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My ride has been lifted! That means basically with new springs and tyres, my ride is a little higher than before! It’s not as ambitious as some of the other rav4s in the r4e club, but this should be a good enough start for me. More on that later!
Anyway I am supposed to write more about the window tinting INCIDENT. YES rux boy I’d put up photos, promise! But for now, here’s the story.

I brought my ride to TintMaster at Paya Ubi last week. I was the first car on that day, and I decided to stay on to see how they do it. Basically the films are chosen first. They differ in performance and tint. I went for as dark as I could. Next, all the decals on the windows came off, and the windows presumably washed with lots of water and maybe soap. (It was sprayed on) A film is overlaid on the OUTSIDE of the window, then a heat gun blasting out hot air softens it so that it conforms to the glass’s curvature. Lots of water is then sprayed on the INSIDE of the glass, and the film applied onto it.

This goes on for the back, front, and windows of course.

After 2-3 hours, it was done. There were LOTS of bubbles but I was told they will just go away. OK. I was also told NOT to operate the windows, as it needs at least 48 hours to dry out first. Turning on the demister is a no-no as well for 14 days. All suction cup devices had to go too, so there went my phone holder… a sticker was placed on the demister button as a reminder not to turn it on, and a similar sticker on the driver’s power window buttons. A card was provided with care instructions, and a receipt of course.

So I was quite happy. I drove out of the workshop. Just a metre or so leaving the workshop, I thought I felt the car behaving strangely. It felt as if my handbrake was engaged. And the gears seemed messed up. I pushed on and before I knew it, the car was jerking on the road, and the speedometer needle going crazy. The engine light came up, and I panicked, slammed on the hazard lights and stopped the car right in the middle of the road, horns blaring around me. I tried it again after a while, but it still behaved strangely.The gears sounded BAD and the engine was whining. I was perplexed. How can this happen now? I didn’t have a breakdown sign, so I stood behind the car and waved vehicles away from mine. A kind man stopped his van, told me gently that I couldn’t stop there since it was a busy two-lane road, and told me to get into the car to steer, while he pushed it all the way to another road, a three-lane one which wasn’t that busy. I was really grateful for that.

I started calling everyone I could. Finally a fellow raver who owns a workshop, came by, and to cut a long story short, we eventually got the car back to the workshop. The workshop said that another rav4 had this problem before, basically water got into the speed sensor which is under the dashboard! That messed things up.

Now I was pissed. How could they not know about this? Yes they did place a towel at the top of the dashboard but obviously it wasn’t good enough. Later I heard from other drivers that a premium brand workshop places 3 towels there. Later I also found out that the water got into the door wiring, and that messed up my door locking/unlocking as well. There was an issue with the fuel gauge not showing the correct value as well, though I am not sure if this is due to water seepage, or perhaps the sensors being loosened when the dashboard was taken apart to dry out the speed sensor.

I am getting tired writing about this already. I waited out for about one afternoon to get the car serviced properly, and in time to come, the water dried off and all seems ok now. I only wonder if there will be any corrosion eventually, since water and electronics don’t mix well.

I know I did mention the workshop name up there. I am not out to slam him down. In fact I’d say that the boss of that place is a good chap, with the right attitude, professionalism and responsibility. He called me numerous times to ensure that things are ok, and offered to remiburse any costs attributed to this problem. He also called Toyota to find out how this can happen and would take steps to be more careful this time. He reiterated that he had done MANY vehicles, including RAV4, and mine is the first with this problem. Well too bad for me then ya? I’d also say that while the service was good, the workmanship could be MUCH BETTER. Bubbles everywhere. Till today (4 days already) I still have some bubbles here and there. And the edge of the film is not cut well at all. The decals that were on my window? It was placed back randomly with no regard as to how it was done before. And the windows were all too dirty after the job. I would ahve expected them to clean things up first!

Other than that I am quite happy with it I guess. Anyway, the boss was nice enough to tell me that if I didn’t like it, he will reapply the films to my satisfaction. I just haven’t had the time to go back there.

That’s the end of my adventure. The lesson here is: window tinting - what harm can it cause? Well if you have a sensitive car (I was told the rav4 is sensitive in this area) then you better be careful. Also ask for examples of other cars they have done and look at the workmanship. Look at the edge of each window and check to see if it is cut nicely (mine is jagged/wavy)… also check for creases/bubbles, and more importantly - dust particles that will get trapped in the film - permanently. That’s about it. Window tinting can really change the look of your ride. AND the comfort too. When driving in the hot sun I don’t feel the heat as much as before. I still feel it, but well not that bad as before.

Perhaps ultimately you pay for what you get. I didn’t pay a lot for this, but right now I’d say on hindsight, i would have paid a few hundred more for peace of mind… TintMaster is not that bad, you just have to manage your expectations. If you look out for the points I mentioned above, you will probably drive out a happy customer.