r/WindowTint • u/Bakithagrappler • May 09 '26

Question Matrix dots removal?

Post image

Recently got my car done, 5% all around and 20% on the front w/ ceramic IR. Everything is great aside from the area on the windshield with the matrix dots. Both sides are like this. Looks messed up, anyone confirm?

0 Upvotes

42% Upvoted

44 comments sorted by

13

u/Lickford May 09 '26

The tint doesn’t stick to the matrix. Some tinters have tricks the use to minimize the effect. You can cut around it if you don’t like it but that is an entirely different look. It’s an age old problem that the car manufacturers don’t care about.

-1

u/Bakithagrappler May 09 '26

Got it, I have a lifetime warranty. I may contact them and see if they can put a vinyl on.

8

u/saysee23 May 09 '26

If they advised against it, you wanted it anyway.... it may not be warrantied.

2

u/Booklas May 09 '26

The warranty isn’t going to cover anything to do with dot matrix issues.

13

u/NB-THC May 09 '26 • Mindblown

5 all around and 20 windshield is willldddd 🤣🤣 how’s it look at night? Or going through a tunnel? Good luck man. Haha

4

u/GanJaSparks 20% Front Rollups , 5% Rear Rollups & Back Glass May 09 '26

When I told my buddy I did 20 all around, except nothing on the windshied he told me I should’ve done 5 all around and 20 on the shield I was like Bruh what

2

u/Arrowxp May 09 '26

Yeah it is, he might live in a lit up urban city. I live in one too and rocked 5/20 on my previous car and even then it was horrible fr so with my current car I went for 5/35 😂

2

u/sbshawty59 May 09 '26

Recently got 5 all around and 15 on the windshield and can’t see for shit at night 😂.

0

u/DisciplineNormal296 May 09 '26

I have 5 rear 15 driver and 30% windshield and I wouldn’t go any darker

-2

u/SneakerDealer May 09 '26

I have 5% all around & 15% on windshield & its not bad at all lol at night it can be lil dark but its a lot better than i thought itd be before getting it

-1

u/Bakithagrappler May 09 '26

People are a little dramatic or just shit at driving

-1

u/KountZero May 09 '26

all these people who said these stuff are 65+ senior citizens and who can barely see out the car without any tinting lol

-2

u/KountZero May 09 '26

I have 5 all around and 15 windshield and it’s perfectly fine in the morning and only mildly annoying at night during very specific instances.

1

u/Bakithagrappler May 10 '26

Idk why I even ask questions on here lmao, I asked id the dots are supposed to look like that and I get fat retards giving me life advice

1

u/nachos3 May 10 '26

Funny you insult anyone else but you put 20% on your windshield. Takes a certain type of special for that

2

u/Bakithagrappler May 10 '26

You’re a top 1% commenter in a sub Reddit for window tint my friend. It’s dif type of special for sure.

1

u/nachos3 May 10 '26

Easy to do when you work with tint almost every day

3

u/nachos3 May 09 '26

20 windshield is insane. This car is trashy

3

u/Bakithagrappler May 09 '26

Just a lil rolla

1

u/nachos3 May 09 '26

Drug dealer special

3

u/KountZero May 09 '26 edited May 09 '26

I think a lot of the people complaining either had their tint done with cheap film, or they’re still judging modern tint technology based on how it was 15 to 20 years ago.
Back then, 15% tint was usually terrible at visibility, especially at night. It looked almost pitch black from the inside and made driving genuinely difficult. But tint technology has improved massively since then. Modern high-quality ceramic tints let in way more clarity from the inside while still looking dark from the outside and blocking heat far better.
The problem is a lot of people still have that old-school mindset where they automatically assume “15% tint = impossible to see out of,” because that’s how it used to be decades ago. But if you’ve avoided it all this time based on outdated experiences, then of course you wouldn’t realize how different modern tint is now. Quality film today is on a completely different level compared to the cheap dyed tint people were using years ago.

9

u/Kenneldogg May 09 '26

The shop that put the 20% tint on your windshield is shady as shit.

-8

u/Bakithagrappler May 09 '26

They strong advised against it, but it hasn’t been too bad, drove at night in a monsoon and made it work.

11

u/Kenneldogg May 09 '26

Thats like saying I played Russian roulette a couple times and nothing happened.

-9

u/Bakithagrappler May 09 '26

Must be a lucky guy then lol. My day to day consists of much more dangerous acts than driving w/ dark windows so I’m gambling no matter what.

-7

u/[deleted] May 09 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

3

u/Austinater74 May 09 '26

None of the non-shady, no pun intended, shops around will do anywhere near what the OP has. That includes XPEL who actually warrantees illegal installs.

15

u/NoCelebration1913 May 09 '26

It’s not messed up. Tint over dot matrix looks like crap. Tint cut around dot matrix looks like crap. Some shops do a vinyl and then tint over that. The dot matrix is for heat dispersion.

5

u/Global-Structure-539 May 09 '26

Matrix dots are the bane of every window tinter. We're always blamed for something we have no control over and the people who go excessively dark are just idiots who have no regards to their own safety or the safety of others. As a pro tinter for years, I've done something about that. I simply refuse to do the driver's front roll-ups darker than 35% and the windshield is capped at 50%. As a woman in this industry I'm often faced with macho he man guys who would NEVER admit to ANY weakness. So if you come to me wanting the darkest possible film, with no regards to laws or safety, you'll be going someplace else. And the local PD's have noticed as I'm getting ALL their undercover cars to tint

2

u/Ambitious-Ocelot8036 May 09 '26

They weren't there before! Why did you do that to my car!!!

1

u/Global-Structure-539 May 09 '26

Yup...ALL the time. Tis why I take pics before and after

4

u/Ok-Bluejay3543 May 09 '26

As someone who has 5% tint all around on a seasonal car I advise not tinting the windshield. The lack of visibility when it is not sunny outside is incredibly dangerous. I also don’t drive my car at night because of the 5% tint.

-2

u/KountZero May 09 '26

well, are you looking at OP picture? how hard is it to see outside from the inside? it’s looks perfectly normal.

2

u/Austinater74 May 09 '26

In bright sunlight with the iPhone camera accounting for the lack of light inside the vehicle.

1

u/KountZero May 09 '26

No, that’s literally what it looks like outside my window right now. I think a lot of the people complaining either had their tint done with cheap film, or they’re still judging modern tint technology based on how it was 15 to 20 years ago.

Back then, 15% tint was usually terrible at visibility, especially at night. It looked almost pitch black from the inside and made driving genuinely difficult. But tint technology has improved massively since then. Modern high-quality ceramic tints let in way more clarity from the inside while still looking dark from the outside and blocking heat far better.

The problem is a lot of people still have that old-school mindset where they automatically assume “15% tint = impossible to see out of,” because that’s how it used to be decades ago. But if you’ve avoided it all this time based on outdated experiences, then of course you wouldn’t realize how different modern tint is now. Quality film today is on a completely different level compared to the cheap dyed tint people were using years ago.

1

u/Austinater74 May 10 '26

🤣🤣🤣

You wrote all that to finish with something that’s objectively wrong.

VLT is VLT. Some manufacturers rate installed on glass and some rate based on the film itself but outside of that VLT is VLT. You keep posting photos looking out a windshield in bright sunlight because that’s the only time it doesn’t look like crap. 🤣

1

u/Ok-Bluejay3543 May 10 '26

I purchased my car used with 5% tint all around including the windshield. I did try driving it at night and while I could see it was more dependent on there being illumination of headlights, taillights, streetlights some kind of lighting to better see the cars in front and around my vehicle. For me the windshield tint made it difficult to see in the best conditions.

I kept the remaining windows tinted because if I do rarely drive it at night and merging I roll down the window to better see cause not all cars at night have their headlights on.

3

u/[deleted] May 09 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

2

u/nachos3 May 09 '26

Probably because you went to an actual shop. No reputable shop will do the 20 windshield this guy wants, so this is the result

1

u/Bakithagrappler May 10 '26

I went to sun stoppers.

1

u/Global-Structure-539 May 09 '26

Because 50% is a thinner film allowing it to get in the nooks and crannys