

If you have two side mirrors, you don’t need rear windows that let light in. Maximum Window Darkness?įor passenger cars made after 1992, the front windshield, front side windows, and rear side windows must let at least 70% of visible light through. In the Empire State, the rules for how dark the tint should be and how reflective it should be are the same for both passenger cars and MPVs, except for the side windows on the back of the car. When it comes to window tinting, New York follows federal rules. Since 2017, when the rules were changed, your car’s annual test in New York includes measuring the VLT of your window tint.

Ny state tint law free#
You can buy a VLT or Tint Meter for $99 to $150 or more, depending on the features, if you want to test the VLT of your car’s glass.Įven better, you can get a free VLT Tint Meter app for your phone, though we can’t say for sure how accurate it is. You can easily measure it with a hand-held device that measures how much light gets through the windshield or car window glass. Visible light transmission (VLT) is a way to measure how much light gets through tinted glass or window film. You can tell what kind of car you have by looking at the government-mandated ID tag on the driver’s side door panel.

The rules apply to windshields and window glass that were tinted after the car was made.Īs part of the state’s required annual motor vehicle inspections, window tints must be checked at a DMV-licensed inspection station. There is one small difference between the rules for cars and trucks, which we will explain below. Can You Get Pulled Over for Tint in New York State?īoth passenger cars (sedans, hardtops, coupes, hatchbacks, convertibles, and station waggons) and multipurpose passenger vehicles (MPVs) are covered by NY tint laws (trucks, vans, SUVs, RVs).Which Vehicles Are Covered by Tint Laws?.
