Just wanted to know how much cooler the car is with it vs. without. At the tint store they have a heat lamp and the ceramic tint blocks the heat pretty well. So, is it worth the money?

 

Based on what others have said - I'd say "yes" it is worth the money if you live in the South / South-West where there is a lot of sunshine.

 

The film my shop installed on every glass surface except windshield is the XPEL Prime XR Plus. The windshield requires a special grade of film to meet safety regs, and I had it done too. This is the 'next-gen' nano-particle/ceramic hybrid type film, and it won't interfere with your cell phone or other tech inside the car getting signal in/out. It will block up to 98% of infrared heat, depending on the level of light transmission (tint level) chosen. Lighter tints are still highly effective at rejecting heat transmission.

Prior to getting this done, I always felt the heat beating down on my head, and the car is hot even with the shade closed. With this film, I can open the shade in full sun, reach up towards the sunroof glass, and very little radiant heat is passing through it. Plenty of light in the cabin; just not uncomfortably bright or hot anymore. Same with side windows. Absolutely the only thing I regret is not going one shade darker on the sunroofs...I just had them install the legal standard, same as I put on the front windows. I was concerned about the interior being 'too dark' in my black interior if I went with the next darker step of tint, but it's not an issue at all with this film. You really don't even know it's there, although it gives the car a really nice exterior look on the front windows.

Anyway, I love it; best investment I've made (in all recent prior cars too). The windshield is basically a clear nano-ceramic tint just for heat rejection. There's a tiny bit of light transmission lost, but you don't notice it at all, and this film reduces glare & heat transfer into car significantly. Highly recommended. Shop around to get the best film, warranty, and pricing. Ask for discounts like military, public service, etc., if you qualify. My film has lifetime warranty, and the labor is likewise included from shop I used, which is rare. I found many tint shops use a lower quality film to boost their profits, so talk to several shops in your area. They will often bid against each other.

 

I didn't know there was a law for the roof tint, but not surprised. I'll probably black it out, since the officer would have to be at leat 6'9" to really see it. I found a reasonably priced shop that offers a lifetime, transferable warranty. They do good work as well.

 

No legal limit for the sunroofs; the legal standards apply to the front row windows and windshield only so the police can see into the car during a traffic stop. I just used the legal standard (how much light passes through the film, or it's opacity) I put on the fronts, as I mistakenly believed going with a +1, or +2 level tint over the existing factory tinted glass on the windows/sunroofs on car might make it like the'batcave', since I have the all black leather interior, but w/grey headliner. I like it feeling 'airy' and cheerful, but just wanted to cut the heat transfer into car.

My car did not have the deeper tint you get with hot weather factory option, so it would have been absolutely fine to go +1 or +2 shades darker than I went with on the sunroofs, and all rear and liftgate windows. Going darker on sunroofs also gives you a bit more heat rejection with this type of film, but I really wanted to still be able to see the stars/sky at night, roof closed. Goal achieved! It is difficult to assess just from looking at the film samples what it will actually look like over the factory tinted sunroofs, or rear windows/liftgate in car. If my car had a black headliner also, I would To achieve heat rejection, you really need to apply the film to the whole car, but you will get a huge benefit just from doing the sunroofs too, and will also hold the glass together if it per chance shatters at some point, which does happen.

Our '15 has the hot weather option with deeper factory tint, so that one I'll do as a + 1 past the legal tint film on those sunroofs. You DO NOT have to go to the level 5 'limo' tint opacity level to get really good heat rejection when using this type of tint, so 'going dark' is about your personal taste and visibility out the sunroofs you want...not so much the heat blocking capability, as even the legal tint blocks a ton of heat.

 

I had my front driver/passenger tinted to match the rear. I can really tell the difference. Especially at night, it almost acts as auto dimming for the rearview mirrors.

 

Went with 5% tint on all roof glass.. made a huge difference !