Can you repair a scratched tint?

[Dyldo]

my offside rear window has tinting (dealer fitted), and I put a scratchmark about an inch and a half long in it whilst loading stuff in my car. the scratch is thru the plastic tint and onto the glass, but i don't believe it is scratched the glass.

are their spot repairs for this, or does the film come off? or worse, does the window need to be replaced?

[Big Yellow]

you might just need to replace the tint on that window.

i have a scratch on my front passenger side window and ill probably replace it down the track. but considering how much tints are these days, might get the whole car done again in something darker.

[Driven Threads]

I had a scratch in the rear window of my tint when I purchased the car. The scratch was just throught the tint and not the glass, you could feel it and see it. Although it was pretty minor. I got the rear window tint removed (they cannot repair if it has scratched through the tint), then retinted about 2 weeks ago. $130 from Tint-a-car.

[Dyldo]

ok, so how do they remove the tint? do they need the car for a certain period or can they chemically remove the tint? I assume they'd have to have the car for a day and remove the trim and the glass, remove tint, apply new tint, restitch car back up.

[mrcurlywhirly]

If you are referring to the standard adhesive tint film then its a $70 fix up here. I know, i just replaced our passenger side window tint on our Forester.

Ours was applied to the car when new by the dealer, ie the dealer had tint-a-car (or similar) tint the car before delivery. Unfortunately the dealer shut down before the tint started to peel on one front window... so i had another company (in Brisbane) remove the tint from that window, clean it, then reapply new tint. The whole process took less than an hour and is indistinguishable from the other windows.

You should take it back to the dealer and point it out, there is usually a 5 year warranty on tinting, i certainly would have complained to the dealer if they still existed!

Cheers,

[mrcurlywhirly]

btw - the process with this type of tint is to remove the door trim, peel off the tint starting from the lowest point (like contact), clean it with a solvent (or steam off any problem tint), then reapply.
Ours only dettached because they did not apply enough tint to go far enough below the window scraper (slack *&*&ards), the constant rubbing eventually caused it to lift.

[mrcurlywhirly]

....A cheaper solution is to stick a Garfield doll on the window, will cover the scratch and remind you to be careful loading your car

[Maverick]

You should take it back to the dealer and point it out, there is usually a 5 year warranty on tinting, i certainly would have complained to the dealer if they still existed!

Since when does tint come with free replacement for damage by the customer?

I put a scratchmark about an inch and a half long in it whilst loading stuff in my car.

[Maverick]

ok, so how do they remove the tint? do they need the car for a certain period or can they chemically remove the tint? I assume they'd have to have the car for a day and remove the trim and the glass, remove tint, apply new tint, restitch car back up.

Organise to get it replaced the next time you get your car serviced, they can book the installer to replace it so it's all finished before you pick the car up. It's another one of the benefits of getting your tint installed by the dealer.

[mrcurlywhirly]

Since when does tint come with free replacement for damage by the customer?

Correct, my mistake, didnt read the self inflicted part properly until after suggesting that.... applies to normal wear and tear only.

[bazzle]

If its not in a too conspicuos spot a coloured permanent marker will do a fair job... Ive done just that.

Bazzle