How to Choose a Good Car Tint Shop

Most metropolitan areas have an abundance of tint shop choices. In the San Francisco, CA area alone, there are 30 different tint shops within a 25 mile radius. How does a consumer choose the tint shop that does quality work? What is the difference between a 'Dr. Tint' and a 'Quality Window Tinting'?

We at TintCenter suggest that you do a little research. First compile a list of 5 potential tint shops that are likely to do good work. Ask your friends an co-workers who have tinted their cars which tint shops they chose, look in the Yellow Pages and mark down the tint shops with large professional advertisements, or come to TintCenter.com and get price quotes from a local tint shops.

Once you have this list in-hand, its time to interview each dealer:

- How long have you been in business at this location? Do you have other shops in the area?

Good tint shops prosper despite other local competition by offering good service at reasonable prices. You should find a tint shop that has been in business for 5 or more years at the same location, this shows a stable business that will be there years down the road if somehow the tint goes bad.

Often times successful tint shops also open car tinting branches in neighboring cities. Although the installers may not be the of the highest quality since opening new shops means training new employees; however, branches are a sure sign of a successful tinting business.

- What types of films do you carry? What warranty do you offer on your work?

Quality tint shops carry complete lines of window film from one or multiple window film manufacturers. They should carry dyed, hybrid, and metallic window films in a variety of colors and darknesses. Beware of tint shops that only carry one or two types of film, and sells them aggressively. They may have acquired this film on sale, and may not be thinking of your unique requirements and concerns.

The warranty on the car tint varies depending on the window film you choose. TintCenter recommends that you install only window film backed with a lifetime warranty for materials and labor. Most films don't guarantee color and fading, it is recommended that you also choose one that does.

For the warranty to take effect, remember to get only legal window tint for your car. Illegal tint automatically nullifies any manufacturer's warranty. Make sure you get a manufacturer's warranty card from the dealer with the date, the window film used on each window, and the total cost of installation.

- Can I visit your tint shop? Can you show me a sample of your work when I'm there?

Tint shops can sound like the best shop on the phone, but 15 minutes on-site should tell you all you need to know.

Good dealers pay attention to customer service. They should be happy and willing to spend the time to talk to you and explain how their shops work. Remember, if they don't spend time with you know, will they spend time with you when there is something wrong with your tint job?

A tint shop's work area should be indoors and clean. Their tools and window films are organized in a professional manner. If the tint shop is outdoors or in a parking lot, this is a negative since it is critical to remove all dust and dirt from the windows before applying window film.

Now take a look at a car they have already tinted. Pay attention to side-windows. The window film should be applied to the inside and be completely flush against all 4 edges of the window. Now look at the window film itself. Don't worry if the film itself looks slightly streaky and discolored, window film takes a couple weeks to dry out and become completely clear. If there are bubbles of air under the film or the film itself is not complete flat against the window, this is a sure sign of sloppy tinting.

Finally, take a look at the rear window. Is the window film applied in a single piece or is it cut into strips that surround the defroster lines? The most skilled tint shops always apply film in a single piece. Now look at the borders of the rear window, in many cars there is a black 'frit' edge on the window, Make sure the window film looks securely attached to the frit as well.

Finally, get price quotes from each dealer for the exact darkness, color, and type of window film you want. Never compromise because there are plenty of other dealers out there that will offer your perfect tint. With these price quotes and your research on each tint shop, make the decision. Refer to the cost of car tint article to help you rank the dealers.

After you make your decision, remember to always make an appointment with the tint shop before you tint your car. Even if they say 'drop-ins accepted' or 'bring it over any time', you want you tinter to be calm and prepared for you when you arrive and not rushed. Tinting may take a couple hours to half a day, so either arrange a ride or go to a nearby coffee shop with a good book. Enjoy!

Read more...

Choosing the right car

We all dream about the car we’d like, Maybe we see one in the street and think “that’s the one for me" then, being fickle, will see another a little further along the street and say “No, that’s the car I want!".

Don’t worry, this is quite normal, very few people know exactly what they want.

Here, we give you some considerations on choosing the right car for you so you don’t end up saddled with a car that, frankly, disappoints you! Remember that you are likely to spend a lot of your time sitting in it and the model you choose will say a lot about you to other people.

What will be your new car’s main purpose?
Your lifestyle and what your new car will be used for is the very first thing you need to think about. Basically, your dream car may be TT Roadster (a two-seater) bit if the car is to be used to drop the kids off to school, then it really won’t be suitable!

Consider this ….
• Is the car going to be used for family trips?
• commuting to work in? (then choose a diesel to get the most from your fuel)
• will it be a sporty second car for week-ends?
• Does it need to used for off-roading?
• Will it be needed for business?
• Are you married or single? Do you have children? etc etc

This will then help you build a picture in mind of the car that is realistically right for you

The costs
Another important consideration is running costs:

• What insurance group is the car? The higher the group, the more your insurance premium will be
• If your car is going to do a lot of mileage (over 12,000 miles a year), then think about choosing a car with a diesel engine – these are better on fuel consumption
• More expensive cars will have higher servicing and maintenance bills

Comfort
Depending on what purpose your car is used for, comfort is a consideration.

For commuting or high mileage vehicles, the car should be of the optimum comfort and, ideally, have air conditioning.

If it is a fun car, say a sporty number for weekends, then be prepared that the ride will be slightly harder (but a lot of fun!)

Featured Merchant
By now you should have a good idea of the type of car you want and what it needs to be like to suit your circumstances!

Now, think about how much you can comfortably afford and start doing your research!

The internet is a good place to start looking, you can research prices, specifications and, if you are after a new car, for a bit of fun, you can even visit a manufacturers site and build a car to your own specifications!

Also, scour the motor section of your local newspaper to see what finance deals and offers are on at local dealerships. You could pick up a good deal!

Happy Motoring!

Read more...

Car Buying Scams

The first money wasting scam deals with etching the vehicle’s VIN# on the window. In some cases a dealership will try to make you pay for this added feature. Please don’t fall for this trick. No lender will require you to pay for any extra options that you don’t require. To be honest all they really care about is whether or not your payments are on time.

Be on the look out for the phrase “subject to loan approval". Almost every car loan will have this phrase in it and trust me when I say that some dealerships will try and exploit you out of more money using this phrase as the reason why. This scam is usually pulled on consumers that may have bad credit so if your credit score is good you shouldn’t have to worry about being taken advantage of by the dealership. The bad news is for those that are taken advantage of it usually means upwards of $1000 more in finance fees and an additional $50 a month added to your car payment. One way to avoid this scam is to finance the car through your own bank or credit union.

The most abused scam is the credit score scam. This is where the car dealership tells you that your credit score is lower then what it actually is in order to charge you a higher finance rate on your car loan. No one is immune to this scam because the dealership doesn’t care if you have good or bad credit when they attempt to con you. The best way to deal with this greediness is to bring a copy of your credit score with you when you go looking to buy a new car. That way there is no confusion as to what your credit score truly is.

Another favorite scam is the forced warranty scam where the auto dealership will insist that in order to qualify for the car loan you will need to purchase a $2000 2 or 3 year warranty. The bottom line upfront is that it’s hogwash and you don’t need the warranty.

Here’s a good scam that I’m sure you’ve seen often. It’s called the dealer prep scam. Yes that’s right I’m talking about that extra $500 that seems to appear on your contract to compensate the dealer for basically doing nothing since the car arrives in the dealership ready to be driven off the car lot to a prospective buyer. Try an avoid paying this if you can otherwise find a dealer that will knock this ridiculous charge off of the contract.

The dealer markup fee is another phony fee that is made up just to pad the car dealership’s profit margin. This is an unnecessary fee that the dealer charges for no reason other than greed. This fee can be seen on the orange sticker marked on the manufacturer’s suggested retail price (MSRP).

These are just a few of the many scams that can surface from time to time when you are attempting to buy a new car. Although these practices to go on there are many trustworthy car dealerships that can and will sale you a car for the right amount of money allowing you to purchase the car without getting ripped off and still allow the dealership the opportunity to make the compensation they deserve for their efforts. The trick is to find that dealership. Best of luck to you.

Read more...