What window tint costs

Why tint is priced by the hour here

Most tint shops publish a price per car class and then adjust it at the counter. Offshore prices window tint from a fixed table of labor hours instead. Every glass layout, from two front doors to a three-row SUV with cargo glass, has a set number of hours for each of the three ProLayers films. The quote is those hours at $100 an hour, plus Hawaii GET (4.712%). The shop confirms the price and takes the deposit when you book.

The point of doing it this way is that two people with the same truck and the same film get the same number, and you can see exactly why an SUV costs more than a sedan. It is the same table the shop uses to schedule the bay, so the quote and the calendar agree.

What sets the hours

The windows you film

Glass count is the first driver. Two front doors, usually done on a truck or SUV whose rear glass is already factory-tinted, is the smallest job; the fronts still have to stay within Hawaii’s 35 percent limit, so they may not fully match the factory rear glass. A four-door sedan or crew-cab truck with back glass is the typical full-car job. Quarter windows add time because they are small, curved and fiddly. An SUV with two cargo windows on top of the quarters is the largest standard layout, at four to five hours depending on the film.

Extended and regular-cab trucks have their own line, two doors plus back glass, which is why a regular-cab truck quotes for less than a crew cab.

The film tier

Offshore installs three ProLayers automotive films. V6 Comfort is a carbon film: no metal, a clean charcoal look, strong UV and glare reduction. V10 Ceramic IR adds a nano-ceramic layer that rejects infrared heat, and it is the default recommendation for most cars. V16 Ceramic IR MAX pushes infrared rejection further, which matters most on cars with a large glass roof.

Ceramic film takes longer to shrink and lay than carbon, so the hours climb with the tier. On a four-door sedan with back glass the difference between V6 and V10 is about half an hour; V16 adds roughly another hour. If you are choosing between them, the ceramic vs carbon comparison covers what you actually feel from the driver’s seat.

Add-ons

A sun strip across the top of the windshield, down to the AS-1 line, is half an hour on any tier. A full windshield is offered only on V10 and V16, because a windshield film has to reject heat without going dark, and only the ceramic films do that. Hawaii allows film below the strip only if it is a clear film that meets FMVSS 205 and the AS-1 area still reads 70 percent; the Hawaii window tint law page has the detail. A standard sunroof is an hour. Panoramic and one-piece glass roofs, common on Teslas, are quoted on their own line because they are large and heavily curved.

Old film

If there is purple, bubbled or peeling film on the car, it comes off before new film goes on. Mention old film when you ask for a quote, so removal is in the number before you arrive.

What the hours buy

The hour count covers the whole job, not just laying film. Every window gets an ammonia-free clean, the film is computer-cut to your glass, applied wet, squeegeed and heat-shrunk to the curve, and each window is inspected before you pick up. Front side glass stays within the 35 percent VLT that Hawaii law requires, whatever tier you choose, and you leave with the compliance certificate that stays in the car. The film is ADAS and signal safe, so cameras, radar, key fobs and phones work as before.

There is no shop fee, environmental fee or disposal fee on the invoice. The quoted price is the price.

Packages, if you want more than tint

If heat is the main complaint, the Maui Heat package starts with full-vehicle ceramic tint from $289 and adds windshield film and a ceramic coating at its higher tiers. If you want the dark look, the Blackout Starter pairs dark ceramic tint with a basic chrome delete from $739. Homes, condos and storefronts use flat-glass film, quoted after a measure or site visit; see home window tint and commercial window tint.

How long you will wait

The hours in the table are also roughly how long the car is in the bay. A sedan or truck with four doors and back glass is a morning drop-off and an afternoon pickup. A large SUV with cargo glass is closer to a full day. The tint timing guide has the detail, including how long to leave the windows up while the film cures.

How to get an exact number

Send the year, make, model and body style (crew cab or extended cab, two-row or three-row), which windows you want filmed, whether there is old film on the car, and the film tier if you know it. If you are unsure about the tier, say how the car is used and where it parks, and the quote will include a recommendation. That is enough to price it from the same table the shop works from.