Legal Alternatives to Sun Film

[narayans80]

For those who've been in US, I remember all car glasses being plain. Then how do vehicles get protection there from heat there ?

[sumeshmani]

Does the tinted glass that comes from the manufacturer actually provide some relief from heat? Could the bhpians with such cars comment?

[CARDEEP]

Originally Posted by sumeshmani

Does the tinted glass that comes from the manufacturer actually provide some relief from heat? Could the bhpians with such cars comment?

It is little bit better than being under the sunlight but, what do you expect from 70% (quoted... not necessarily) tinted glass at the sides.

I still miss those days when I had Garware 50% tints at the sides & 70% at front & back. The AC's cooling is acceptable, but, those days were lot better.

[anantnehru]

Originally Posted by brar

I was thinking of tinting the glasses in my car with a glass tinting spray. If any cop stops me, I can claim that these glasses are factory fitted. Can such a thing be pulled off?

Found one such spray online : softys.ca: VHT Smoke Window Tint Spray

I've used VHT before on my headlights to smoke them. Probably not meant for windows, but what I found is that they ended up fading over time - maybe also because I didnt spray it on properly. But still, there were marks etc. that tells you that the film was sprayed on. Would be worth a shot though, but worth a window in case it gets botched up?

[honeybee]

If you want to look at legal options (I don't understand borderline: it's either allowed by law or it is not), you cannot put films. Also when the car is in motion you cannot have shades/curtains which can block the inside view.

For stationery vehicles, I once saw a curtain-like attachment in an i10 (Auto) where there's a small lever near the window-sill, the driver can turn the lever and when the window goes up, it pulls up a curtain along with it.

Or you can get the tinted glasses fitted instead.

[Nitrous Power]

Originally Posted by narayans80

For those who've been in US, I remember all car glasses being plain. Then how do vehicles get protection there from heat there ?

It has been discussed multiple times in banning the car films thread that Most of the US states allow the car tints up to certain VLT for rear side and rear glass.

Tell me what's average summer temperature in most of the US states? Much lower than India's summer temperature. Your observation may be true in the cold states where temperature, even in summer, does not cross 100 F. So you really do not need car tints as your car AC is good enough to bring the temperature down very quickly.
But the southern states like FL or TX or AZ where temperature goes up to 120 F, you will find many cars with tint and some of these states allow up to 15% VLT for rear windows.

[vsathyap]

I enquired with the local Auto-Glass dealer behind JC Road and found that Alto (the 800 cc and the K-10) does not have tinted glass option available. Other dealers there were already fleecing new car buyers with 70% film and many people were readily getting it applied. I guess they were not aware of the "nothing sticking to the glass" rule.

In fact, my curiosity led me to check out some >70% tints and found that we do get 80% and 90% tints too! As dealers were desperate to get some sun films cleared from their stock, they were willing to get it applied for a very low price (dealer was not willing to quote the price, unless I committed to getting tints on my Alto K10).

[speedy]

Most of my cars have tinted film and never been stopped. The Tinted film that was newly applied on one of the cars is a Lumiar (hope i got the name right) G35 or something. I believe only Tinted film that is too dark for someone to see the person driving is not allowed anymore. The cars have been through many Naka Bandhi's but never been stopped.

For CBU's the company's provide privacy glass which is basically for the rear wndows and rear windscreen.

[issigonis]

Originally Posted by Vid6639

Gogi,

Only problem is cost. 70% VLT films like 3m CR-70 cost Rs.7750 for front windshield alone. For the sides and rear the total cost will be close to 18-20K.

>>> The cost might go up to 2x (or more) depending upon the glass area of the car!

Regards

[breezydrive]

It is high time that car mfrs start offering TINTED glasses as an option!

[k_nitin_r]

Looking for legal alternatives to sun films? Read on...

First of all, there's tinted glass that is expensive unless you bargained with the dealer to provide you with one on buying a car.

The cops are on the lookout for films, so give them something other than films. There are the oversized rain guards and the suction cup sun screens that you could use. The semi transparent curtains are like sun screens and are usable during the day, though I don't know if it is legally permitted.

Finally, if you don't care about the looks of the car, a layer of dust or some mud should block out enough of sunlight to match a sun film and the cops are not going to stop you only so they can wash your car :-D

[rajeev k]

Sunfilms are on the exit mode. here comes alternates. Saw am Alto with the body colored curtain two days back. Different styles and types of curtains will be the in-thing now.

[INNOVATOR]

Originally Posted by arun_josie

Sunfilms are banned due to lack of visibility inside the car. So, curtains means it will be 0% visibility and hence i think it will be illegal.

Do we really have a alternate for sun films which is legal? Is it possible to get tinted glass(for existing customers) from the manufacturer its self?

But still would be legal. So we should be fine. We obey the letter and not the spirit of the law

[Mindgrinder]

Originally Posted by INNOVATOR

But still would be legal. So we should be fine. We obey the letter and not the spirit of the law

curtains are illegal, it says nothing that obstructs the view. Anyone inquired about AIS coolglass with 47% VLT? its available at windshield experts.

[Nitrous Power]

Originally Posted by Mindgrinder

curtains are illegal, it says nothing that obstructs the view. Anyone inquired about AIS coolglass with 47% VLT? its available at windshield experts.

Please go thru the whole discussion. As long as the sun blocking shades are not on window and are factory installed, they are perfectly legal. All high end cars come with retractable sun shades factory installed (and they are homologated as well). However, I am not sure about after market curtains. Talking about spirit of law, we have to understand that the intent of original law was to make sure that driver has enough transparency to operate vehicle in safe manner and not what the petitioner asked for.

Note: I am not advocating any side here but just stating the facts.