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Auto window tint?


2talltim
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Last week i had the side windows on my Tahoe tinted and now my wife wants hers done. Her impala will be driven more than my tahoe so with her car im a little more worried about getting messed with by LEO. She wants 20% on the rear and we were debating on 35%vs.50% on the front side windows. I had 20/50 on my grand am for years and never got messed with, but she really wants the 20/35. Are leos not looking at this as hard as they were 15 years ago when they were hammering people left and right? Anyone have any recent experiece with dark tint and leos?

Being a 4 door family car i kinda think they wont notice as much vs. if it were a loud anoying ricer buzzing around. And does anyone know the current fine if it would be a issue?

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I have had 35-front 20-rear on all 3 of my cars and never have had an issue. Even when I had the rice mobile sentra with a loud exhaust and the cavalier with green LEDs in the headlamps. I would say 35/20 would be fine, the most they usually do if you do get a dick cop is write you a fix it ticket.

The main issue is can they see into the front windows, which 35 generally is just light enough to do that.

I should also note that I have been pulled over probably 6 times and not once have they said anything about tint(knocks on wood).

Edited by JStump
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Well back in the day (94-97)i had a ford ranger low rider with 20% all around and a camaro with the same 20% and i got screwd with all the time. but those were the days when we would pointlessly cruise up and down main street at all hours on fri. and sat. nights.

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Where I work, dope slingers and people with illegal guns tend to have darker than legal tint. We hammer the shit out of dark tint. Ohio allows no less than 50% light transmissionand it is primary offense. The last I checked, it was a $120ish fine in Franklin Co. However, one of our freeway guys told me that the fines are now in the $160 range.

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The rear can be tinted as dark as you want it, the front 2 windows are all that matter - they must let 50% of light thru. I have 2 cars with 15% tint all around and before I moved to Westerville from Canton it was never an issue. Only got stopped once and it was just a warning. Since I moved here I have been pulled over twice in the last 2 months. Both times I was driving a 2003 grand am. Other ride is a brand new Optima SX which I drive much more frequently and I have never been stopped in it. I think 2 factors really play into whether or not LEO's will fuck with you over your tint: where you live and what kind of car it is. If it is a newer, nicer car that isn't an Escalade or something else that makes you look like a drug dealer when you tint the windows, I think you're less likely to be pulled over. Also, if you live in a town where the police actually do police work (i.e. not Westerville, Dublin, etc) you are less likely to be pulled over. Just my 2 cents

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i got stopped recently...

my mustang was 20% all around, got stopped multiple times but never for tint...made sure to put windows down during stop (both sides) so the officer can see in, and they never cared

few months ago though, i got stopped in my truck in gahanna...he put a meter on it and it came up as 3%...he said he usually tickets for single digit tint but he gave me a warning....told me to remove it or stop driving through gahanna...so i avoid gahanna as much as possible now...he had a trainee with him, might have contributed to the stop...showing the guy how to use the meter etc lol

ive been pulled over 2 other times in my truck and they never even mentioned it

also - my mom has 35% on her accord all around and works in westerville and has never been messed with

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as a side story my buddy (again back in the day)decided he wanted to stay legal so he put 50% on his truck instead of the 20 he really wanted. One time he got pulled over and the metered it and it came in a 40% he still got a ticket(like $60 back then) he was pissed. Said if he knew that would have happend he would have just gotten the tink he originally wanted

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The rear can be tinted as dark as you want it, the front 2 windows are all that matter - they must let 50% of light thru. I have 2 cars with 15% tint all around and before I moved to Westerville from Canton it was never an issue. Only got stopped once and it was just a warning. Since I moved here I have been pulled over twice in the last 2 months. Both times I was driving a 2003 grand am. Other ride is a brand new Optima SX which I drive much more frequently and I have never been stopped in it. I think 2 factors really play into whether or not LEO's will fuck with you over your tint: where you live and what kind of car it is. If it is a newer, nicer car that isn't an Escalade or something else that makes you look like a drug dealer when you tint the windows, I think you're less likely to be pulled over. Also, if you live in a town where the police actually do police work (i.e. not Westerville, Dublin, etc) you are less likely to be pulled over. Just my 2 cents

If the officer is proactive, window tint is the perfect tool to get a stop. It can give you a reason to begin an interaction that could lead to more. As a general rule, I don't write traffic tickets unless I need to. If there is more than a traffic infraction, I will call for a tint meter and write it as my PC for the stop. If not, you go on your merry way. However, I have a partner on Wednesday and Thursday who will write it almost every time. He views it as an officer safety issue (which it is). He issues the ticket and tells them that if they go to a professional to have it removed, then take the receipt to court, they will almost always dismiss the charge.

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If the officer is proactive, window tint is the perfect tool to get a stop. It can give you a reason to begin an interaction that could lead to more. As a general rule, I don't write traffic tickets unless I need to. If there is more than a traffic infraction, I will call for a tint meter and write it as my PC for the stop. If not, you go on your merry way. However, I have a partner on Wednesday and Thursday who will write it almost every time. He views it as an officer safety issue (which it is). He issues the ticket and tells them that if they go to a professional to have it removed, then take the receipt to court, they will almost always dismiss the charge.

This is the reason I have not gotten my Mustang tinted yet. I don't need to add a reason to get pulled over. I even have a convertible, and only drive in the summer usually with the windows down.

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This is the reason I have not gotten my Mustang tinted yet. I don't need to add a reason to get pulled over. I even have a convertible, and only drive in the summer usually with the windows down.

The fact of the matter is that there are going to be officers that will be pricks and write the ticket no matter what. I personally don't agree with that. There are hard working people flat out can't afford to have 25% or more of their weekly pay check taken from a traffic ticket and or court costs. The law is still the law, and officers are still within the scope of their duty and have the legal right to write that ticket. I just don't agree with it personally. If I can keep the roads safe with a warning, I will do it when ever possible.

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If the officer is proactive, window tint is the perfect tool to get a stop. It can give you a reason to begin an interaction that could lead to more. As a general rule, I don't write traffic tickets unless I need to. If there is more than a traffic infraction, I will call for a tint meter and write it as my PC for the stop. If not, you go on your merry way. However, I have a partner on Wednesday and Thursday who will write it almost every time. He views it as an officer safety issue (which it is). He issues the ticket and tells them that if they go to a professional to have it removed, then take the receipt to court, they will almost always dismiss the charge.
The fact of the matter is that there are going to be officers that will be pricks and write the ticket no matter what. I personally don't agree with that. There are hard working people flat out can't afford to have 25% or more of their weekly pay check taken from a traffic ticket and or court costs. The law is still the law, and officers are still within the scope of their duty and have the legal right to write that ticket. I just don't agree with it personally. If I can keep the roads safe with a warning, I will do it when ever possible.

Thanks for the insight and the honesty. I wish that all LEO's felt the same way that you do. I completely understand the reasons for it being considered an officer safety issue and agree that it is. I realize that it is illegal and I know that I run the risk of being ticketed for it but I guess my hope is that if I do get pulled over for it, the officer will see that I am an otherwise law abiding citizen with a clean record and let me go with a warning.

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hey Matt now if my tint is too dark and they pull me or my wife over will the fact that when my tag run comes back that the owner is a CHL holder be an even greater or less of a concern to the officer? me and my wife both have our CCW.

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most cops dont enforce tint laws. legal tint is so light that if they wanted to give people tickets they would be pulling people over all day every day. i put 20 all the way around on my wifes truck no issues. i got 35/20 on my truck and wish i had gone 20 all the way

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just thought of somthing else, her impala has a very large sun roof in it that will make the car look lighter inside evenn with darker tint..think im leaning towards the 35%

The only time it is an officer safety issue is if you don't roll down the windows when you are stopped. Get pulled over roll em down all the way. I have gotten a ticket in my 350z for tint (about $150) this year black amg Benz black wheels and 35% tint and no problems yet. I live in the hood, drive like a dick and have my chl

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I'm getting the fronts on the Subie tinted tomorrow. I just told them to make it match the factory rears. No idea what % it is. I remember years ago for a different car they wouldn't tint what I wanted because it was "illegal". Ever been to flordia? Every car in that state is tinted black as coal. Isn't that Sun discrimination?

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I'm getting the fronts on the Subie tinted tomorrow. I just told them to make it match the factory rears. No idea what % it is. I remember years ago for a different car they wouldn't tint what I wanted because it was "illegal". Ever been to flordia? Every car in that state is tinted black as coal. Isn't that Sun discrimination?

the guy at ziebart told me the rears of my tahoe were 12 or 15

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