musicmafia Posted October 25, 2014 at 02:40 AM Report Share Posted October 25, 2014 at 02:40 AM Any California FFE owners have any input on window tinting? What can we get away with without getting hassled? CA law says NO tint is allowed on front door windows. I think it looks terrible to have the front clear and the rear tinted. What's the skinny? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Russael Posted October 25, 2014 at 03:41 AM Report Share Posted October 25, 2014 at 03:41 AM Michigan has a similar law - they do allow drivers and passenger side door window tint, but only from the top down 4". Same for the windshield. However, there seems to be a significant number of cars with all of their windows tinted (sans the windshield). The only legal way to have it is if you have a doctor's prescription, and then there's a stipulation that says nobody else can drive that car. So far, with the number of vehicles I see that have drivers side and passenger side windows tinted quite darkly, that number seems to keep increasing. You can find stories of people being harassed and ticketed for it, but not many stories indicate that it is the sole reason. It's usually a tertiary thing - they find some other more significant reason to initiate a traffic stop, and then they zing you for the window tint. Most people seem to go to court and have the tint removed, and then just reapply it, but that gets expensive... or they just pay the fine. I have an Oxford White Fusion, and that thing is super white and would look awesome with tint... and I would love to tint the windows, but like you, I think it wouldn't look very good only to have the rear doors tinted. My reasoning for tint is to keep more heat out of the car, not so much privacy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
musicmafia Posted October 25, 2014 at 07:04 PM Author Report Share Posted October 25, 2014 at 07:04 PM Ive been digging around online and it looks like CA does NOT allow any medical exemption and they give out "fix-it" tickets so you have to have the tint removed or pay a fine, which seems to range from $150 to $200 depending on your location. I'm in hot and sunny SoCal and millions of cars appear to be illegally tinted here. Some folks say they never get pulled over, others get spanked over and over. Looks like a roll of the dice. My FFE is black/black so I mainly want to tint for heat and appearance. I think I will look for a lighter tint for the front and rear sides and maybe a medium for the rear window and take my chances. TIP: when you get pulled over, roll down the front windows ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeff_h Posted October 25, 2014 at 07:31 PM Report Share Posted October 25, 2014 at 07:31 PM The below post on the Hybrid forum is from a member in CA who got tinting with 'Air Blue 80' - which may work for you if your purpose is heat reduction, but from reading and seeing the pics it doesn't look like it affects appearance of the windows much at all, so if your purpose is to darken the windows for the looks factor, this may not be your answer. http://fordfusionhybridforum.com/topic/9237-air-blue-80-tint/ Hybridbear 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
musicmafia Posted October 26, 2014 at 02:47 AM Author Report Share Posted October 26, 2014 at 02:47 AM thanks jeff, that is an informative post...it does look like it darkens a little bit over factory so its probably a good call for cali...im definitely going to lean to the lighter side tint-wise rather than going full on gangsta and getting stopped every day ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rexracer Posted October 27, 2014 at 04:15 PM Report Share Posted October 27, 2014 at 04:15 PM No tint at all on the front windows? Yeah that's just crazy. In Oregon they have a "legal limit" on the front windows which is not real dark, but not bad. The dumb thing to me is that cars have to follow the same "legal tint" on the rear windows, but SUVs and trucks, etc can have blacked out windows. For my car I did legal in the front and then 1 shade darker on the rear since I have a baby in a car seat and 1 shade darker is way better then having a blocked out window shade to protect her. My guess is if you have a reasonably light tint you will "get away" with it far more often then if you have a limo dark tint. The difference between trying to get some sun protection and being a 'gangsta' . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
musicmafia Posted October 29, 2014 at 02:22 AM Author Report Share Posted October 29, 2014 at 02:22 AM yeah I still haven't found the time to get it done but will definitely choose a light to medium versus a dark tint...after that it will time to beef up that stereo ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HotLap Posted November 5, 2014 at 10:58 PM Report Share Posted November 5, 2014 at 10:58 PM mm, I'm in SoCal and had mine tinted 1st thing. I went with 20% Llumar tint on the rear window and 35% on all of the side glass (even the small opera windows). I was going to go 20% on the rear opera windows to match the rear window but the installer talked me out of it saying the look would flow better if I kept all the side glass the same tint. Came out nice and glad I took his advice. I then de-badged (only badging left are the front and rear Ford emblems) and added 19" Fusion "H" spoke wheels in black chrome and it looks pretty good! I've always had tinted windows and only been hassled once about 5 years ago at LAX by one of their revenue officers... ams9c6 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
musicmafia Posted November 6, 2014 at 12:39 AM Author Report Share Posted November 6, 2014 at 12:39 AM hotlap, that's good to hear...post some pics so we can check out your ride....im getting tinted tomorrow...haven't seen the films yet but going light to medium :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ams9c6 Posted November 6, 2014 at 07:51 PM Report Share Posted November 6, 2014 at 07:51 PM ^^^ I second that HotLap! I'm new to the Fusion world (picking the car up tomorrow :) ) and negotiated tint into the deal. I'm in Missouri so legal is supposed to be 35% on front two windows. Curious as whether or not that'll be dark enough. Considering going 25% all around or 30% up front and 20% in back. Look forward to pics! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
musicmafia Posted November 6, 2014 at 10:49 PM Author Report Share Posted November 6, 2014 at 10:49 PM mine is at the shop now being tinted...I didn't even ask about the percentages, they just showed me a sample of each of their tint films and I took them out to the car and chose a medium for the front and rear windows and a medium/dark for the back windshield or whatever you call it.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fat Fusion Posted November 6, 2014 at 11:03 PM Report Share Posted November 6, 2014 at 11:03 PM I've been ticketed in CA for tinted windows on my Boss 302. But, it's got I think 35% on the sides and 10% on the back. Oh, and I was doing about a buck ten on I5 when I got pulled over so the professional tattle tale was really looking for stuff to write me up for. He also wrote me up for no front plate at the time. Luckily, I know a cop who's just corrupt enough to sign off on BS fix it tickets like that. IMO you'd have to be doing some really stupid stuff in a Fusion to be pulled over for tint. The car just blends in too well. My old boss swears by also tinting the windshield so there isn't as much comparative tint to grab your eye. I'll be tinting my windows at some point, but probably not as much as the Boss 302. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rexracer Posted November 7, 2014 at 12:02 AM Report Share Posted November 7, 2014 at 12:02 AM But the real question, have you gotten to race your Boss against the new Z28.... ;-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fat Fusion Posted November 7, 2014 at 12:04 AM Report Share Posted November 7, 2014 at 12:04 AM But the real question, have you gotten to race your Boss against the new Z28.... ;-) No, but my buddy did! Back on topic, what are you guys paying to tint the Fusion windows? There's a lot of them! I think I paid a little under $250 on my Boss. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
musicmafia Posted November 7, 2014 at 02:01 AM Author Report Share Posted November 7, 2014 at 02:01 AM love the boss. great story. been a while since I hit a buck ten but back in the day I had a vette and a grey market 5 speed 928 so I do remember the rush for sure...I also still have copies of dozens of tickets for all kinds of stuff...like you said once they got you, they look for every little thing....my favorite was disturbing the peace cuz my stereo was so loud......hell, I'm old enough to remember my friend's original boss 302 ;) I see your point about the windshield, does help it blend in... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
musicmafia Posted November 7, 2014 at 02:12 AM Author Report Share Posted November 7, 2014 at 02:12 AM (edited) picked up the car, looks great....in the sunlight it looks like a medium tint but in the garage or at night it looks a lot darker...glad I didn't go darker for sure...having black interior gives a darker appearance as well. I'm happy with it and the installer did a great job with all the little windows, no rough edges, looks perfect.... FF, the going rate around these parts seems to be $300 or more but audiolab in laguna hills does great work and only charged me $204 out the door. next I have to decide what to do with my sound system...I pulled a big box with two JL 10's and a huge amp out of my last car (a caddy) and it's bigger than the whole trunk in the energi...think im gonna have a new box built and just go with one 10 in a small box. will still eat up some space but the stock system isn't doing it for me and I already own the gear so it won't cost much to add the bass and cross over the stock speakers to just do mids/highs. Edited November 7, 2014 at 02:13 AM by musicmafia Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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