Window tint for the Maui sun

Why Maui makes this a real decision

A car parked in the Maui sun heats up fast, and it does so in every month of the year, not just in summer. The sun is high and direct, the UV is strong all year, and a closed car in a Kahului or Kihei parking lot gets nothing from the trade winds. Untinted glass lets that load straight into the cabin, and the ultraviolet part of it fades the dash, seats and door panels faster here than it would in a northern state. Window tint is how you take that load off the car, and the type of film decides how much of it you actually take off.

The three kinds of film

Dyed film

Dyed tint puts a layer of dye between the adhesive and the top coat. It reduces visible light and adds privacy, but the dye absorbs solar energy instead of rejecting it, so the film itself warms up and radiates heat into the cabin. After a few years in the Maui sun it fades and turns purple. It is the cheapest film on the market, and it is the reason Offshore’s menu does not include it.

Carbon film

Carbon particles replace the dye. Heat rejection improves, the film does not fade or purple, and because it contains no metal it leaves your phone, GPS and key fob alone. Our V6 Comfort tier is a carbon film. It is a sensible buy for a second car, a short-term vehicle or anyone who prefers its flat, matte look.

Ceramic film

Nano-ceramic particles reject infrared heat without dye or metal, with clear optics and strong UV blocking. At the same shade as a carbon or dyed film, ceramic keeps the cabin noticeably cooler. Our V10 Ceramic IR and V16 Ceramic IR MAX tiers are ceramic, and the ceramic tint page covers the difference between them.

What heat rejection means in a parked car

Think of it as the share of the sun’s energy that never makes it into the cabin. A film that stops less than half of it still lets most of the heat in. A ceramic film that stops most of it leaves a much smaller remainder for your air conditioner to fight. On a hot, still afternoon that shows up three ways: the seat and steering wheel are touchable, the cabin cools faster after you start the car, and the A/C runs less hard on the drive home.

The gain is largest where the glass is largest. The back glass on an SUV or crew-cab truck sits in direct sun for hours. The windshield is the biggest single pane in the car and sits right in front of you; Hawaii allows only a top strip or a clear film there (the AS-1 area must still read 70 percent), so any heat rejection has to come from a light film. A sunroof or glass roof drops heat straight onto your head. Those are the panes where the gap between carbon and ceramic is easiest to feel, and where we suggest spending first if the budget has to stop somewhere.

Hawaii legal limits

Film type does not change what is legal; shade does. In Hawaii:

• Front side windows (and wing vents) must pass at least 35 percent of visible light, measured through the glass and film together. The inspection meter allows a 6 percent tolerance, so a reading of 29 percent passes.
• Rear side windows and back glass can be any shade on sedans, vans, minivans, trucks and buses with mirrors on both sides. SUVs, coupes and hatchbacks aren’t named in the statute, so the shop confirms the rear shade for those bodies.
• Windshield tint is a top strip only, down to the AS-1 line (or 4 inches from the top where there is no AS-1 mark). A clear windshield film that meets FMVSS 205 is allowed, as long as the AS-1 area still reads 70 percent.
• Reflective and colored film is out: no mirrored or highly reflective film, and nothing that looks red, yellow, amber or blue from outside.
• Third brake light: no film over it on 2013 and newer vehicles.

VLT, visible light transmission, is the percentage of light that gets through. Five percent is limo dark; 50 percent is light. Because ceramic rejects heat without needing to be dark, a legal 35 percent ceramic on the fronts often feels cooler than an illegal 15 percent dyed film. Hawaii has no medical exemption for darker fronts, so a cooler film at a legal shade is the answer. Offshore gives a compliance certificate with every vehicle install, and it stays in the car. The Hawaii window tint law page has the full rules, the inspection and the fines.

What Offshore installs

Offshore installs ProLayers automotive window film. ProLayers is an independent brand; we are an installer, not the maker. The film comes in multiple shades, so every tier can be fitted at a legal front shade and a darker rear.

An example: a black Ford Super Duty

One kind of job makes the point. Take a black Ford Super Duty in for window, windshield and sunroof tint. A black truck with a big cab is close to the worst case for the Maui sun: the paint soaks up heat, the glass area is large, and the sunroof sits right over the driver.

A truck like this also shows why a tint quote has to be broken out by pane. Front doors, rear doors, back glass, windshield and sunroof each get their own decision on film and shade. A consultation for a truck like this settles which panes are included, the shade for each (the fronts must stay legal, the rear can go darker), what treatment suits the windshield under Hawaii’s AS-1 rule, and whether any old film needs removal.

If you drive a Super Duty, the F-250 and F-350 tint page covers that truck’s glass in more detail.

Questions to ask any tint shop

• Which film brand and product line, by name, not just “ceramic”?
• Which shades are available, and will the front doors read legal with the factory glass?
• Do I get the Hawaii compliance certificate with the install?
• Which panes are included in the price?
• What does the film warranty cover, and what does the shop’s workmanship warranty cover? They are different things.
• Is the film cut from a pattern or by hand, and how are the edges finished?

Getting a quote

Our tint is priced by labor hours for your vehicle and coverage, so the quote form asks for year, make and model, the panes you want and whether there is a sunroof. Tell us if there is old film to remove and whether the car parks outside. If heat is the main goal, the Maui Heat package pairs ceramic tint with windshield film and a coating, starting from $289 for the tint-only tier.