what is the legal tint out here in southern cali i know that you can go as dark as you want on the back window but how far can you go on the sides is it one less than the darkest or what percent is it???

The law in California is that the front windows cannot have any tint at all, only what it came with from the factory. If you are pulled over for tint you will get a fix-it-ticket where you have to remove your tint, get the ticket signed by an officer, then go to the courthouse and get it cleared; plus you're charged processing fees ($ depends where you are). The reason you see people with tint on their windows is when you pay to tint your windows they have you sign/initial a waiver stating that you are only using the vehicle for offroad use, this covers the shop who tints your windows and makes it somewhat legal. After you take care of the ticket it is taken off your record. Tinted windows are nice, but they really make you a target for cops not to include that you are driving a third gen which cops love to follow. I went roughly a 1 1/2 years before they pulled me over for "speeding" and instead wrote me a fix-it-ticket for tint and not having a front license plate. Not having tint in the winter is fine, but in the summer when it 100+ in a black car it sucks.

yes tinting the front is illegal but actually getting pulled over for it is slim to non. Plus everybody doing it. It like driving on the freeway everybody is doing 80 which is illegal but how many times do you get pulled over. Most cops don't car just make sure to roll both windows down once your pulled over and you should be fine. Oh it kida better if u dont go limo 5% up front do a 20 or 30% percent so a cop can at least see ya. At least my experance, my z28 been tint 5% back and 35% front for 8 years now. I ve been pulled over like 20 times all when i was 17 and I only had only one cop say anything about me having tinted windows and that was only cause it was a chp and i rolled down the driver window and he went to the passenger side ( thats why I say roll down both I forgot cops go to driver side chp go to passenger side). to top it off he didn't even give me a ticket he asked if my windows was tinted I said yea but it light CHP replied "all tint is illegal" gave me back my license and left no ticket for tint. so moral of the stories half the stuff you do in life is illegal but you still do it until u get caught which sometimes never happens knock on wood. Plus you live in palmdale, I bet if you follow a cop home his windows are tinited also its a deesert they know its hot. Plus the speed limit is like 55 to 60 on the streets Last time I was out there every stop sign and stop light was an opportunity for tire shredding zero to 60s. I would have to own stock in goodyear if i lived out there. I thinks your cops have people like me to worry about then someone driving with common since with tinted windows.
Oh on a side note I have seen people tint the back half of the front window you can try that it allows you to see your mirrors clear but still your face covered. U might even be able to bull **** a cop on how u consider that to be legal if it ever comes to that.

I was pulled over by a CHP officer within a week of driving my car. It came with tinted windows when I bought it.

You are not allowed to have tint on the side windows of a 2-door car, but you are allowed tint on the back hatch glass, and on the back windows of a 4-door car. Any car you see with tinted windows just hasnt been pulled over yet.
Its a safety issue for the officer. If he cant see into your car, he doesnt know what you're doing in there when he is walking up to you.

When I had the tint I got pulled over by CHP. Before that I had various cops(fresno, county) shine the light on my driver window as they passed by at night time and they never pulled me over. Other states allow, it like Arizona, because it gets so hot which is one of the reasons I got tint. When I first got it done last summer it felt so cool inside my car it was awesome. I understand the part about officer safety, but when I see other people driving around with tint it ticks me off that I had to take off mine. They should be consistent with their laws not just ticket people when they feel like it. Oh yeah, I don't know if its such a good idea to try to roll down your windows when the cop is walking up to your car or pulling you over. It just makes you seem awful suspicious, like your reaching for something or hiding stuff.

We had tint on the g/fs Honda Accord, limo on the back, dark on the front two windows... Had that tint for almost a year, drove by probably hundred of cops during that year...

But about a month ago, one decided to pull her over and told her to take the tint off. When you tint the front windows, you will drive by countless cops who dont care, but then you get that one that is either having a bad day or the motorcycle cop that needs to hit the quota and they give you a ticket...

I havent put tint on my RS because I know that I will get pulled over for it right away, cops follow me all the time for miles

Maybe you guys are just unlucky. My camaro hasn't been on road for 5 years now but when I was driving it I never had a front plate and always had my windows tinted and was never ticketed. The only thing I was ever busted for was riding with the rear plate down. I have to finish my rebuild to test the water out here, casue i still have all windows tinted and the front plate is long gone. Look at this way I find it hard to beileve you was pulled over just for tint, Some times a cop pulls you over one thing but fines a smaller fine he can give to justify him still stopping you. I would take a tint ticket over a speeding ticket any day.
oh One thing I found weird about this law new Mercedes come stock with a light blue tint all the way around except the front how is that legal?

Well, the ticket we got on the Honda, she wasn't speeding, in fact, she was stopped, the cop came up behind her, the light turned green, she went and he turned on his siren. The car (aside from tint) is a bone stock 01 Accord sedan. stock exhaust, stock wheels...

It is legal because Mercedes went to the trouble to get it approved before they started selling cars with tinted windows. It is not that tint is illegal, rather non-stock tint is illegal. All third gens come from the factory with a little tint on the windshield and the windows.

Since all the thirdgens have dual side mirrors its not an issue for us, but the actual law you have to have dual side mirrors to black out the back window otherwise its illegal.

I have had limo tint on my car for about 4 years and I have only been pulled over once. And that was in Tustin. Everyone gets pulled over in Tustin at least once in their life

Another reason why you shouldnt go to dark, if you decide too, is because it is difficult to see out. I have really dark tints in the front and back (actually the same %) and I can honestly say I have come pretty close to some pedestrians crossing the street when I am making a right turn.

I too have limo tint on the back window and close to limo in fronts on my 95 MC and 88 Iroc. I get pulled over but it is mostly for the hanging parking permit that we got from work to be able to park in their designated area. Cop never said anything about the tint.

Once my vert is on the road i'm going to do 5% tint all around

I've had limo on my Z28 for two years and had it on my RS too and never got pulled over for it. Like someone else stated when you spot a cop just roll them down to be sure and if you get pulled over for running a stop sign or any other traffic violation have both windows rolled down when the cop walks over to your car to avoid him giving you a hassle about it and adding it onto your ticket...

That would work, assuming ur car isnt like mine and the window doesnt roll down because the motors is dead

lol yeah i need to fix the motor on the drivers window

I did my drivers window probably 3 or 4 yrs ago, but since I didnt have a rivit gun, I used bolts and that cut the crap out of my hands and also scratched the glass... now my passanger one is out... I dont look forward to having to replace it

Is it that much of a pain to replace on camaros? i've replaced the motor before but on a maxima and it was easy. I don't imagine it being much different on camaros

If I had a rivit gun, it would have been a WHOLE lot easier...

The hardest part was the limited space... I am a big guy (6'1, 250) and my hands are not exactally small and/or nimble... so what was difficult for me was manuevering in the small places. And since I used bolts to hold the motor in place, I had to squeeze my hand into some small and funky places to hold the bolt/nut and get them in. I had cuts all over the backs of my hands, fingers, and forearms (looked like a picked a fight with the cat from hell)...

All-in-all, something I will not want to do again. The process was easy, I just didn't have all the right tools to do it, ya know? Also, it was my first time doing anything like that (to any car), so I had to learn what I was doing as I was doing it. It would probably go alot quicker the second time, but I wont do it without a rivit gun

Every cop is a person, and has different opinions. Some will write you up for going 46 MPH in a 45 zone, others will let you get away with 51 MPH. Likewise, some cops will write you up for having tint, and others will let you slide. As I said, when I was pulled over by the CHP on the freeway, he told me it was because of my tint.