Tinting all the windows of most vehicles takes anywhere from two to four hours. There are many instances where it may take less than two hours or more than four hours to tint your car. Let’s go over some variables in the time it’ll take to tint your car.
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How many windows are getting tinted on your car?
The amount of windows you’re having tinted will play a role in how long it takes to tint your car. It’s easy often to overlook how many windows your car actually has. If you only want to tint your two front doors, thirty to forty minutes is usually the time it takes to tint those windows. The more windows, the more time it’ll take to tint your car.
How curved are your windows?
Window tint often needs to be shaped to the curvature of your car windows. The process is called “shrinking” and is done by using a heat gun or torch to heat up areas of the film to shape it to the glass. The more curve int he glass, the more shrinking that’ll need to be done, which means more time. Examples of windows that take longer than average to shrink are Tesla Model 3 rear windows, Model X windshield, VW Bug, most Corvettes, Camaro’s and TransAm to name a few.
How many tinters are working on your car?
It is not uncommon for one tinter to tint a vehicle completely by themself. It is just as common for tinters to work as a team to get the job done. Obviously working as a team will result in less time to get your car tinted.
The pace of the window film installer
Faster or slower doesn’t mean good or bad (unless your in a rush). There are world class installers with decades of experience that take 3 hours to tint a car and others in 45 minutes. Time is not an indicator of quality or experience.
All in all, when working with an experienced window tinter, a normal sedan can usually be tinted in 1 to 3 hours but may take up to 4-5 if there are more than the average number of windows or if the windows are particularly large or complex.
