I assume you are going to take it to a professional tint installer, they should be able to match the tint shade to your rear windows with no problems. Just tell them you want it to match and they can figure it out with a gauge or by eye. I would guess your highlander has 20-35% in the rear.

 

You can't go only by the VLT percentage because the way it looks in the real world varies by tint film type (dye, charcoal, metallic, ceramic, or a hybrid combination), so I would visit a good tint shop and get their opinion based on what kind of tint film you choose.

You may also want to match the color of the OEM glass, so that is another factor to consider. Some tint films are neutral in color, some have a bluish color, and some even are slightly green.

 

Toyota documentation I have somewhere for other Toyota models say that their privacy glass VLT percentage is 20%. That sounds reasonable when I compare the privacy glass on our Sienna to the 35% aftermarket tint on the front doors. I'm fairly confident that Toyota uses similarly tinted privacy glass on all the vehicles it sells that have it but a tint shop can tell you for sure. All tint shops (should!) have light meters. If you find one that doesn't, go someplace else.

Most states regulate maximum tint percentage and many do not allow anything near 20% on the front door side windows. The tint shop I've used for a number of vehicles will not install tint with a VLT percentage below the state mandated maximum.

Here's photo of our Sienna with 35% aftermarket tint on the front door windows taken on a bright sumer day. The privacy glass looks darker than it really is due to the four roller blinds being up.

 

I tint for a living. I get it all the time. People want to match front windows with back. We use 3m and almost always its 20% matches the back. And honestly from the outside you cant even tell the difference. I have had one vehicle last week. Want to say if I remember it was a 2014 rav4 and back windows metered at 32%. It kinda of took me by surprise. And it also depends on tint. Most of my customers get color stable which is blueish. Then we have obsidian which is a more brownish color from inside out.


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I read a couple reviews on 3M’s website where ppl complained that the Color Stable film is hazy and has 3M logos stamped all over the tint. Do you know how true that is? Thanks!


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Not best photo. But here is my wifes 05 i tinted back in 2016. Had no privacy glass. So its 35% on front 2 and 5 % on sides and back. In maryland vans, trucks and suvs basically the back of vehicle can be blacked out. Front 2 only have to be legal. Cars it all has to be legal. Altho my envoy is illegal. I have 20% front 2 and 5% over factory tinted glass on whole back. Here is a pic of that for reference too

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I want to tint the front windows and would like to make sure they match the tint percentage of the “factory tinted” windows.

You are NOT going to get a match by taking a number you receive here on the forum and telling your installer "I want XX%". Every film is different. Every batch of the same film varies.



Take your HL to your tint shop and have them show you what they have that matches, then use your own eye and make a decision. Don't like it? Try another shop until you get what you want.



Don't make this too hard, man.

 

I went to a tint shop for my front windows and their meter read 21% for my factory rear tint. 20% on the front windows looks like it matches the back perfectly.

 

Great to know, thank you. Do you know what brand/ film line they used ?


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^ 3m