I'm looking to buy a lancer 09 GT... was thinking about getting tint for it.... was wondering if i get it done by the dealership/factory or what not (sales guy said its around 300 bucks CDN) is there still a problem with scratches (do they already install the moleskin) ... or does the problem only affect those who tint it by a outside shop.

most posts ive seen with problems with tints have been made by someone who had it tinted by some outside shop.

Anyone have problems with cars that come tinted?

The problem is there is a hard plastic piece inside the door. Dealer or local shop tints will all encounter the same scratching from dirt and the hard plastic.

The felt/moleskin is a must if you're tinting an 08/09

Disclaimer: This is from reading several lancer forums from the last few months. I have NOT tinted my lancer yet, so this isn't personal experience.

so i guess even if i bought the tint from the dealership it would still scratch...

i had my 08 lancer tinted slowly got very scratched. retailer took off door covers put felt inside and now they are scratching again. him and myself want to know how to fix it any tips?

To fix you just simply have to not pay attention to it, felt won't fix it and i don't even notice it, and neither do my friends, even ones that are first timers in my car. Except someone with long fingernails made a nice scratch on my tint (thats more noticeable).

The felt is still stiff to begin with. The weatherstripping presses too hard against the glass, that's why it scratches tints with or without moleskin.

Even before installing my moleskin, I was impressed with the squeegee abilities of the weatherstripping. In the winter, my windows would fog up... one quick roll of the windows and BAM! Clean as a whistle!

If you can find a way to keep the weatherstripping from pressing so firmly against the window pane, then you will find your tint scratching solution.

Has anybody tried a spray-on tint like Nightshade?

I had mine done about 3 weeks ago on my 09 GTS. The scratches are very minimal and not noticeable, it looks like a thin piece of hair is on the window, probaly EVEN SMALLER

So, the 09's are still having problems? Looks like Mitsubishi didn't tweak the new year model, eh?

I checked out my '09 GT, and yes the plastic strip is quite stiff. The inside does feel slightly 'felty' though. It's a bit fuzzy... not just hard plastic.

I'm going to get mine tinted soon. Will probably order up some moleskin just to be safe....

A simple solution is to use vaseline on the tint. I use it for the screen protector on my phone and it fills in all the little hairline scratches with ease. Plus, since it's a touchscreen, I get the extra slip n' slide! :grin:

Test it out. Take a very small amount and apply it to the tint. With a small lint free cloth or cotton ball, evenly spread the vaseline using a smooth circular motion. After a minute or so, wipe clean using a soft cloth. You don't want to use any glass cleaner yet as it may remove the vaseline from the scratches.

This also works for monitors and TVs too.

I read scary stories regarding scratches on tinting, so I waited longer to decide on getting mine tinted. And even considered getting moleskin. I finally did it 'as is' 3 weeks ago any way. So far it's been fine and no scratches anywhere.

One cool thing my dealership gives you when you buy a car from them is one deluxe "touchless" carwash each week at the local gas station, $7.00 value. :P Anyway....., it's a good way to meet other Lancer owners since we all seem to go in first thing on Saturday morning. I ran into a guy today who has a 2008 Blue GTS and had his windows tinted as part of his deal over four months ago so I asked him if he had any scratching issues and he hasn't, I even sat in the car to check it out. So, I'll be getting mine done sometime in the near future from the same shop the dealership sends all the cars to. It was good news for me.

I'm still waiting for my friend to get back to me on my tints. He said his buddy could do all 7 windows (2 front, 2 back, 2 mini, and rear) for $175. Seems reasonable, but I remember some tint shops offering $100-$125.

Tints... a must have!

If you drop the dealerships name it cost $180. I've seen their work on many cars and all looked outstanding, can't wait to get mine done now. It will look sharp on my white GTS.

im really a noob at tinting and all... but i was under the impression that factory tint meant that the glass itself was tinted or darkened (i dunno if its at all possible) as opposed to applying a film to it afterwards....

like i look at my buddy's tint (done by dealership) and its a film... you can see when you roll down the window its not tinted at the very edge and .... but you look at the sunroof and its a slightly different colour tint with no edge.....

is there a difference? can there be a glass thats already darkened (tinted) or is ALL tint done with film?

Some factories will smoke their glass. Thats what they do on many of the back windows of say trucks, SUVs, and the sunroof glass. When you get it tinted aftermarket, they use a film. The edge you see that is not tinted when the window is rolled down is so it doesn"t roll when it goes into the frame.
If you have frameless doors such as a 3000gt you can tint all the way up, without leaving that little section at the top. Since our windows roll up into the frame, have to leave that extra section.

There are aftermarket places that will smoke the glass for you but thats costly as the glass has to come out of the frame as far as I know. Tinting with film can be done with the window in place.

I had my windows tinted at a local shop they said they had to put felt on my window seal....... So it wouldn't scratch the tint they charged like five bucks a door..... But so far no scratches what so ever..... I went with Thirty percent all the way around looks pretty....... Hope that helps.... :57:

I am getting my VRX(GTS) tinted on Monday. My friend just got his done and no scratches. :beer:
The tint shops here in Australia apparently trim the hard plastic strip inside the door so it doesnt touch the glass anymore and that solves the problem. Guy told me they very rarely have anyone return with scratches. I will ask to look at it when the door is apart when they do it. :thumbsup:

Is it ok to trim the weatherstripping?

They trimmed the strip that is about 1-2 " below the top of the door trim inside as well as the top trim that is visible. Trimmed the top one back about 3-5mm from the glass all along its length.
This shouldn't be a problem as far as I can see as the doors on Lancer have window frames to guide them when they are coming out of the door itself when being wound up unlike the frameless doors on my last Mitsu.
I just tried windows a few times and they appear fine. I will keep an eye on them as I drive the car over the weekend.

Some car models, Mitsu's and others have the inside strip and some don't apparently.

The Tint companies here in Western Australia tried the moleskin/felt option initially but found that some people had problems as sometimes it would end up coming off.

We only need to put tint film on the front windows here in Aust as the rear side windows and rear back window are dark tinted glass. Privacy glass they call it.
The darkest tint they can put on the front windows here requires a min 35% light transmittance and it is certainly not as dark as this factory tinted glass which is probably only10-20% by the look of it.

Still despite the front tint film not being as dark as the back side and rear screen privacy glass it should help keep car cooler in the very hot summers here as well as keep out UV which will help protect the interior vinyl trim panels. I still armour all the interior panels though and even after 10yrs my car interiors still look brand new.

It should be fine. As long as you're trimming the inside part and its got a smooth line when its done it should help. Its putting less stress on the window itself when it rolls up, but you do want to leave a little to help guide it so it does rub against the door itself.