Mobile Window Tinting in Solana Beach

Every package lets you pick a shade, measured as VLT, or Visible Light Transmission: the share of visible light the film lets through. 70% is very light, 5% is limousine dark. The strip above shows the five shades side by side.

The limit is set by the state, so it applies in Solana Beach exactly as it does everywhere else in California. Front side windows must let at least 70% of visible light through. Rear side windows and the rear windshield can be any shade you like.

Is a 35% tint legal in California?

On the back, yes. A 35% film is legal on the rear side windows and rear windshield, and it is a popular privacy choice. It is not legal on the front two side windows, which are held to 70%. An installer willing to put 35% on the front is quoting you a fix-it ticket.

The counter-intuitive part is that darker is not cooler. A 70% Apex Ultra ceramic film rejects far more heat than a dark carbon film, because heat rejection comes from the ceramic particles in the film and not from the shade. If the issue is a hot cabin rather than privacy, put the budget into the film and keep the front light.

We will work through the combination with you before anything goes on the car, so it stays road-legal and still does what you wanted.

We come to you: your home, your office, or your own garage. Film wants a clean, covered space, so a garage or carport gives the best result. Wind matters more than temperature, and the streets running down to Fletcher Cove catch plenty of it. Up on the Lomas Santa Fe side, where most homes have a garage, conditions are usually straightforward.

One exception applies everywhere: the C2 Carbon film is in-shop only, both as the Bronze full-car tier and as the front-window option, because carbon has to be fitted indoors. That work is done at our San Marcos shop, roughly half an hour away, and it is the reason Bronze costs less than the ceramic tiers.

What the appointment looks like

We are out seven days a week, 7am to 7pm, covering all of Solana Beach, from the Cedros Design District and the Coaster station through to the neighbourhoods above Lomas Santa Fe Drive. Your technician texts on the way and again when the car is finished, so you are not left guessing.

A full-car tint is usually a half-day job. We need the car with us for the whole appointment and enough room around it to open all the doors.

After we leave

Leave the windows up for three days while the film cures. Some haze, small bubbles or trapped moisture straight after an install is normal and clears on its own, typically in one to two weeks in summer. Under a persistent winter marine layer it can take three to four weeks, which is slower than expected but not a fault. We talk you through it before we leave.