Has anyone had any experieces with any tint shops in the GVRD? I've been calling around for prices to tint the 5 rear windows and have gotten prices from $180 to $400 for Solargard and HuperOptik tints.

 

For anyone in the GVRD, I ended up going to Tint Centre of Vancouver. I had them put on (Madico Film) 30% on the back & rear passenger windows and (Huper Optik) 60% on the fronts. Cost was less than $400 cdn with taxes. They did a pretty good job, my only compaint was that they did not tighten one of the arm rest bolts on the driver's door which ended up rattling all the way home until tighten it up myself. I was going to go with all Huper Optik, but felt that 35%, the darkest tint they make as a bit too light for my taste. I would have went 20% on the rears, but was worried about night time visibility.

 

niice.. we actually have a place called Tint Centre? lol.

Pics?

 

Isn't it illegal to put any tint on the front passenger windows in BC?

 

While I was having my windows done, they also tinted a Acura TL and BMW M3 with tint much darker than what I was having done. Driving around town, there are many people who tint their fronts too. I chose 60% which is the lightest tint that was available so as to reduce the glare from all the illegal HID conversions out there

 

It is illegal in BC to tint any of the front windows of an automobile.

British Columbia - No film is permitted on the driver’s compartment, right and left. Any film may be installed on the side windows behind the driver. Any film may be applied to the rear window, provided the vehicle has 2 exterior rear view mirrors.

This quote is from: http://www.courage.ca/services/autotintlaws.htm

You could at some point be fined and told to remove the film from your front windows.

 

Yes, tint on the front windows is illegal. But so is speeding, which is something that pretty much everyone does on every trip they take in their car. Tinting my fronts ain't going to kill anyone unlike speeding or worse, drunk drivers. The cops have better things to do than bother me for a light tint on my windows. Much like everything else in life, "if you over do it, it will get you in trouble" 60% tint is not overdoing it.
But, looking at the various provincial laws, it looks like the west is out of touch with the rest of Canada;
Manitoba- For driver’s compartment, right and left, the minimum visible light transmittance, net, is 50%.
Ontario- For the driver’s compartment, right and left, no film can be installed that would substantially obscure visibility from the exterior.
Quebec - For the driver’s compartment, right and left, the minimum Visible Light Transmittance is 70%
New Brunswick - Same as Ontario.
Newfoundland- Same as Ontario.
As lower mainlanders are forced to spend more time in their cars due a lack of proper infrastucture, mega project construction, ... we should have the right to protect ourselves from over exposure to the elements by tinting our windows slightly. Point blank, the law needs ammending.

 

My comment was just that a comment.

However don't count on the cops not bothering. RCMP in Alberta did a weekend a few months back targeting tinted windows.

 

No worries. BC has had a number of issues with street racers and I've had personal experience with a drunk driver so it just upsets me to think of cops wasting time on ticketing for things that really pose no threat to the general public. I understand why they don't allow dark tint, a la gangsta style. I would not want to have to approach a car like too. But a 60% tint can still be seen through easily and just provides the driver protection from the sun. In fact, I often wonder why car companies don't tint car windows from the factory like they do for vans and SUV's.

 

60% I think is light enough that even with the fact that it's illegal, they won't bother. There are a LOT of people who have darker than 60% tint. It's quite obvious they have it dark.

The reason is that pedestrians need to see you and make eye contact. Having a light tint is a good compromise between people seeing you and having protection from the heat/sun.