Usually we don't see many problems with defrosters and auto window film removals if
good quality film had been used previously and the person removing it knows
what they are doing (we do).
The problems we do see is when someone's
window film dies (when it wears out " bubbles ") and it is left on the
vehicle in a " dead state " through several of hot Texas summers. The film
tends to become " sun baked " and brittle.
This is when a corner of the film
is peeled up, for removal, enough to grab onto with your finger tips to
start pulling it off and finding that it just breaks off in your finger tips
and won't pull off the glass. In these conditions the window tinting needs
to be steamed off with a steamer and pulled VERY slowly. It will come off in
this scenario without damage to anything but the old film.
The worst case scenario if the
steamer doesn't help is to scrape it off with a razor thus sometimes damaging defroster
lines. The other option would be to just have a new glass installed which
may be cheaper than the removal time price (because we charge by the hour on
removals). This scenario is VERY rare and have only seen it a few times in
our over 30 years of doing this. Of the ones we have seen are very old junky
cars that have been neglected for a very long time (and junky film used
originally as well).
Try to keep in mind that people usually have their window tint repaired when it
first starts to look worn from the sun 's effects. These cars usually never have defroster
problems associated with film removal.
This is where the quality of the film comes into
play. We feel ( just like parachute purchases or any thing else ) that you might pay
a little more up front for better quality, but the long run benefits out weigh the initial
cost difference.
