Tinting in the SF East Bay Area for a Prius v

Anyone have any suggestion? I'd love to get mine tinted too.

 

My first choice would be Rocky Mountain Tint in Livermore. Matt is a Llumar Formula one dealer and his work is the best that I have seen-- and I am one of the pickiest people alive. He charges about $400 for the Formula 1 ceramic tint.

My second choice is automall Tint specialists in Fremont. I had my Gen III tinted there by Greg using Huper Optik Tint. Cost was $500+ but heat rejection is probably the best on the market.

Premier Mobile Group in Fremont did my clear bra and I am confident that they would also do a fantastic job considering my experience with them.

MB860 ?

 

Thanks.
I will try them.

 

Both my Prius and my wife's Sienna were tinted by Rocky Mountain Tint in Livermore. He did a fantastic job on both cars and we have had zero issues with both. I'd go to him again if I had another car to tint.

 

1) Quality of the work. Matt tints very, very close to the edge. No bubbles or debris that I can remember, as close to perfection as you can possibly get. I cannot say that about many other tint jobs I have seen.

2) Patterns are hand-cut for the best coverage. Some shops use pre-cut templates that do not provide the best coverage, which results in gaps.

3) FormulaOne's warranty is nationwide. The film has a solid reputation for durability and heat rejection. Compare the heat rejection specs for FormulaOne vs other ceramic films such as Llumar CTX, Huper Optik, Madico, etc. If it is one of the best on the market in that area.

4) Ceramic tint is non-conductive. It is also not dyed, afaik. This is important to allow the smart key and other electronic devices to function properly. Metallic films may offer the same heat rejection as ceramic films at a lower cost, but will interfere with electronics. Dyed films, traditionally, have not had the same durability since the dye fades noticeably after a while.

5) Rocky Mountain is also one of the few shops in the area that stocks Llumar Air Blue 80. This is a film that offers almost 50% heat rejection with almost no loss in visibility. As you may know, CA laws require a VLT of 70% for the front windows. Llumar Air Blue 80 is as close as you will get while still getting a reasonable reduction in heat.

 

TheCritic is indeed picky. He gave me crap about my windows and I thought they were pretty good. lol

 

Lol same.

You must be referring to the late 90s rice rockets with purple windows. Many newer dyed tints now come with lifetime warranties. I also don't think you'd have a problem if you garaged your car. Anything that sits out in the sun will fade. Car paint fades too you know.

 

Sorry, just couldn't resist giving you a bad time on those bubbles that I noticed.

You are probably going to disagree with me, but I personally have firsthand seen enough "fading" from my friend's Suntek tint after 2 years to turn me away from dyed films. Perhaps most people would not notice, but it just was not up to my standard.

 

I can't disagree with you because I haven't seen it. I'd probably agree with you too if I did see it.

Suntek makes varying qualities and levels of tint, just like Shimano makes cheap bike gears and very expensive bike gears. You were probably looking at the entry level stuff, which doesn't come with their lifetime warranty by the way. Go figure.

 

Had mine done at EMC collision in Fremont for $199. They were running a special I believe. Came out perfect! My neighbor also had his car done by them

 

I called them today during lunch and was told they used Suntek Carbon but the price has gone up $50 since last month's special. They also said they could use Suntek Carbon XP for a small upcharge-- I think he said $30, but double check.

Those prices are definitely competitive but I would ask to see examples of the work first. Carbon XP is probably the only film I would use from Suntek-- and do note that it has a darker appearance than other films of the same shade.

MB860 ?

 

no key fob interference

 

used tints of 70 and 20. Very happy with the results and I'm pretty critical (according to my wife....)

 

Can you take some pictures? Really curious what this combo looks like.

 

Omega Werks in Pleasanton. Owner is Vincent. He is so good with tint and clear bra, his schedule is usually booked out 2 months in advance. Give him a call though.. cancelations happen.

 

I went with Suntek Carbon XP because of the heat reflecting properties, but just had it done so cannot comment on durability etc. Much of this is personal taste but one thing I can recommend is to darken the cargo side windows as dark as possible as you really cannot use these windows to see any traffic anyway.