04 Accord + window tint = bad radio reception?

[Brian (2)]

I've been looking all over and can't really get a straight answer. With the built-in rear window antenna, will window tint hurt the radio reception? I've seen people saying both yes and no, so I'm wondering if anyone has some real experience with it on an accord.

 

[Dick]

We had both our '99 and '03 Accords tinted with 3M tint. There was no perceptible difference before or after. In fact, the radio in our '03 is much more sensitive than the one in our Jeep Grand Cherokee that has an outside antenna. If you use a tint that is highly metallized, it will probably cut the signal some. You would have to talk to the tint shop to see what they are using. So the answer is, yes it could, but not if you use high-quality tint material without a lot of metal in it.

 

[ravelation]

When we had our Grand Prix tinted, it had to be redone with a brand that didn't have the metallic qualities you speak of. Once it had the right type installed, the reception returned to normal.

LeadWinger (Dick) wrote:

We had both our '99 and '03 Accords tinted with 3M tint. There was no perceptible difference before or after. In fact, the radio in our '03 is much more sensitive than the one in our Jeep Grand Cherokee that has an outside antenna. If you use a tint that is highly metallized, it will probably cut the signal some. You would have to talk to the tint shop to see what they are using. So the answer is, yes it could, but not if you use high-quality tint material without a lot of metal in it.

I've been looking all over and can't really get a straight answer. With the built-in rear window antenna, will window tint hurt the radio reception? I've seen people saying both yes and no, so I'm wondering if anyone has some real experience with it on an accord.

 

[Joe Grind]

didn't hurt mine

 

[Brian (2)]

For the record, I got the tint done and used Madico Onyx 35 tint which is metalized. I've noticed a very small amount of degredation in AM, but nothing very serious. The radio still works very well.

 

[Sparky]

For the record, I got the tint done and used Madico Onyx 35 tint which is metalized. I've noticed a very small amount of degredation in AM, but nothing very serious. The radio still works very well.

A metalized windshield can interfere with EZ Pass. Accords since '01 or '02 must mount their EZ Passes externally (on the front plate) for this reason (instead of the common inside windshield mount).

 

[Brian (2)]

I didn't add any tint to the windshield. Is the windshield tinted with metalized tint from the factory?

 

[Sparky]

I didn't add any tint to the windshield. Is the windshield tinted with metalized tint from the factory?

Don't know if it's a tint, but it comes that way from the factory. There's a long list of cars on the EZ Pass site which must use an external EZ Pass tag because of this.