What is the legal tint level for a car?

[IZ1111]

I would like to make my windows darker. Especialy for the hot seasons, plus the nice look. But I hear that many cars get stopped and ticketed because their window are too dark. I want the darkest as possible without going overboard and in the legal limit. Anyone know or as tinted their windows.

[denisond3]

Those laws are different in each state, and of course there will be slightly different interpretations of the laws in some local jurisdictions. Here is a link for a website where you can view a .pdf file listing the tint limits for all states:
www.iwfa.com/iwfa/Consumer_Info/auto_statelaws.html This is almost a 2 megabyte file, in case you dont have broadand internet access, and takes a while to download.
The chart doesnt list all of the related complexities of the laws in all states either; for example, what if you add tint to a window whose glass already has the slight tint as it came from the factory? Most states would measure the total % of tint - though not all.
Im sure there is more info if you start from the IWFA home page:
www.iwfa.com/
I did a google search for +window +tint +states. There were plenty of sites, and not all of them had the same information, i.e. they may not be current, or may be wrong. The TX limits were apparently updated in 2003, and changed somewhat from previous values.
Then there is the question of whether you could get a ticket in another state for window tint, even though you were compliant in the state where your car is registered. The reciprocity laws for this stuff also vary from state to state.

[IZ1111]

Thanks. I actually found a chart where they had it updated from 02, and it stated that Texas had its year law in 87, saying that only 35%. I'm glad to now see that the new 03 law lowered it to 25%.

[lectraplayer]

One word of warning: if you're blue-lighted of a night, be sure your dome light is on when the cop gets out of the car, or he may be prone to give you .357 reasons to not have a tint! Cops HATE not being able to see in the car, and they don't know if you got a gun or not. The dome light would help him a lot here.

[mike avery]

Another way that i found around this, if you want your car as dark a possible, is to tint the driver and passenger windows the legal limit (35% in CT) and tint the rest excluding windshield 5%. That is what i did on my CV and no one seems to care. At one point i had them all at 5% and i got pulled over more than 3 times per week. So thats what i found that was the best. You can also use 0% if you want to get it really dark but backing up at night would be a trick. Also i did get to meet quite a bit of officers sidekicks tinting all of my windows including the fronts too dark. Good Luck.