Thought Id post this here as more people might see it.

Got pulled over by the law yesterday on the M6 and the copper tested me windows and declared they were too dark.

My car has now been issued with a defective vehicle notice and I have seven days in which to get it sorted out and send the notice, with approval stamp from an MOT garage to say its ok.

Thing is my windows, I always thought were in the legal limit- it apears not.

They are even lighter than the rear windows

My front windows let in 36.8% light and the law is 70%- end of that arguement.

Now I have to get em removed and its going to cost £90 to get it done apparently- even though the dealer told me any trouble take em off for free as done before any changes (copper said it changed about 6 months after this car was done)

Where do I stand with this now- should they come off for free- I dont have any paperwork stating this!

HELP!

i thought that if u got them done before the law was changed then they couldnt make u remove them....

i am sure there is something about that sort of thing

I have to remove them or else its a visit to court

mase said:

i thought that if u got them done before the law was changed then they couldnt make u remove them....

i am sure there is something about that sort of thing

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no, the laws say that they can make u remove them regardless of what the legal limit is. Simply, if the police say you should remove them, then you should remove them. they say that any new tints at all in front of the B posts is illegal, and the guidelines for existing tints, is 70%...
with regards to the dealer, have you called them? did they say they'd charge you? if so, argue. threaten to take them to small claims or something, verbal contracts are just as binding as paper these days.

Yeah, called the dealer- he says its £45 per window and its not the dealer himself doing it, its the guy who did the windows and thats his charges- phone a couple of places up and they said its sounds steep and one in Sheffield quoted me less to remove, re tint test and approve!

The dealer said he would have a word witht he gaffer as the sales man who sold the car isnt there anymore (I wonder why!) and it isnt written down anywhere.

First off, get the windows tested elsewhere cause there is still a chance they might be legal and you have been fiddled cause your test may have been done at night.

Secondly just because a police man says you have to take em off doesn't mean you have to.

A girl I know was given three points and told to remove her lowering springs because a police man stopped her and told her the car was to low, 40mm drop too low om a MKII Golf???? BAH! everyone told her she was a fool for doing it.

If you retest and find your windows to be legal take it to court, you have nothing to lose other then an extra £40 and you'll have to take the tints off anyhow.

There is no fine or points- yet

Trancendental said:

A girl I know was given three points and told to remove her lowering springs because a police man stopped her and told her the car was to low, 40mm drop too low om a MKII Golf???? BAH! everyone told her she was a fool for doing it.

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AFAIK, the only time your car is "illegal" for being too low, is if it damages the highway, ie you kick up sparks on the road... man, I hate rozzers.. easy money, lets go for the motorist!

the light test works whether done in bright light or on a cave it uses lasers.

I dont believe the coppers device was so far out to mis read them by 33.2% and they take about 5 readings then average them.

TBH the coppers dont get any money out of me unless i dont do the work

have a look here

Tints Away

Seraph said:

AFAIK, the only time your car is "illegal" for being too low, is if it damages the highway, ie you kick up sparks on the road

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That AND if you can't drive it properly.. like not being able to do a full left or right lock which she could do easily, but she felt intimidated as they actually drove her to a garage and made her leave her car there.

'Big Black Stilo' there is no harm in getting them tested again, the second opinion will confirm whether you will be wasting your time or not. If they are legal go to court you won't lose, just bring the cert and the contact details of the place that tested it.

Then you can smile smuggly in the court room and do a little dance as you leave

set of bastages. that's really harsh... I've seena few intimidation tactics with women... it's not on.

My mate has been pulled by the police and they were really nasty with her... on her own at night they made her sit in the back of a car (she was in her work uniform and they made her do a breathaliser test)... the reason they stopped her was because they couldn't see her tax disc properly, but it was firmly fixed in her window... they just decided they'd have alaugh with her while she was pulled over....

I bin pulled before coz i had road grime obscuring the rear plate. (but still readable)

I was greeted with 'is this your car sir?'
'yes'
'can you tell me what the registration is?'
'yes its N***BNE'
'Now I couldnt see it so make it so I can'

so while im cleanin the plate with a rag he goes tyre kicking and finds sweet FA

'that'll do- drive on'

Blatent lets see if he stinks of drink at 2am sting

As an update- Dealer wouldnt budge on the £90- saying it is cost to them and passing on the cost to me no profit,

got RAC to do it for £40.

Dont wanna pay that but needs must and all that!

Apparently its really good stuff its been done with and is a bastard to get off- wont peel off as a sheet

mates just had the same thing police told him the place that put the tints on are legaly obliged to remove them for free. if he was to sell the car with illegal tints he is liable to be sued! look into this as it could cost you sweet fa and also you could threaten the garage with legal action if the copper wasnt wrong

I have been trawling the net to see if thats true but alas no luck, if someone finds something between now and 12pm please post a link-

got to be some sort of legislation or something that will have to be followed

As far as I found (before I left for work) They simply added a few words to the legislation defining what a tint could be e.g Film and other subtances but there is no indication that the rules changed.

So a fitter could charge what he wants to remove it?

http://www.vosa.gov.uk/vosa/publications/tinted windows information.pdf

VOSA do the law on tinting mate, its a pain i know as i was stopped this time last year for mine (0.5% light been let through, limo black on fronts), mine was more harsh and had to go to court an got a fine.

But the link i posted there has a small sentence basically saying tinting companies arent allowed to tint a vehicle to illegal limits, so you could argue that with the dealer!