A common misconception with the purchase of a new car is that the “tinted” windows will provide you and your car’s interior from damaging UV rays.
This glass is typically dyed glass and provides only privacy. Solar glass is a step up from the clear automotive glass and has visible light transmission (VLT) varying from as low as the federal limit of 70% VLT up to 88% VLT (which is clear auto glass). Most automotive solar glass ranges 74-84% these days with UV rejection not much over 40% unless it is factory privacy glass, which has UV rejection as high as the 60-percentile range. Some cars, trucks, and sport utility vehicles come from the manufacturer with glass that has been darkened using an electrical process called “deep dipping”. This “factory tinted” glass is a dark shade but does not protect the interior of your car from the sun’s heat or damaging UV rays as well as aftermarket window tinting.
In other words, “factory tint” means the dye is in the glass, it can never be removed. “Aftermarket tint” is a transparent paper with an adhesive side that bonds to the glass, it can be removed.
Window films also reject solar energy, decreasing a vehicle’s interior temperature, reducing the need for air conditioning, and cutting glare.