Ceramic window tint

Why ceramic, not dyed

Most of the cheap tint you see turning purple in parking lots around Kahului is dyed film. Dye absorbs visible light, so the glass looks dark, but it does very little about infrared, which is the part of sunlight you feel as heat. The dye also breaks down under UV, which is why those cars go purple and bubble after a few years.

Ceramic film works differently. Nano-ceramic particles embedded in the film absorb and scatter infrared before it reaches the cabin. The particles are inert, so the film does not fade, and non-conductive, so it does not interfere with the electronics that modern cars depend on. That is the whole reason this page exists under window tint as its own service: ceramic is the film we recommend for nearly every car on Maui, and the V10 Ceramic IR tier is what most customers leave with.

The sun here is strong all year, and a car parked at the beach, the harbor or an open lot in Kahului heats up fast. Ceramic film takes out much of the infrared before it reaches the cabin, which means seats you can sit on, an air conditioner that catches up faster, and a dashboard that stops cracking.

The three ProLayers tiers

We install three ProLayers automotive films, and the difference is in the heat, not the darkness. V6 Comfort is a carbon film with no ceramic layer: it handles glare and privacy at the lowest price.

V10 Ceramic IR adds the infrared-rejecting ceramic layer and is the film we fit to most cars. V16 Ceramic IR MAX pushes IR rejection higher still, which matters on a Tesla glass roof or a black-leather interior that bakes all day. Every tier comes in multiple VLT options, so you can stay at a legal shade on the fronts and go darker in the back without changing film.

Labor is priced by the hour for your exact window layout. A sedan or truck with four doors and back glass is 2.65 labor hours on V10, a two-door truck with back glass is a little over two, and a three-row SUV with quarter glass and cargo windows runs closer to four and a half. The quote page does that math, including a windshield, sunroof or eyebrow strip if you want them, and the shop confirms the total with Hawaii GET before you book. See how long window tint takes for the full breakdown.

What is legal in Hawaii

Front side windows and wing vents must let through at least 35% of visible light, measured through the film and the glass together. Inspection allows a 6% tolerance, so a meter reading of 29% still passes, but many mainland states allow darker fronts, so a car shipped over can fail here. Rear side windows and the back glass can be any shade on sedans, vans, minivans and trucks with outside mirrors on both sides; the statute does not name SUVs, coupes or hatchbacks, so on those we confirm the rear shade with you.

The windshield can only carry a top strip 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%. No mirrored or highly reflective film, no film that looks red, yellow, amber or blue from outside, and no film over the third brake light on 2013 and newer vehicles. There is no medical exemption for darker fronts in Hawaii.

We will not install an illegal front shade: the owner faces a fine of 300 to 550 dollars, and the installer 700 to 1,200 dollars plus a free redo. The installer must also give you a certificate that the film complies, which stays in the car; you get one with every vehicle install. The Hawaii window tint law page has the full rule.

Vehicle-specific notes

Teslas and glass-roof EVs. The panoramic roof is the biggest heat source in a Model 3 or Model Y, so we treat it as a priority window, not an add-on. Film stays clear of the cabin camera at the mirror and the forward camera zone on the windshield, so Autopilot and FSD are unaffected. More on the Tesla window tint page.

Trucks. Many F-150s and Silverados arrive with a factory-tinted rear that is darker than anything legal on the fronts. We keep the fronts at or above the legal 35% and can add film over the back glass if the factory privacy glass is too light for you. The F-150 window tint page covers cab configurations.

Luxury cars with embedded antennas. Rear glass on many BMW, Mercedes and Lexus models carries the radio and keyless-entry antenna. Ceramic film is non-conductive and does not degrade those signals the way metallic film does.

Replacing old tint. If you bought a car with purple, bubbling or too-dark film, removal is part of the prep. Rear defroster lines need care, so we budget extra time for a removal rather than rushing it.

Care after install

Leave the windows up for 3 to 5 days. Clean the inside of the glass with a soft microfiber and an ammonia-free cleaner; ammonia attacks the adhesive at the edges. Small water pockets and a light haze during the first week are the install moisture evaporating and clear on their own. After that, ceramic film needs no maintenance.

Booking

The shop is open Monday 7 to 3, Tuesday 7 to 7, Wednesday and Thursday 7 to 5, Friday 7 to 6 and Saturday 8 to noon, with tint drop-offs scheduled by the window layout so we can give you a real pickup time. Kahului customers are about 8 minutes away; Kihei is about 25 minutes on Mokulele Highway, and Upcountry and West Maui drivers can drop the car in the morning for a same-day pickup on most layouts. Pricing is the same for every town, with no travel surcharge.

For a two-hour turnaround on common sedans, see tint in 2 hours. If you are still deciding between films, read ceramic vs carbon tint, then build your estimate on the quote page.