Confused about the Queensland Tinting laws?
We get lots of customers asking about the darkest legal tint for their car, and how dark they should go. All of our tints come in quite a few different shades, from 5% ambulance tint (or limosine tint) all the way down to a light shade such as 90%. And everything in between. 5%, 12%, 15%, 18%, 20%, 25%, 30%, 35%, 40%, 50%, 70%, 85% and 90%. The lower the percentage, the darker the tint is. This is because the percentage represents how much Visible Light is Transmitted through the tint and into the car. Also known as VLT.
Below is everything else you need to know about legal tints, including a few questions to ask yourself before deciding on a tint.
Here’s A Basic Run Down Of Darkest Legal Car Tint for Private Vehicles
Light passenger vehicle (not more than 4,500kg gross vehicle mass )
- Not less then 20% VLT to side or rear windows behind the driver’s seat as long as the vehicle has rear view mirrors fitted on both sides.
- Not less than 35% VLT to windows level to or in front of the driver’s seating position. This includes applied window film and factory tinted glass combined.
New Darkest Legal Tint For Cars In QLD – Sept 2017
As of September 2017, new laws apply to car tinting in QLD. Previously, a blanket rule for cars and vans applied, allowing a limit of 35% VLT on all side and rear windows.
The limits have been changed to allow darker film to be applied rear of the driver on passenger cars and no limit on ‘goods carrying vehicles’.
The new regulations can be found here;
Windscreen Tinting Laws
Your car windscreen can legally have the top 10% of your windscreen tinted. (above where the wipers reach). There is no limit to how dark this strip can be. We tint a lot of windscreen strips in a 5% tint to stop as much of the sun in your eyes as possible.
It is not legal to tint any other part of the windscreen. We do not recomend tinting the whole windscreen as it will reduce the visibility while driving.
Read more in our blog here.
WHAT STATE IS YOUR CAR REGISTERED?
All States in Australia now have the same Darkest Legal Tint Laws with the exception of the Northern Territory where you can tint all the windows rear of the drivers seat as dark as 15% VLT.
PROBLEMS IF YOU TINT DARKER THAN THE LEGAL LIMIT FOR YOUR CAR?
Here are some of the problems you can run into if you tint darker than legal;
- You can be fined by the Police
- Your insurance may dispute or reject an accident claim
- The Police will make you remove it and then go back to show them it has been removed
- It can be unsafe to drive at night or in the rain due to lower visibility
- You can lose points on your licence
Light and heat?
With the technology going into window films these days, a dark tint does not mean it will stop more heat. Ceramic Window Tints can stop as much as 92% of Infrared Heat coming through your windows, even with a light tint such as 35% VLT. A 20% VLT Tint will only stop an extra 2-3% heat in most films. Basically the dark Tints these days are just for the look.
Security and privacy?
If you own a commercial vehicle, you may want a very dark tint for security reasons. Many businesses don’t want people to be able to easily see into their car windows—for example, when they are stopped at the traffic lights.
Dark tints can deter theft and give added privacy for your vehicles.
UV rays?
Many customers want to reduce UV rays from entering their windows. This protects their skin as well as the car’s interior from fading. However, you don’t need a really dark tint to reduce UV rays.
Black Tint provides maximum Ultraviolet Protection Factor of 50+. But we also have other tints that are much lighter—such as the UV Shield and UV Clear—that offer the same 50+ protection.
