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Does privacy glass keep the inside of a car cooler?
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Perhaps.
I have it on the Swift (non-optional) and it makes reversing into a shady corner quite annoying at times.
Certainly reduces glare for the rear occupants, while I find adjusting the temp gauge works well for cooling the interior down ;-)
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Yes it does, and in turn means that climate control has to be less powerful, and aids the all important lower CO2 figures.
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And makes you look like a drug dealer and aids crashing into things :o)
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It does not matter if it keeps you cool - it's looking cool that really matters:)
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>>And makes you look like a drug dealer and aids crashing into things
^ I'm with this geezer.
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>>I have it on the Swift (non-optional) and it makes reversing into a shady corner quite annoying at times.
Perhaps that's one reason why reversing cameras are becoming so popular.
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I reckon that if anyone is going round looking in cars to see what they can steal, then they'll peer at close quarters into cars that have privacy glass and be able what there is despite the privacy glass.
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>> Does privacy glass keep the inside of a car cooler?
>>
Don't forget you are not allowed to have the front ones tinted very much...certainly not as much as the back ones are when you notice them on a car.
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How about these?
tinyurl.com/bj67nys
Not permanent, so when you sell the car the future owner can decide whether to have them in the window or not..and you can take them out in the winter and put them back in the summer.
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No, that wouldn't do cos some Pcso might follow you for miles and try and get a proper Copper to give you a section 59, or not depending on the lies told by the pee-see-es-o.
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>>Does privacy glass keep the inside of a car cooler?
Yes, quite noticeably, particularly in the back. I have a couple of otherwise identical SUVs and always drive the privacy glass one in the sun if I can.
It also means that when your car is parked a scroat has to go up to your car and very obviously shield his eyes as he peers into it to see if there is anything worth nicking.
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>> It also means that when your car is parked a scroat has to go up
>> to your car and very obviously shield his eyes as he peers into it to
>> see if there is anything worth nicking.
>>
Alternatively, you could just drive a van, then the scroat wouldn't be able to see into it at all! :-)
I have been persuaded by arguments put by people in this (and other forums), that privacy glass is useful. If ALL the windows could have the same tint then I presume that the benefit of cooling the car would be even greater. It would also remove the main objection that I have to it, in that it looks weird to me to have two "colours" of glass.
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>> It also means that when your car is parked a scroat has to go up
>> to your car and very obviously shield his eyes as he peers into it to
>> see if there is anything worth nicking.
>>
For me that is the main benefit of privacy glass. Don't care about the looks (good or bad!).
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Isn't it possible to make glass block or reflect the IR spectrum without affecting the transmission of visible light? Indeed, don't many cars already have such glass? I suspect - will have to check - at least one of mine has.
So while I don't doubt that privacy glass has some effect on the solar gain in countries sunnier than the UK, it's a pretty crude way to achieve it.
As for villain-thwarting value, unless you routinely drive around with the back seat folded, in which case Boxsterboy is a painter and decorator and I claim my five pounds, how many modem cars leave anything on view? What there is, and what thieves are after, is usually phone or satnav hardware, which is in the front anyway.
So, whatever the rationalizations, privacy glass, like big wheels, serves vanity first and function a distant second, and it's crap.
Last edited by: WillDeBeest on Mon 20 May 13 at 07:36
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I don’t like the look of privacy glass and the only possible advantage that I can see, as someone who keeps his cars for a long time, is that the upper parts of my seats are less likely to fade. And, as there might be a Charles Atlas look-alike sat in the back, the sort of folk who throw open their doors with gay abandon in supermarket car parks, might be a tad more careful.
It‘s spreading though, isn‘t it. Once the preserve of soft-roaders and suchlike, it now features on all manner of motors above the most basic spec. However, there is light at the end of the tunnel, as some manufacturers will allow you to delete privacy glass. But then, of course, you might have problems when it comes to selling, if your expensive top of the range MPV looks more like the entry model.
:)
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We lived too-close-for-comfort to a cremator at our previous owse, and when I used to walk Bugley, I'd often see hearses with privacy glass going around the roundabout on their way to dispatch yet another soul to Valhalla.
But then it dawned on me one morning, that what I was actually seeing was in fact just ordinary jamjars with privacy glass!
Funny ole life.
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I assumed it was to stop passers-by seeing what you were up to on the back seat when you were parked. I just wish I was young enough to be doing something on the back seat that I didn't want passers-by to see!
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I have this glass specified by original owner, which was Audi UK's secret Warwickshire chauffeur base. It is good, because we can leave stuff in the back which might otherwise tempt thieves, things like empty boxes.
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The outlander came with it. I like it for the reasons mentioned, we often have the seats down and stuff in the back and it's much less obvious, and difficult to see what's in there.
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I wave at the occupants of cars with privacy glass.
I like to make them think they've paid all that money, but I can still see them.
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>> I wave at the occupants of cars with privacy glass.
>>
>> I like to make them think they've paid all that money, but I can still
>> see them.
primarliy they are thinking "Look at the simpleton waving at the cars"
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It has one very large benefit for dog owners.
1/ it keeps the dog in the boot area nice and cool, even if the aircon is on, they can still overheat with sun focussed onto them.
Sorry it has TWO benefits
2/ You can't see the dog slobber and nose prints streaked up the inside of the back window.
Seems to me, like most things on here, there are a few fundamentalists who get all in a lather about a car feature and hate it with a passion for no really good reason.
Last edited by: Zero on Mon 20 May 13 at 09:44
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Only cos they don't have an Eye-phone. (0:/:0)
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Did you know I ca operate my video camera wirelessly via my iPhone?
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And did you know that I can do Ef-all with my Defy, although I think it may make a very good training aid for the Romanian Labrador.
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Always blaming your tools....?? :-)
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Audi buyers are fortunate. Privacy glass is an option.
And that's as it should be.
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>> Audi buyers are fortunate. Privacy glass is an option.
>>
>> And that's as it should be.
>>
Absolutely right. There are practical limitations to offering absolutely everything as an option, but I think that major items should be (if possible).
It must be frustrating for someone who wants to buy a certain spec of car, but to have privacy glass on it, to be told by the manufacturer that they can only have this type of glass with a more expensive higher spec.
OTOH I can see the viewpoint of someone who really dislikes privacy glass and wants to be able to substitute it for "normal" glass.
Privacy glass does provoke strong opinions, but then it's hardly a surprise on the "Motoring Discussion" forum!
Last edited by: Londoner on Mon 20 May 13 at 11:10
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>> Audi buyers are fortunate. Privacy glass is an option.
Similarly for the humble Focus.
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>> Similarly for the humble Focus.
And for my equally humble LHB.
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>> LHB.
>>
Large........... Hadron......................... B............
Nope, can't work it out.
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My guess is Large HatchBack.
But probably not as 'umble as my MSE.
(Medium Sized Estate)
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>> My guess is Large HatchBack.
>> But probably not as 'umble as my MSE.
>> (Medium Sized Estate)
Spot on, and probably even more 'umble than your MSE on account of its age.
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>> Isn't it possible to make glass block or reflect the IR spectrum without affecting the
>> transmission of visible light?
I thought they already had? Solar glass.
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I had darkened glass in the back half of my Signum. It was one of the few good things about it.
I wish I had it on my current estate, there's nearly always something kicking around the loadspace which is too big to be covered by the roller blind thingy and while it might be selective perception on my part, I'd prefer my stuff to be less visible to prying eyes. Although I suppose it really would look like an undertaker's delivery van if it did. Not that it'd bother me, I'm generally inside it looking out.
Contrary to what some believe, you can see out perfectly well even with dark tinted back windows. As for what others think, well that's sort of their problem isn't it. I don't like looking at Fiat Multiplas much but I can't begin to think of a reason why anyone shouldn't have one if that's what they want.
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Contrary to what some believe, you can see out perfectly well even with dark tinted back windows.
I have to disagree, Humph. It's not what I believe, it's what I've experienced, in a Verso and an LEC, both of which I subsequently bought with normal glass. In both cases the darkened rear glass made the lane-change shoulder check dangerously slow, especially now that so many cars are broadly Tarmac-coloured.
I take BB's point, which makes privacy glass a valid option, but it would be a deal-breaker for me. That's not 'fundamentalism', Z, it's a reasoned objection to something that gets in the way of enjoying a car.
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>> Contrary to what some believe, you can see out perfectly well even with dark tinted
>> back windows.
>>
>> I have to disagree, Humph. It's not what I believe, it's what I've experienced, in
>> a Verso and an LEC, both of which I subsequently bought with normal glass. In
>> both cases the darkened rear glass made the lane-change shoulder check dangerously slow, especially now
>> that so many cars are broadly Tarmac-coloured.
I had a car with darkened rear glass, and I never experienced a slow lane change shoulder check. So to me it is fundamentalism, and would never be a deal breaker.
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I've never owned a car with privacy glass. As a passenger, I've been pleasantly surprised that it doesn't seem to affect the visibility very much. I am not a fan of it because I think that it spoils the looks, but it wouldn't be a (good)deal breaker.
Furthermore, for the reasons that you gave in another post, if I had a dog then I would actually WANT privacy glass for the welfare of the animal.
I am struggling to see how you can label as "fundamentalism" WdB's perfectly reasonable objection to it based on his own experience of trying to cope with it.
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I agree with WillDeBeest, if one cannot cope with something, one should never accept it as an option on a vehicle you buy.
Fortunately insofar as privacy glass is concerned, I have never found coping to be an issue.
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>> I had darkened glass in the back half of my Signum. It was one of the few good
>> things about it.
>>
My old Zafira had it. GM's standard fit is good stuff. Looks seriously dark from outside, but from inside you almost wouldn't know it was there. No worse than a tint.
That's what proper privacy glass should be like. See out perfectly well, but not in.
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>> As for villain-thwarting value, unless you routinely drive around with the back seat folded, in
>> which case Boxsterboy is a painter and decorator and I claim my five pounds, how
>> many modem cars leave anything on view?
>>
I could be tempted ...How much do you pay?
I park on the street in various parts of London in the day and have a tool box and ladder in the car. The car doesn't have a luggage cover and privacy glass certainly prevents casual passing glances at boot contents from n'er-do-wells.
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...How much do you pay?
Erm, five pounds?
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The Vitara had privacy glass from the B posts back. I hated it, especially at night. When I investigated I found it was just film, but done professionally. It came off professionally as well although the adhesive was rather more difficult, needing lots of cellulose thinners.
Much better now.
I have no cover for the back and I do carry stuff which lives in the car. Nothing is on show........the trolley jack and toolbox live under the driver's seat, the compressor under the passenger seat and the jump leads under the bonnet. The booster pack only gets taken off charge in the garage when I need to take it out on a job
Ted
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The Nissan Juke we bought six months ago cam with privacy glass as standard. Never noticed it from the inside but is very effective from the outside.
The salesman did tell us that the glass would help to reduce headlight glare, though the car height off the road probably does as much.
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How is the juke? I have a sneaking and growing admiration for that car. Quite fancy one.
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"How is the juke? I have a sneaking and growing admiration for that car. Quite fancy one."
My own car is of the V8 variety so SWMBO's Juke took a bit of getting used to,which I did and it is comfortable, easy to drive and well equipped. The height above the road sat in the drivers seat, and ability to see all four corners means it is perfect for around town. Goes around corners firmly rooted and with grace. Visibility is good and having the wheels right at the corners makes positioning very straightforward. Enormous door mirrors (auto retracting) are also a boon.
Build quality is good as you'd expect from Nissan.
I recently did a longer journey and was concerned it may be noisy but once up to speed the 1.6 petrol cruises happily and quietly along M Ways and A roads.
Seats are really comfortable with plenty of adjustment and support - electric seats would have helped (not an option) as our seat positions are very different. Space is good enough and despite small size there is enough room in the back for luggage on a trip away, especially as there is more under the floor.
Took 8 bags of garden waste with ease (seats flat) and the load area is at a good height for getting awkward loads in and out.
Consumption was a concern, but once the air con was switched off the range increased dramatically - we only use it now when required.
If required, power is available by pressing the 'sport' button, otherwise the normal power is fine and 'eco' setting on long journeys is effective. A 170ps engine is also available for those who enjoy making progress!
Sat nav unit is easy to use, as is the radio and iPod usb connection.
minor niggles - no auto dimming interior mirror; a warning light for everything, no spacesaver inc. as standard.
Dealer we bought it from let us down at purchase but have found a new one who are on the ball. Nissan and original dealer came up with £400 between them to make up for poor customer service so hats off to Nissan UK for their rapid response and resolution.
We went for the dark purple colour that looks black away from the sun, but looks superb when the sun comes out.
The car's styling is 'interesting' and it's nice to have something that stands out from the crowd. 18k service intervals, though I'll swap the oil before then.....
hth
R40
Last edited by: R40 on Fri 24 May 13 at 09:47
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>> The Nissan Juke we bought six months ago cam with privacy glass as standard...........
>>
>> The salesman did tell us that the glass would help to reduce headlight glare,
How does privacy glass reduce headlight glare?
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"How does privacy glass reduce headlight glare?"
no idea, but I guess it's a useful line for the dealer.............
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depends on who is doing the glaring, and where they are doing it from.
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Interesting feedback re the Juke R40 thanks. I too confess that I rather like them and indeed always have. It would be too small for my current needs but my wife quite likes the idea of one. She has a Qashqai at present and loves it so she's not in any rush to change having sort of gone through a 'should I or shouldn't I' spell a while back.
However, when she does come to move on to a new car I suspect a Juke will at least be on her shortlist if nothing else.
Interesting also re the mpg. As it happens her Qq has the 1.6 petrol engine too and she never switches the AC off. In winter it seems to get about 40mpg ( trip reading anyway ) and in summer about 42mpg. That could of course be functional of the type of journeys she typically makes. Not a lot of town driving and mainly reasonably flowing A roads which may help. her work commute is 16 miles each way so I guess the engine has about enough time to be working at it's peak efficiency.
You should get one Z. It'll make you look younger ! ( if a little effeminate perhaps, but hey, it's the 21st century... )
:-)
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What shoes would a younger Juke driver wear then Humph? Trainers?
Last edited by: Zero on Fri 24 May 13 at 10:11
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Not exactly, but in summer a pair of navy or white Converse All Stars ( lo-cut naturally ) might just about cut it at weekends. Timberland yellow nubuck boots in winter maybe. Gran-dad shirt ( white linen of course ) hanging out over a pair of washed out carrot cut Replay jeans. No socks with the canvas shoes though...
Spike your hair up a bit ( if you have any ) or alternatively a straw pork pie hat...
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got the shirt, but the hair is a problem. Designer stubble a good compromise?
Last edited by: Zero on Fri 24 May 13 at 10:20
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Yeah, that'll do. Two day's growth though. No more. Big watch too. You'll need a big watch.
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'k, all i need now is the car.
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Be cheaper to get a Micra and then you could get everything else you need at The Edinburgh Woollen Mill.
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the smell of the incontinence pads puts me off in there.
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Yeah, fair enough, good point.
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Benefits of privacy glass - Lygonos
