Looking for SoCal window tint recommendations

Have you heard of red island pro tint in Rosemead? They do rayno s9 for 380. Looks like they work on tons of high end cars.

https://m.yelp.com/biz/red-island-pro-tint-rosemead-2

A bit pricey but I bet they will be doing a quality job.
Is your car a lease?

380 is the cheapest price I’ve been given for a Tesla model 3. Some shops are quoting me 700-900 dollars for rayno s9. My car is a purchase.

Go for it !

yes he is. he was in a bad bike accident so was out for a bit but just did another of my cars this weekend and it looks great (as usual). yes he offers lifetime warranty and does mobile install so will come to you as long as you have a garage to work out of and are in the general San Diego area. hope this helps.

I tried calling the # above but it is out of service. Do you know of a new #?

Anyone know if any good deals? I live in northern San Diego, work middle San diego

Is it relatively inexpensive to have aftermarket window tinting removed?

I’m (sort of) looking for a used vehicle, but I’m immediately rejecting cars when the ad photos show that the current/previous owner added tint (when it’s obvious, it looks absolutely ridiculous).

Perhaps I’m limiting my options unnecessarily if this is easily resolved.

Is anyone familiar with the ballpark cost (or a range) to have tint removed from a car (I’m not considering an SUV).

I’m not interested in DIY.

@trism it isn’t too bad, I’d say $150-$200. They bag the windows and park it in sun and the film comes off relatively easy.

If it is a good film I’d keep it.

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I’d say @Trato is right, it doesn’t seem to be an overly complex task as long as you have a heat gun.

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Any Orange County tint recommendations? I saw some way up in the thread, but not sure if they are still valid.

I’ve been shopping around and the quotes I’ve been getting are ~$750 - $900 for a small SUV (all around including windshield). That just seems really high.

Looking for 60-70 on windshield. And 30 all the way around.

You must be asking for some high dollar tint. Carbon fiber and ceramic tints shouldn’t be that high. Anything over $500 is a total rip off. Film Kings in Santa Fe Springs did a good job on mine.

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I has been over two years since I started this thread and I’m happy to report that the Sherman Oaks place still is the place to go in the LA-area.

I took a new Ram Rebel to Sunshield Tinting today thinking I’d install the same 3M Fx that I put on my Volvo since it has held up really well and I like the color of it. When I got there, the owner (at least he seems to be the owner) explained that he only had one film that could get close to matching what the Rebel has on the back from the factory, but it is not a perfect match. He was very up front about it.

Then he introduced me to the Xpel XR film and explained that one of the advantages is that it rejects heat better than the 3M Fx. He has a little demo box there where he asks you to put your hand under, he turns on a heat lamp and you can feel it is really hot. Then he inserts a traditional tint layer between the lamp and the hand. While you can see that your hand is darker, it is still incredibly hot for my hand. Then he removes that layer and adds a layer of the Xpel stuff. My hand went cold while remaining lit by the lamp and I was sold.

I paid $125 for driver/passenger windows and was out of there within an hour. He set me up with a chair and table in an area with shade in the parking lot and let me use the wifi to work on my laptop while they did the work.

The result is precisely as he stated; not a perfect match but looks decent, I can already feel the difference in heat rejection as I had the sun on my side on the drive back, and the tint is clearer. He said it is less likely I would get pulled over by it than the Fx stuff in my Volvo, which got me pulled over once, although I suspect that’s not the actual reason why the cop pulled me over.

Anyway, great place, great guy, good stuff.

I’m waiting for the film to cure to see final results, but it was looking pretty good so far.

This is their website: https://www.sunshieldglasstinting.com/

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I have been to sunshine glass tinting x2 as well and agree they do a good job.

I’m sure this has been answered, but any recommendations for OC? Thanks in advance.

Not a fan of Rayno S9s. The windshield on my Clarity has a noticeable haze (I’m sure the sides and rear do too - but they’re not as noticeable as they’re darker and you’re not staring at them like the fronts), which I hear is normal. Just not okay in my opinion, seems pretty low quality to me.

Yep optical clarity needs to be really good for windshield use.

I also have tried Rayno S9 and here’s my impression:

While they do have some good specs on paper, the film itself could perform better if they offered a better front windshield tint. The dealer I went to offered a clear Rayno film (residential?) for the front windshield that has relatively weak performance. I originally attributed this to the S9 tint itself, until I put a second layer of Air Blue 80 over the Rayno windshield tint and realized this was Rayno’s weakness. Rayno S9 also has a greenish hue if that matters to anyone. I prefer a black look myself.

I’ve tried a couple different brands now on several diff cars because science: Llumar CTX, F1 Pinnacle, F1 Stratos, Suntek CXP, 3M crystalline, and Rayno

The Stratos is definitely the best performing I’ve experienced. But for the value, esp on a leased car, the performance and value of Suntek CXP cannot beat.

If anyone is in the SGV, there’s a relatively new shop I can recommend doing Suntek CXP and CIR.

Hope this post helps at least one person because I know I’m always researching the latest on tint performance and pricing.

Currently don’t need tint, but what shop is it for future reference?

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Mission Window Tint in San Gabriel. It’s a very small shop in the back of a car wash. Sam, the owner and tinter use to work at a well known spot for Tesla’s in OC.

If anyone is in the area check him out.

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