get what you pay for.
Cheap film may look good at the beginning, but they can fail to block the summer heat, fade, turn purple, or bubble soon after installation. Higher quality window film such as fully-metallized sputtered or deposition window films like SolarGard HP films offer both advanced performance and a lifetime warranty. These films are worth the higher price.
Performance Warranty
You are highly encouraged to ask about the Performance Warranty before you pay for tinting services from anybody. Typically these Warranty's can last from as little as 1 year to a Lifetime.
Not all Warrantees are created equal! Most warrantees only cover problems such as cracking, glazing, bubbling, and peeling. Some films carry a "Color-Safe Warranty" that gives you peace of mind that if the color of your tint ever changes, it will be replaced. The best warrantees are "Transferable" which allow you to transfer the warranty to another person when you sell the car. This adds permanent value to your car.
Be Careful! Irresponsible tint shops can also offer "Lifetime Warrantees"; however, if they go out of business next year, who is there to replace your bubbling tint? You should always factor in this "hidden" cost when buying low priced car tint.
Dealer's Reputation
Reputable Tint Shops take great pride in their work. They have high standards in who they hire, the film they use, and overall customer service and experience.
Naturally, this increases the cost for them to do business, and they charge more as a result. To make sure you are talking to a quality dealer, ask these questions when choosing a tint shop .
There are two excellent window tinting resources that you should consider when buying car tint:
Pre-Cut Car Tint Kits at http://www.snaptint.com is an easy and affordable way to tint your car. The kits are priced at $60 for a 2 door coupe and $80 for a 4 door sedan. You get top quality Solargard HP film, better than most professionals use. The film is cut precisely to your car's exact window dimensions. Simply take a couple of hours during an afternoon and install it yourself at home.
Car Tint Price Quote at http://www.tintcenter.com takes the guesswork out of who is a reputable dealer in your area. TintCenter dealers deliver quality film and quality service at reasonable prices.
Good luck on your window film shopping adventure.
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About The Author
Harrison Hung is the founder of TintCenter Window Tinting Guide at http://www.tintcenter.com. TintCenter aims to educate consumers about the window film industry, and make tint purchases easy and straightforward.
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This article was posted on November 04, 2005
