When it comes to keeping your car cool in the summer time, there are a few things you can do. One of them is by adding reflective window tint to your vehicle’s windows. Car window tint protects your car from the sun’s harmful rays while also making it harder for passersby to see into your car. Below we will explore more about this topic, its advantages, and what types of tint are available.

What is Reflective Car Window Tint?

Simply put, reflective car window tint is a clear film applied to your vehicle’s windows that absorbs the sun’s rays and reduces the amount of outside heat entering your car. While this may not sound like a must-have car modification, the truth is that it can have a significant impact on your comfort level inside your vehicle.

This type of window tint is especially helpful in warm climates where the sun can be very harsh during the summer months.

Is Reflective Tint Legal?

Most of United States restricts or outright bans the use of reflective window tint. In many states using any window tint film with higher than standard window reflection is illegal.

Other states limit this reflection to at most 25%, meaning reflective window tint is may not reflect more than 25% of light.

It is crucial to familiarize yourself with your state tint laws and see if using reflective car tint is even legal.

Reflective Car Window Tint Benefits

1. Protects your car’s interior from the sun – Sun’s rays can damage your car’s upholstery, dashboard, and flooring if they get directly into them. By adding tint to your windows, you can reduce this damage and keep your car’s interior in better condition.
2. Makes it harder to see inside your car – Even if someone did happen to walk by your vehicle and have the audacity to look inside, they would have a much harder time identifying who is inside.
3. Improves privacy while driving – This is especially useful if you have a toddler that enjoys shooting baskets in the backseat.
4. Keeps your car cooler – Let’s face it, there’s nothing worse than climbing into a car that is too hot. By adding some car window tint, you can make your car feel much more comfortable.

Find out more about window tint benefits to help you decide if you should tint your vehicle windows. Reflective car tint reflects significant more light and heat than standard window tint.

Reflective Window Tint Downsides

The biggest downside and the main reason why reflective window tint is often illegal is the fact it can easily and significantly blind other drivers. Any window with higher than normal reflection can cause blinding sun glare and make driving more dangerous for everyone.

Using reflective tint — even if a small percentage of reflection is legal in your state, is also a good way to get stopped by law enforcement more frequently.

Types of Reflective Car Window Tint

1. Clear – This type of car window tint is the least harmful to your environment and your privacy. The tint is transparent, so it poses almost no extra benefit to your car’s interior.
2. UV-Resistant – This type of car window tint is made with special anti-UV coating to protect your car’s interior from harmful sun rays while not affecting the tint’s transparency.
3. Dark – This type of car window tint is darker than clear, transparent window tint. Dark tint often has a slightly blue or purple color to it and reduces outside light by about 25%.
4. Hybrid Dark/Dark – Hybrid dark/dark tint is a mixture between dark and dark shades. It has everything that dark tint has while also protecting your car’s interior from the harmful UV rays.

Conclusion

Regardless of where you live or where you drive, the sun can damage your car’s interior. Therefore, it’s important to protect it with car window tint. Regular window tint is sufficient for this, but many customization enthusiasts like to take things a step further.

It’s subjective whether reflective tint makes vehicles look better or not. But, window tint laws leave very little for interpretation when it comes to tint reflectiveness. Make sure to only use legal window tint, and consider other drivers and their safety if using reflective tint.