One of the things immediately apparent with Eurovans is that the windows are not tinted. It’s very noticeable when parked next to current SUVs.
There are a LOT of windows on the Eurovan, and one of my worries was security. When we’re on a road trip, we’re going to have tons of stuff stored in Westy. A lot of this can go in the “trunk,” which is really the area under the rear seat that folds into the bed. This will hold a lot of stuff, but it’s inevitable that we’ll have other things stored on top of the rear shelf or in the middle passenger area on the seats or floor. Here is a stock photo of how clear the windows are from the factory:
After living with Westy for a while, it is very clear just how visible everything is from the outside with those factory window tints. Security is a big concern. The last thing we want is to have a smash and grab while we’re on a road trip. This led me to start looking into getting the windows tinted.
After-market window tinting applies a film on the inside of the windows. There are two main variables in tints: the amount of visible light transmission, and the amount of infrared rejection. States regulate how dark you can make the tint on your windows. Here in Oregon, the visible light index must be 50 or higher (50% or more visible light transmission) on the driver and passenger windows. The cargo area and rear window can be as dark as you want, but the most common rating for these is 20 (20% transmission).
The other factor to consider when selecting a window film is the infrared rejection. If you’ve ever left your car out on a sunny day, you know how hot it can get inside. The higher the rating for infrared heat rejection on a window film, the less heat builds up. We thought this was a very important criteria for Westy because there are occasions where we will be parking it while we’re out hiking or whatever, and we don’t want to come back to a blisteringly hot vehicle.
The other thing to remember about after market window tinting is that this is a job best left to professionals. You can buy the tint film and do it yourself, but you can bet the result will not be as good as the professional installation. We researched installers around us and found a local shop that had been in business for many years and had great reviews online.
The shop walked us through our options for various films, and our final two choices were the 3M Color Stable product and the Wincos product. They are very similar except that the 3M film has a 50% infrared blocking rating and the Wincos has a 92% infrared rejection.
We ended up picking the Wincos product with the 50% rating in the front and the 20% rating in the rear. The result was amazing. Westy now looks awesome! There is MUCH more security than before; you can’t really see the details of what might be inside. Here’s a photo of how Westy looks now. I’m going to try to get another photo like the first photo in the future so you can see the change in similar lighting conditions.
