I went here to get an auto inspection. When I walked in I overheard the lady complaining about a a different customer to who I assume was her boss sitting in the corner on his laptop. Then after moments of waiting on my inspection to be completed she tells me that I failed my tint. Information for record, this was a 2 year old car with zero tinting done to it. It is literally a stock car straight off the lot, that has been passed for the last two years. There is zero reason why it would have failed the inspection. Icing on the cake was when I was asking questions about WHY it failed and asked if they could check again. She literally didn't care about what I had to say and refused to ask if they could check the tint again. Told me that their equipment is never wrong. Clearly upset, I paid the bill and left. ...20 minutes later my tint was passed and didn't understand how it failed in the first place. Terrible experience, and apparently donated my money for nothing.
Sir, your window tint is 27%. The legal limit is 35%. The law gives 3% +/- to account for variances (such as dirty windows). So that brings us to 32% minimum to be legal. You still fail. The tester is 1 of 3 that are approved for use for state inspections. It calibrates every time it is turned on, and is inspected yearly for accuracy by the DMV inspector. You said that you bought the vehicle that way. I believe you. Dealerships will install window tint before selling vehicles (So they can charge more). That is not considered factory window tint according to the law. I also believe that you got another shop to pass it. That shop broke the law. We believe in honesty here, and we therefore follow the law. Not going to apologize for that. If you don’t believe anything I’ve said here, I encourage you to visit the DMV and ask them yourself. I would recommend not mentioning the part about another shop passing it though. That will cost the inspector $300 and the shop $1,000 for a first time offense. It will cost them more and possibly their license if it’s not their first time. If it were my vehicle, I would not be upset at the people who are simply doing what they are required to do by law. I would be upset at the dealership that installed the illegal tint in the first place.
- STR Automotive