Window tinting for driver and passenger front seats side windows - is it a good idea?

[RUN-8]

Can't pass safety inspection with tint on driver and passenger front windows or windshield in my state.

Your state sucks.

 

[Stage7]

Your state sucks.

Ironically the state motto is "live free or die".

 

[Gen]

I tinted to match rear factory tint, looks better, no issues with view. Regular tint both windows under $200 View attachment 38314

Did you tint windshield too ?

 

[J44]

Did you tint windshield too ?

No just the two side windows

 

[Fangdang25o]

You really feel the difference with the ceramic tint. Cabin is cooler and your arms will thank you

 

[swampdog]

This is an excellent summary. I suffer from Skin Cancer issues. I also know the physics on how eyes work and the more light that gets through the glass the better you see, especially as you get old. So I get max uv protection and no more IR .. by the way the Land Cruiser has good UV protection from the get go.. I got an UV meter and measured mine ..

jack, can you provide more details about your readings with the UV meter?

Here in the sunny, dry north, police will write tickets for any non-factory tint on the front side windows. I've looked and looked, but can't find any details from Toyota about the UV protection on the front side windows. The windshield, being laminated glass, should provide good protection. Our F150 also uses laminated glass for the front side windows, which is great, except if one has to break the glass to escape when in water, etc. I wish that Toyota took UV and other sun dangers more seriously.

 

[chrisw2069]

Tint

 

[stevieb54]

Haven’t seen anyone mention legality issues. Depending on the state it maybe illegal, even if its illegal but not enforced, a cop will use it for probable cause to pull you over.

 

[Kaliyat]

So, my 2025 Land Cruiser is 2 weeks old. The side windows for the driver and passenger side are not tinted. What's the pros and cons? Do you think tinting cuts down significant clarity for the side mirrors?

I have ceramic tint all around on my LC. It cuts down the heat immensely and also gives me privacy when carrying my photography gear. My state allows 30% so that's what I'm at and I haven't noticed any significant loss in vision at night. If there is ever an occasion where the conditions are darker than my normal night driving, I would just roll the window down to see better. But that's just me. I love the look with the tint as well.

 

[fftfk]

ceramic tint will greatly reduce ir and uv. if you are concerned about being too dark they make very light tint as well. cutting down ir reduces heat and easier for your ac to maintain a comfortable temp at a lower fan speed. cutting back uv is good for your skin as well as your interior from degrading.

One thing on the different tint levels - the lower the tint level (more clear the class) the less heat rejection you get. The advertisements for the film all say up to 98% heat/uv rejection but that is based on the darkest tint. I had the darkest tint on my previous tacoma and it rejected virtually all the heat but I couldn't see out of it at night. I went with the second clearest tint and was disappointed in the amount of heat rejection this time around. I took it back to the shop thinking they had installed the wrong film, went through the specs and the lowest one only has about 50% of the heat rejection as the darkest. I also bought a uv meter off amazon and confirmed was only getting about 55% rejection...an improvement over stock but no where near the darker shades.

 

[Jewels]

I love the look of the entire LC with consistent tint, however I’m older (no, probably old) and I was worried about seeing well at night. I’m definitely doing a brow on the front window, however I’m struggling with the front side windows.

 

[Martin]

Ceramic is the way to go. I did 15% onto the back windows because I didn't want anyone looking in to see what is innthe back. Front window to keep legal I had to go with 20%. I also did 20% on the sun roof.

 

[TimRichter]

Bought a used Tundra, back in the day, that had front side windows tinted to match the rear. I was initially concerned about low light visibility but never found it to be an issue and the advantages have caused me to tint every car I've owned since then.