TINT MADNESS!!

  by: mndsm

Tint. It’s one of the most crucial mods anyone can make to a vehicle, both as far as aesthetics, and for the value of the vehicle. Tint, ADDING value? It’s true. Let me explain….


The sun as a whole is an evil mistress when it comes to cars. It fades paint, dries out leather, and generally causes a lot of problems when it comes to maintaining your pride and joy. Automakers have come up with TONS of solutions to the problem, from interior protectants, to covers, and obviously window tint. Window tint is great for several things. It protects the interior of your car by cutting a lot of the sun out, much like a giant pair of sunglasses. It also protects your eyes, if you’re like me and were framed glasses. (I simply don’t trust myself not to lose an eye when trying to put in contact lenses.) It also affords a measure of privacy when it comes to what is going on inside of your car, from picking your nose, to less “legal” activities. One more great benefit is the obvious look. If you roll a blacked out ride like mine, you want dark tints. It smoothes the whole show out and makes it look ultra-stealth, which is kickass. There are however, several things you need to consider.

#1- State of Minnesota states that no passenger vehicle shall have more than 50% opacity reduction from window treatments on the front passenger and drivers windows. In passenger cars, that extends to the other windows in the vehicle. If you are rockin’ an SUV or van, you can tint the windows however dark you want, with the exception of the aforementioned front windows. Certain service vehicles, as well as people with a medical diagnosis of sun sensitivity are exempt from this, but those cases are few and far between.

#2- Light tint looks lame. Not much really needs to be said about this.

#3- Tint tickets are expensive. Most will run you in the neighborhood of 200$, and if you’re really unlucky, they’ll add a fix it to the ticket, meaning, if you don’t get it fixed and the police pull you over again, you’re doubly screwed, and they could possibly tow your car. Also, getting tint removed is expensive.

All is not lost in the world of tinting windows though. I can tell you from personal experience, I’ve been working with 20% for well over a year now. I’ve been pulled over twice, and not a mention of my tint. Before you go thinking my windows were rolled down, they weren’t. Once, it was raining, and the other time it was kind of cold. I do believe that I had a bit of luck on my side, but that can’t win all. Both instances I was more than cordial with the officer, and both times, I made absolutely no effort to look guilty of anything other than speeding. For contrast, a friend of mine had 20% and got pulled over and ticketed once for it. The difference there was, and the officer even stated, that if his front plate had not been absent, he would not have pulled him over. Reports come in from all over, ranging from 5% and no tickets, to 35% and nearly getting impounded. These stats do seem to vary from local to state PD, with the vast majority of the tickets reported coming from state patrol.

What does this all mean to you? A few things. If you do get illegal tint, expect to pay for it. You’ll be ridin’ dirty in the eyes of the law, no questions about it. Whether or not you get pulled over, that is up to you. Chances are, if you don’t speed, an officer won’t waste his time on a tint ticket. If you have warrants, you’ve got more to worry about than tints. Basically, expect to pay a bit for this slice of luxury. But if you ask me, it’s worth every bit of it, and you’ll see me drop 4 windows every time I roll by the fuzz.

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