In North Carolina they have a yearly "Safety Check" and one of those "safety" things is to make sure your "tint" is not too dark. It appears that tint gets darker with time. I moved here in '07 and my California tint was way too dark. Had to get it redone. In '12 had to do it again. Last Tuesday I replaced it yet again.

However, this time, not all bad. I had 3M Ceramic Tint installed. MUCH improved Price wasn't too bad, I ended up having all windows redone, and this time I had the windshield "tinted" as in really, light. The material has the same effect on those naughty UV rays and such, even if the tint is lighter.

One pisser that I found out this time around, on a Mustang GT NC gets all pissy if your rear windows are too dark. In this case even though I had all windows done in '12, NC "failed" the rear window and not the door windows, or those little side windows. The tint installer says inspection stations are always messing up on this thing, and more often than not you can just go somewhere else, and pay again, and it will likely pass. And a REAL PISSER is that on PU's and SUV's it is OK to have the rear windows really dark!

SO, Wednesday I had ALL my windows on my '13 Subaru Forester tinted, and the rear ones come from the factory pretty dark already. I also had the windshield on it tinted. LOOKS GREAT and I'm pretty sure it is cooler after you leave it in the parking lot when you go into the store for a bit when you return.

Down side, I called 3M, the do not recommend using the suction cup type GPS mounts on the windshield.

FWIW

 

How are they measuring your darkness? Do they actually have an opacity or light meter or other standard method (like contrast cards) or, are they just eyeballing it?

Never heard of tint getting darker with age, lighter yes.

What percentage is written on the books for how dark tint can be? 15%, 30%? I'd get it in writing, then when you go to have the tint installed, have the invoice show the darkness that was installed. Next time some arsehat inspector says it's too dark, show them the invoice.

Or if they use contrast cards, find out which card is the limit and make sure the tint shop doesn't go darker than that.

 

They have digital meters, they sandwich the glass between two parts and get a percentage reading. If I recall correctly. I saw them do it back in '12 pretty sure that is what it was. In '12 the Ford Dealer pissed me off, I showed them the install invoice, he shrugged and said the meter was GOD. I went to the DMV people that monitor that stuff, they checked my window, also said it was too dark, and they reiterated that the tint will get darker with time. Like I said, installer says it is a dark art, a scam.

At any rate, the new 3M Ceramic is better than the old tint, so that is good, plus the film is supposed to be tougher. As in back in the day the talk was getting "Mole Skin" to make the contact to the tint softer. The new stuff is supposed to be more durable.

 

There are places in your area that will look the other way, when it comes to your tint. You just need to talk to other car enthusiasts, and find out where they go to get theirs passed.

 

We have the same kind of law here in VA. However you see all kinds of cars breaking that law including the COPS! I don't understand how it's "OK" for Police Cars to have windows soooooo dark you cannot see inside at all but we are limited!

 

I think that I recall asking about that at one time. We have a Cherry Point and Camp Lejeune Marine bases in my region. I was told cars with out of state plates could have their tint however they wanted it. I think I recall checking plates on cars for a bit after that and finding it to be true. Maybe that is part of your issue. As far as the "COPS" - must be nice.

I just re-checked your post, "South East Virginia" would mean many Navy types in your vicinity.

 

Oh I know out of staters aren't cited....I'm talking about cars with VA tags on them that have tint way too dark. I have heard where some people take their cars to certain "shops" where the guy doing the inspection isn't so picky.