Windsor Locks shop · By appointment · Mobile detailing across Hartford County
Your car gets the lab treatment. Tint, coating, detail.
Window tint and ceramic coating at the shop on Halfway House Road in Windsor Locks, two minutes from Bradley. Detailing still comes to you — we bring the water, the power, and a documented process, so you don't lose your Saturday.
Owner-operated · Connecticut LLC, insured · Fixed price agreed before we start · Shop tint & coating, mobile detailing
$169+Carbon tint, installed
Shop + mobileWindsor Locks · Hartford County
LLC & insuredCertificate on request
Lifetime filmManufacturer warranty*
Window tint · Windsor Locks · by appointment
Tint that stops the heat, not just the light.
This is what the shop is for. Film goes on indoors in a clean, still bay — one car
at a time, never in a driveway — in United Auto Film, cut and fitted to your glass. Every price
below is the whole car, and it's the price you pay.
Carbon
$169 and up
The honest everyday film. Kills glare, adds privacy, and it's colour-stable — it will never turn purple on you.
Matte, non-reflective finish
No signal interference
Blocks glare and UV
Same fit and finish as ceramic
Lifetime film warranty
Worth it if the car lives outside
Ceramic
$269 and up
Same look, far less heat. Ceramic blocks much more of the infrared that turns a parked car into an oven.
Everything carbon does
Much more heat rejection
Cooler cabin, less A/C
Easier on kids and pets in summer
Lifetime film warranty
Not sure which? If you park outside at work or the
car bakes in a driveway, ceramic pays you back every August. If you mostly want glare gone and privacy up,
carbon is a solid film and I'll happily fit it.
Whole car
Cut and fitted, every window.
Vehicle
Carbon
Ceramic
Coupe, 2 door
$199
$329
Sedan, 4 door
$229
$359
Truck, 2 door
$169
$269
Truck, 4 door
$229
$359
SUV, 5 window
$259
$389
SUV, 7 window
$289
$439
Part of a car
Matching the fronts, or just the strip.
Most people come in for one of these: two front windows to match factory glass in the
back, a brow across the top of the windshield, or a clear ceramic windshield that cuts the heat
without changing how the car looks.
Job
Carbon
Ceramic
Front two windows
$99
$149
Windshield brow / visor strip
$49
$69
Sunroof or panoramic roof
$69
$99
Full windshield
—
$249
Removing old tint, one window
$30
Removing old tint, whole car
$149 · 20% off when we re-tint the same day
Rear glass with defroster lines
+$40 — it comes off slowly or it doesn't come off at all
The appointment
Four steps, no surprises.
Text me photos
Shots of the car and the windows you want done. You get a firm price back, usually within the hour on a working day.
Pick your slot
Appointment only, one car in the bay at a time. Most cars are in and out the same day.
Film goes on indoors
Glass cleaned and decontaminated, film cut to your windows and fitted. The manufacturer's label goes on every window I tint.
Windows up for a few days
You'll see a little haze while the mounting solution dries. It clears on its own. I register your warranty the same week.
The law, plainly
Legal tint is the default here. If you want darker up front, I'll tell you what it costs you at a traffic stop before anything gets cut.
Front side windows: 35% or lighter
Behind the driver: darker is allowed, with both side mirrors on the car
Windshield: a strip above the AS-1 line only
The film maker's label goes on every window I tint
Medical exemption? Bring the paperwork and I'll work to it
In writing
What the warranty covers
The film carries a lifetime manufacturer warranty. Here's the honest shape of it.
New tint looks slightly cloudy while the mounting solution dries out. That's normal and it clears on its own.
Leave the windows up for 3–5 days
Haze and small water pockets fade as it cures
Sun speeds it up; a cold week slows it down
Clean with anything ammonia-free, once it's cured
Still seeing something after two weeks? Come back
Tint is booked by phone for now — call or text
(203) 592-9589, or send photos through the
free photo quote and you'll get a number and the first
slot I have. Ceramic coating and detailing are further down the page.
Recent work
We'd rather show you than tell you.
Real customer vehicles, shot on a phone in real driveways. No stock photos, no borrowed cars.
BeforeAfter
Volvo, full interior. Same seat, same angle, one afternoon apart. Every piece of debris out of the cabin, carpets vacuumed down to the nap, console and dash cleaned.
Acura TLX A-Spec — mid-wash, foam still lifting grit off the bumper.
Iron decontamination working. The purple is embedded iron — rail dust, industrial fallout, brake dust — dissolving out of the clear coat. Soap never touches it.
Not a range, not "starting from" — the actual price for your actual car, usually within the
hour on a working day. We quote off what we can see rather than what you had to remember to
mention, which is why the number doesn't move afterwards.
Works for tint too — send the same photos, say which windows you want done, and
you'll get the film price and the first appointment I have. No account, no card, no mailing list.
If the answer is "your car doesn't need that yet", you'll get that answer too.
What to send
Front three-quarterStand at the front corner so one side and the
whole front are in frame.Rear three-quarterThe opposite corner. Between the two we see every
panel on the car.Inside, from the open doorDriver's side, shooting across. Seats,
carpet and console in one frame.Whatever bothers youThe scuff, the stain, the swirls. Close, in
daylight, at an angle to the sun.
Daylight, not a garage. Swirls and water spots are invisible under
fluorescent light and obvious in the sun. If you can only shoot at night, say so and we'll
quote conservatively rather than optimistically.
Got it.
Reference —. We'll come back with a real number — usually
within the hour Monday to Saturday, first thing if you sent this overnight.
Want it faster? Call or text (203) 592-9589
— the same photos by text work just as well.
Packages
Three services. Every price published.
Exterior, interior, or both. What's in the base price is the work every car needs — the work only some cars need sits on the add-on menu with its own price and its own time, so you're not quietly paying for someone else's pet hair. If the paint itself needs fixing, that's the restoration menu.
Exterior Detail
$109 sedan
Outside only. Hand washed, dried and protected properly.
Interior work scales with seats. Exterior work scales with panel area. They're different curves, which is why there are four rows rather than a vague "SUVs cost more".
Vehicle
Exterior
Interior
Full Detail
You save
Sedan or coupe
$109
$169
$259
$19
SUV, 5 seats
$125
$185
$279
$31
SUV, 7 seats / 3-row
$135
$205
$305
$35
Truck or van
$139
$219
$325
$33
These are the prices, not starting points to be negotiated upward. A car in unusual condition — heavy pet hair, smoke, years of neglect — gets re-quoted on arrival, before anything is touched, and you can walk away with the deposit back. The number never moves after the work is done.
Add-on menu
The work only some cars need.
Every one of these used to be buried in the package price, which meant the person whose carpets were fine was paying to shampoo somebody else's. Now each has a price and a time. Add them when you book, or decide with us on the driveway.
Shampoo & hot-water extraction
$99
1 hour · Carpets and cloth seats, agitated and pulled back out. The one that actually resets an interior.
Leather clean & condition
$79
45 min · pH-correct clean, then conditioned. Slows the cracking that starts on the driver's bolster.
Stain removal
$79
1 hour · Targeted work on specific marks. Old dye transfer and bleach are usually permanent — we'll say so before charging you.
Pet hair removal
$69 +
45 min · Woven-in hair is a separate job from vacuuming. Heavy cases quoted on sight.
Iron decontamination
$69
45 min · Dissolves embedded iron out of the clear coat — rail dust, industrial fallout, brake dust. Soap never touches it.
Clay bar
$69
45 min · Lifts the bonded grit iron decon leaves behind. Take both together and it's $119.
6-month paint sealant
$69
30 min · Machine-applied, lasts a season and a half. The sensible default if you're not coating the car.
Ceramic spray coating
$89
45 min · 6–12 months of real slickness. Not a five-year coating and we won't call it one.
Engine bay
$69
45 min · Degreased, rinsed carefully, dressed. Electronics covered first.
Headlight restoration
$89
1 hour · Wet sand, polish, UV seal, 12-month clarity warranty. $139 as a standalone visit.
Restoration menu
When cleaning isn't enough.
Detailing makes a car clean. Machine polishing makes the paint right — it removes the swirls and haze that washing can't touch, because they're in the clear coat rather than on it. Different job, different menu. Every correction starts with a test panel we photograph and show you before quoting.
Gloss Enhancement
$349 sedan
One machine step. For paint that looks dull rather than damaged.
A coating locks in whatever is underneath it for five years. So the only question that matters is what's underneath — and most places don't tell you. Here are both versions, priced honestly, with what's actually included stated on the card.
Ceramic Coating
$949
Sedan. Wash, iron decon, clay, single-stage polish, then a 5-year coating.
For paint that's already in decent shape. SUV $1,049–1,099 · Truck $1,149.
Correction + Ceramic
$1,249
Sedan. Full two-stage correction first, then the same 5-year coating.
If the paint has swirls, this is the only version worth buying. SUV $1,399–1,449 · Truck $1,549.
Coating over swirled paint
Not offered
You'd be sealing the defects in for five years and paying for the privilege. We'll polish it first or we'll pass.
Headlights
Yellow to clear, in about an hour.
Wet-sanded through the grits, polished back to clarity, then sealed. The sealing is the part that matters — it's the difference between a fix and a delay.
Headlight Restoration
$139 / pair
Wet sand, polish, UV sealant. 12-month clarity warranty. Single lens $89 · added to any detail $89
+ Ceramic topper
$189 / pair
Ceramic UV layer instead of sealant. 24-month warranty. Added to any detail $149
Polish only
Not offered
Without a UV seal it hazes back within months. We'd rather lose the sale than sell you that.
How it works
Four steps, no surprises.
Send a few photos
Text or upload shots of your vehicle. We quote off what we can actually see, not a guess.
Get a fixed price
A firm number and a time window, usually within the hour. If the car needs more than quoted, you approve it first.
We come to you
Home or office. We carry our own water and power, so all we need is about 15 feet around the car.
Walk-around before we go
We hand the car back together and go panel by panel. Not happy with something? It gets fixed on the spot.
Service area
The shop is in Windsor Locks. Detailing still comes to you.
Tint and ceramic coating happen at 523 Halfway House Rd, Unit 9, Windsor Locks — two minutes off Route 20, right by Bradley. It's appointment only: one car in the bay at a time, so there's no point dropping in. Detailing is still mobile across Hartford County. Not on the list? Ask anyway — if you're close to the edge of it, we'll usually make it work.
Right around the shopWindsor LocksWindsorEnfieldSuffieldEast GranbyEast WindsorGranbySomersBloomfieldGreater HartfordHartfordManchesterWest HartfordSouth WindsorVernonNewingtonWethersfieldRocky HillFarmingtonAvonSimsburyGlastonburyA bit further outNew BritainBerlinSouthingtonEllingtonTollandCantonMiddletown
For businesses
Run vans? There's a contract for that.
Scheduled interior and exterior maintenance from $28 a vehicle, a named day every
month, one invoice on net 15, and a photographed condition report on every vehicle — so you
find out about the new dent from us rather than three weeks later.
Six steps. You see the exact price for your actual vehicle at step two, and it stops moving there — the deposit and the cancellation terms are in front of you before you agree to anything.
The shop523 Halfway House Rd, Unit 9, Windsor Locks, CT 06096 — tint & coating here by appointment, detailing at your place across Hartford County
Lead timeUsually 2–5 days out. Ask about cancellations for sooner.
01Service
02Vehicle
03Add to it
04When
05Confirm
06Deposit
Outside, inside, or both?
That's the only decision here. Everything else — extras, paint work, protection — comes after you've told us about the car, when we can price it properly.
Exterior $109 plus Interior $169 is $278. Together it's $259.
Looking for paint correction, a ceramic coating or headlights? They're all here — pick the
cleaning first and they come up at step three, priced for your actual car rather than "from".
What are we working on?
Size drives hours and hours drive the price, so this is where the number becomes exact.
Size
Your price
$259
Not a starting figure — this is the number for a Full Detail on a sedan. It only changes if the car turns out to be something other than what you've told us, and we'd say so on arrival, not after.
Anything else while we're there?
All optional, all priced with the time they take. Skip the lot and continue — nothing here is required, and we'll tell you on the driveway if we think the car actually needs one.
Inside
Outside
Iron decon and clay bundled — $138 becomes $119.
Your paint, separately.
Everything above cleans the car. This is machine polishing — correcting the clear coat
itself, removing swirls and haze that no wash will ever touch. It's a different job, it takes a
different day, and most cars don't need it. Skip it without a second thought if yours doesn't.
Your price
$259
Deposit to hold the slot is $40, refundable, and it comes off this total rather than sitting on top of it.
Pick a day.
Mon–Sat, from two days out. Sundays by request only.
And a window.
We'll confirm an arrival time the day before.
Where's the car?
We bring our own water, power and canopy. All we need is about 15 feet of clear space around the vehicle.
Pick a date, a town and an address to continue.
Who are we coming to see?
Straight to us. No mailing list, and no card details are ever entered on this page.
Enter a name and a 10-digit phone number.
Everything, in writing, before you agree.
Read it. If any of this doesn't suit you, go back or call instead — nothing is committed yet.
Refundable deposit
$40
Comes off your total — it isn't an extra charge. Balance of $239 due after the walk-around.
You get the deposit back if
You cancel or reschedule with 24 hours notice or more — refunded in full, no questions.
We reschedule for any reason, including weather. Always refunded in full.
We arrive, find something that changes the price, and you decide not to go ahead. You are never charged for a re-quote you didn't accept.
We can't reach the vehicle, or the site turns out to be unworkable through no fault of yours.
You lose the deposit only if
You cancel with less than 24 hours notice, or nobody is there when we arrive.
The vehicle is unreachable on the day — locked garage, blocked in, keys unavailable — and we can't get hold of you.
That's the whole point of it: a mobile slot is several hours plus travel, and a same-day cancellation can't be refilled. It's the smallest amount that makes a no-show hurt a little instead of not at all.
What could change the quoted price
Heavy pet hair, smoke odour, mould, or biological spills.
A vehicle materially different from what you described.
Existing damage that needs working around — we'll photograph it before we start.
In every one of those cases we stop and re-quote before touching the car. You approve the new number or you walk away with your deposit back. The price never moves after the work is done.
What we can't promise
Permanent defects: dye transfer, bleach spots, sun-cracked leather, etched paint, deep scratches through the clear coat.
Removal of odours bonded into foam or headliner — improvement, yes; elimination, not always.
Price. The figure above is an estimate. If the car needs more than the booking said, we quote you the new number on arrival — you approve it or take your deposit back in full. The price is never changed after the work is done.
Deposit. Comes off your total, never added on top. Refunded in full with 24 hours notice, if we reschedule for any reason including weather, if you decline a re-quote, or if the site can't be worked. Forfeited only for a same-day cancellation or a no-show.
Condition. We photograph the car on arrival. We're not responsible for pre-existing damage — failing clear coat, chips, dents, rust, previous bodywork, brittle trim or aftermarket parts — some of which can worsen under normal detailing through no fault of ours. If we see a real risk we stop and ask you first.
Results. Correction reduces defects, it doesn't resurface the car: roughly 50–60% of light swirling in one stage, 80–90% in two. Anything deeper than the clear coat needs paint. Some stains and odours are permanent. Paint has a finite thickness and we stop while it's still safe to stop.
Belongings. Please empty the car, child seats included. We're not responsible for items left inside.
Damage. We're insured. If we damage something you'll hear it from us first and it gets covered. Report anything you think we caused within 48 hours. Our liability is limited to what you paid for the job.
Law. Connecticut, Hartford County. Version 1.0 — the version you sign is the one that governs your job.
Typing your name is your signature. We record the agreement version, your name, the date and time, and the IP address it came from. Your confirmation email is your copy.
Please agree to the Service Agreement and sign with your full name.
No card details are entered on this site. We send a secure payment link after we confirm your slot.
Hold the slot.
Paid here on this page — you are not sent anywhere else. Refundable under the terms you just agreed.
Refundable deposit
$40
Comes off your total. Balance of $239 due after the walk-around.
Setting up secure payment…
Payment could not be completed. Nothing has been charged — try again or call us.
Card details go straight to Stripe and never touch our servers. We only ever see the last four digits.
Booked.
CAL-000000
Deposit received and your slot is held. We'll confirm the arrival window by text the day before.
A Stripe receipt is on its way to your email. Send us the summary below too if you'd like it on record — and text photos of the vehicle any time, they help us come prepared.
Your booking page
We watch the National Weather Service forecast for your town and
your exact time slot, and this page tells you the moment it turns. On the day it shows
how far away we are. It's also where you'll find your quote and your signed agreement.
No. The van carries its own water tank and power, so we can work at an apartment complex or an office lot the same as a house. If a spigot is handy we'll happily use it, but nothing depends on it.
How much space do you need?
About 15 feet around the vehicle — roughly a standard driveway or two parking spaces. Covered parking is a bonus in bad weather but not required.
What happens if it rains?
Light rain is usually fine for interior work. For exterior polishing or ceramic coating we'll reschedule, at no charge, to protect the result. We'll call you the morning of if the forecast turns.
Do I need to be home?
Not necessarily. Plenty of clients leave the keys and go to work. We'll send photos when we start and when we finish, and the walk-around can happen by video if you'd rather.
Why is it "starting at"?
A three-row SUV takes longer than a Civic, and a car with heavy pet hair or ground-in salt takes longer still. We quote the real number up front once we've seen photos, so the price you agree to is the price you pay.
You're new — why should I trust you with my car?
Fair question, and the honest answer is that you shouldn't take our word for it. So it's set up so you don't have to: the price is fixed before we start, the only thing taken up front is a small refundable deposit to hold the slot, and the balance isn't due until you've inspected the car with us. Cipher Auto Lab is a registered Connecticut LLC and fully insured — ask and we'll send the certificate before you book. If we damage something, it's covered and you'll hear it from us first.
Why is there a deposit, and can I get it back?
A mobile slot is several hours plus travel, and a same-day cancellation can't be refilled — the deposit is the smallest amount that makes that sting a little instead of not at all. It's $25 to $150 depending on the service, it comes straight off your total rather than being an extra charge, and you get it back in full if you give 24 hours notice, if we reschedule for weather, or if we turn up, find something that changes the price and you'd rather not go ahead. You only lose it for a same-day cancellation or a no-show.
What if a stain won't come out?
Some won't. Dye transfer, old bleach spots, sun-cracked leather and ground-in salt damage are sometimes permanent, and no amount of product changes that. If it's visible going in you'll be told before the quote, and if it turns up mid-job we stop and talk to you rather than quietly charge for a result we can't deliver.
Where does the tint get installed?
At the shop, 523 Halfway House Rd in Windsor Locks — two minutes from Bradley. Film has to go on in a clean, still, dust-free bay, so it's the one thing we don't do in a driveway. Most cars are done the same day. Detailing still comes to you.
How dark can I legally go in Connecticut?
Your front side windows have to let at least 35% of the light through. Behind the driver you can go darker, provided the car has both side mirrors, and the windshield takes a tinted strip above the AS-1 line. We fit legal tint by default and put the film maker's label on every window we do. If you have a medical exemption, bring the paperwork and we'll work to it. If you want darker than the law allows anyway, we'll tell you plainly what that means at a traffic stop before we cut anything.
Carbon or ceramic — is ceramic worth it?
They look close to identical. The difference is heat: ceramic blocks much more of the infrared that makes a parked car unbearable, and it doesn't interfere with phone or radio signal. If the car lives outside, sits in the sun at work, or you're in it with kids, ceramic earns the difference back every August. If you mainly want glare and privacy, carbon is a solid film and we'll happily fit it.
Acura TLX A-Spec — mid-wash, foam still lifting grit off the bumper.
Iron decontamination working. The purple is embedded iron — rail dust, industrial fallout, brake dust — dissolving out of the clear coat. Soap never touches it.
Acura ILX — mats and parchment leather, finished.
Acura TLX A-Spec — decontaminated, sealed, dressed.