About 8 years ago while living in Austin my daughter bought a car with tinted windows. A few years later she moved to Cambridge MA and for the first few years the car passed inspection. However this year it was rejected on the basis of the windows and she was given 60 days to fix. This seems impossible or very expensive for an eight year old car. Any suggestions would be appreciated?
If the tint was applied(typically) it can be removed.
Yes, the tint law in MA is stricter than the one in TX (see by-state laws here: http://www.tintcenter.com/laws/ ). A MA tint shop should be able to help with getting off the old tint. Good luck with the back window if it has the defrost wires!
The same site has DIY instructions for removing - looks like a LOT of work, so I’d get a shop to do it: http://www.tintcenter.com/articles/bt_removal.html
Our friends had the same experience. They moved from MD to TX and bought a new car. They returned a couple of years later, and had to get the tint changed to pass MD law.
The laws vary widely - 25% transmission required in (hot) TX, 70% in NY and CA. Not much common ground. I don’t know if I’d do it just to get a 30% reduction (and that includes window and tint).
Thanks for the replies. I’m not certain but since it was a new car off the dealer’s lot I assume the tinted windows were original equipment – not an applied film. But I don’t know enough about tinting to know if that is even possible.
70% in NY…but ONLY for any window BEHIND the driver (actually a lot of states have this law). All windows from the drivers seat forward can NOT be tinted beyond factory tint.
Someone may correct me on this but I’m pretty certain that “factory” automotive glass tinting is always an applied coating.
Cathedrals worldwide are evidence that tinting (coloring) glass (SiO2) is possible.
Do you have the original receipt? If it was ‘factory’ there’s no way to fix it, I’m surprised it’d fail because of factory tint. Maybe try a different location?
Factory tint is legal everywhere. Your daughter’s car had additional tint applied by the dealer or the dealer’s subcontractor, not the factory. The tint is removable
(they charge about $40 around here, in Texas) to remove tint, so it cannot be that big of a deal. Maybe 2 or 3 hours. One poster cautioned about the rear glass and the defroster - yes, that is a problem. Here they always tell the customer that you will likely not have a defroster when they are done.
Rick in El Paso, TaxUs, USA
The tint is removable
(they charge about $40 around here, in Texas) to remove tint, so it cannot be that big of a deal. Maybe 2 or 3 hours.
At $80/hr (current mechanic rate here in NH)…and it cost $40…then it probably takes them < .5/hrs.