Tinted Windows on Rental?
 

I rented a car in ATL last week (white Camry with about 22k miles) and the windows were tinted (all 4 windows - even front driver and passenger side windows).

When I returned the car, I asked the person who checked the car in why Hertz tinted the windows on this car. He said Hertz doesn't tint windows, customers do. On their own dime. He told me a story about a guy who rented a vehicle for a weekend and the first place he went to was a tint shop to tint the windows.

He said that he sees about 1 car a week with tinted windows and that the workers will remove the tint if they have time. It may just be me but I wouldn't pay out of pocket to tint windows on a car that I am renting for a few days. That said, both of my cars (that I own) have tinted windows so I understand the benefits.

Question 1 - Have any of you driven a Hertz vehicle with after market window tint? If so, where? I imagine most of this would be done in the South where the sun can scorch a car.
Question 2 - Have any of you actually tinted the windows on a Hertz vehicle, and why (sun, privacy, etc)?

I don't know if this is necessarily the case but rental cars are a popular way to move drugs - they don't get identified with a known dealer or appear on a database as they're not with an owner for long enough. As such it might be worth the expense of a tint to keep the insides private

Of course I might be way off base and people just like hiding from the heat, but if that were the case then I'd expect more cars to be available with the tinting to start with.

I live up in CT and all of my cars are tinted 35% sides and 20% back even though CT weather isn't scorching like down south. When I rent a car or get a loaner car from my dealership, the sun actually drives me nuts while driving. I generally only rent a car for a few days so I wouldn't get it tinted, but if I was renting a car for say 2 weeks straight or more, I would seriously consider getting the car tinted with basic tint.

That being said, I hate driving dirty cars and love driving pristine condition cars but can deal with "clean" cars. I have, however, done a full interior and exterior detail on a rental car before if I'm near home. To each their own, but for me personally, I would put another $100 to get a rental tinted or spend 2 or 3 hours detailing the car if I have the car for a decent amount of time.

On a ride back from a recent HLE, the Hertz driver mentioned that frequently get a rental back with tinted windows. Saw one of the branch's Taurus with tint riding down the road and noticed the little bar code sticker in the window. Drug dealers/distributors are tinting the windows for whatever reason when they "do business." A roll of tint is pretty cheap here in FL. Just gotta know a guy who knows how to apply it.

In addition, when they get caught in a rental by LEO, they can deny that they knew the dime bag was in the glove box. Also harder for LEO's to constantly track or watch a car, if they are constantly going through car rentals. Sketchy, yes but clever tactic.

I would assume the purpose of tints for dealers/distributors is so that the cops can't see who is inside the car :cool:

Lol. Touche'

Really. Sometimes I kind of wish they tinted the windows since it can pretty sunny out there.

The only out of pocket "expense" I do if my rental is very long is to replace the crappy wipers with quality ones.

But tinting windows does sound like a good idea if I was renting for say a month?

I've seen Hz rental cars with CA plates with limo tint all around. Not really a good idea for drug dealers here, since limo tint on the front windows is a good way to attract attention and possibly get pulled over.

My guess is they tint the windows to make them look less like rental cars. I would imagine police look for rental cars running the interstate specifically. With all the bar codes and somebody driving a brand new car that nobody buys they stand out.

This thread was a real eye-opener for me. Tinting a rental car on your own dime...wow.

I've seen a few Explorer Limited that were tinted from the 2nd row onwards. Always thought it was factory.

i'm always astonished at the unnecessary things people will pay for with a rental. Tinting, detailing, wipers, oil changes? whaaaa? I rent cars specifically so I *dont* have to deal with kind of stuff. But it'd be a boring world if everyone was the same.

No doubt that SUVs 2nd row back are factory tint. If the front window is tinted though you know it was "custom."

I'd just tell the cops that the weed belongs to Dwayne Bowe's cousin and you have no idea how it got there. I'm sure they'll buy it... ;)

I can't imagine spending my own money on tinting a rental car, but I guess when you're rollin' dirty you do what you gotta do.