Ask an expert

i have read about tinting in other threads and the potential problems with WOF etc, so it is a concern for me if i were to tint my car and then fail future WOF, that would be a waste of money not to mention the hassle of getting them off!

it is all well that i was told by the installer that there must be a certain percentage of light going through (35%?) so it would appear that the film they install will do just that...

but that is if the car has 100% clear window to start with, my observation is some cars appear to have some degree of "tint"/shade already in the window glasses and if we were to install the film with 35% transmission, taking together with the shade of the original window, that would exceed the 35% limit allowed here!

My previous imported car and the current mondeo both gave the impression that there are some degrees of shade with the original window glasses already. am i right here? or just my false vision?

any comments would be much appreciated.

Some cars come from the factory with Privacy Glass which is a tint inside the glass and it is normally fitted to the windows behind the front row seats. If you fit a 35% visual light transmittance (VLT) aftermarket tint to this glass you will possibly end up having illegal tints on your vehicle.

Most testing stations as well as glass tinting experts will have a light meter which they use to measure the VLT of the tint. You should have the glass measured before tinting the windows to determine the level of tint to fit.

For legal and WOF requirements the VLT for the side and rear windows must not be less than 35 percent.