Ceramic vs carbon window tint: what the difference actually buys

Two cars can leave a shop with what looks like identical 20% tint and have completely different experiences of the next five summers. The difference is what the film is made of.

Dyed film

The cheapest construction: a layer of dye that absorbs light. It blocks the view and not much else, and the dye is not stable under sustained UV. In this climate dyed film is the stuff that goes purple, hazes over and starts bubbling — often inside a couple of summers.

We don't install it. If you've got film that's turning purple, that's what it is, and it's worth stripping properly rather than laying new film over the top.

Carbon film

Carbon particles replace the dye. Because the colour comes from carbon rather than a pigment that breaks down, it stays stable — no purpling, no fading to brown. It has a clean matte-black look that a lot of people prefer to the slight gloss of cheaper film, and it rejects a solid amount of heat.

For a garage-kept car, or one that's mostly driven early and late, carbon is a genuinely good product and the value peak of the range.

Ceramic film

Nano-ceramic particles are chosen for one job: rejecting infrared, the part of sunlight you feel as heat. That's what you're buying. At the same visible shade a ceramic film will keep a cabin cooler than a carbon one, and the gap is widest in exactly the conditions that made you look into tint — a car that's been sitting in the sun all day.

Ceramic is also non-metallic, so unlike older metallized films it won't interfere with phone signal, GPS, keyless entry or tyre pressure sensors.

So which one?

• Car parks outside all day, or it's black, or you regularly have people in the back — ceramic.
• Car is garaged and you're mostly solving glare and looks — carbon does the job.
• Anything cheaper than carbon — we'd rather you spent the money once.

We'll tell you plainly which tier is worth it for your car and how you use it. Get a tint quote →