Broken windshield
 

Not five minutes into a trip up to the central valley this morning, a large rock smacked into my windshield on the freeway. I could not see where it hit as I was driving so I continued my two hour drive up north. When I arrived at my destination in Delano, CA, I found that the rock had struck at the very bottom of the windshield, out of the line of sight from inside. It left about a dime sized chip in the glass. I figured when I got back to Los Angeles, I would take it to the auto glass shop to which I have taken it before, and have the resin injection repair done since you really didn't see it anyway.

However, about 15 minutes later, when I returned to the car, I suddenly had a rainbow shaped crack extending across about 8" directly in front of the steering wheel.

I called my independent auto glass vendor, but he wasn't able to locate a replacement. So, I called Safelite, the one that advertises so much on television. They are coming to the house to fit a new one tomorrow at about the same price as the other shop had quoted if they had been able to get the windshield.

Has anyone used Safelite before? Any positives or negatives?
I'm not terribly unhappy I'm having to replace the windscreen as it had a couple of chips but the glass was quite pitted. I'm looking forward to clear glass again.

I've had Safelite perform small resin injection repairs in the past. Always prompt, professional, and excellent results. Haven't had to replace a windshield since the mid-80s so no experience with that aspect....

Is this repair fully covered by your comprehensive insurance?

Just make sure they know what they are doing, that they have replacement clips for the trim and they do not just rip it off, that screen trim is no longer available from Jaguar

Well, I was given a five hour window in which Safelite was to have shown up to change my windshield from 12-5pm. I was called by the installer around 10am and told he would arrive at about 2pm. At 3pm, I called him to see when he thought he would arrive and was told about 4pm, and at 4:45 with the sun setting quickly, I called again to inquire if he could still install in the dark if I provided floodlights. He said he didn't think so, but was coming anyways. At 5:20pm I called Safelite to speak to a supervisor to get a better idea of whether or not someone was really coming and whether or not I would be getting the installation. I was assured they were sending a second installer to help and quicken the installation. At 5:45pm when the first installer finally showed up, he realized he did not have the clips that go under the finish moulding and asked if I wanted him to glue the moulding onto the glass. I said no as if I ever had to replace the glass in the future, the moulding would be destroyed. The second installer never showed, and I sent the first one away.

I called Safelite's 24 hour number, hopping mad at having wasted a whole day and was told it was too late to get hold of the local Safelite franchisee to see when I could get my windshield installed and I would have to wait until this morning to get any information.

What an unprofessional, disorganized, unprepared company!! If it is not installed by 9am, this morning, I will cancel and find someone else.
Stay tuned....

I have no direct experience with Safelite other than through their ex technicians and have probably had more windshields replaced than the average bear. The comments I have heard is that inexperienced guys sign on with Saftlite and stay only until they feel confident and experienced enough to go independent. The other comment is that they use the cheapest Chinese glass available.

Obviously, these are not unbiased comments but neither are they mine.

Most paint shops have indy installers come by for glass work. That's who I would go to for a recommendation.

I have an indy glass shop that I love to use, he couldn't locate a windshield from his usual sources, which is why I started looking elsewhere. I understand that sometimes there are unforeseen circumstances that affect a schedule, however, no attempt was made to inform me that this was happening. I had to keep chasing them. We'll see what happens this morning.

First impressions should serve as the rule of the day in your case. Based upon what you said happened yesterday, I would find a more professional and better-prepared glass company rather than risk an improper installation with the local Safelite franchise....

The original manufacturer is Triplex (Pilkington Glass) and poking around some it looks like they have a distribution center in Phoenix, so not too far away from you.

Might be worth a call to them to see if they might know where you could source the glass itself and then have your trusted shop to the installation.

AGR Contacts

Sorry to hear about the breakage and the inconvenience of a wasted day.

Checking the Parts Manual, although all convertible windscreens are the same shape and would physically fit, there's a change in Part Number for those with rain sensing wipers when the aperture changed from triangular to round.

Attachment 67953

(click on the image to enlarge it)

This means 3 different patterns - 1 x non rain sensing and 2 x rain sensing. Worth a close inspection for an exact match with the old one before they start.

Graham

The metal clip no.3 is no longer available but replaced with a later plastic type, for obvious reasons, they rusted away!

The clips are fitted around the screen before it is fitted...... The US car here has had the trim glued in, completely knackered it trying to get it out, no clips were used, because of this the screen is actually about 6mm off centre...... not the best screen fitting in the world but maybe one of the worst!

Hey Ted--sorry to hear about your windshield experience. I have had windshield chips and cracks with a couple of cars as well as losing chunks of paint from wayward rocks and and this has caused me to get as anal about how I drive on the freeways as where I park my car.

There are certain freeways here that frequently have trucks hauling rocks. Similarly, there always seems to be a concrete mixing truck nearby. I have gotten in the habit of looking way up the freeway to see where the rock hauling trucks are and then make sure I am nowhere near. Still it is hard to avoid all the time.

With the windshields in our cars it looks like the rear view mirror is actually attached. So do the mobile window repair companies know how to deal with this?

Doug

This morning at a little after 8am, I received a phone call from the local Safelite franchisee telling me that he was calling regarding my appointment this morning. I corrected him by saying that my appointment was at 12pm, yesterday, and that there was no scheduled appointment today, but if his installers could be at my house before 9am, I could still do it today. He told me they were on their way and would be there in 15 minutes. Fortunately, they showed up soon after and began their work. They had a very difficult time removing the moulding trim as apparently some of the glue from the factory installation (or maybe a second install before I owned the car) had seeped onto two of the clips, and they could not separate the clip from the glass. But, they carefully bypassed those clips, got the glass out and then were able to remove the final two clips once the windshield was removed. New windshield was installed, rear view mirror re-attached, new clips attached and moulding re-fitted. I had known that my original windscreen was quite pitted as when you looked out the window, it always looked dusty and sparkly even after cleaning and was not clear at all. I am amazed at what clear glass looks like again.

And Doug,
I am used to lots of the trucks on the 5 freeway as I go up to our property in Delano (north of Bakersfield) often. In fact, I had another window chip and a big paint chip on a previous trip that caused me to respray the front clip a couple of months ago. This rock came out of nowhere as I was on the 405 between Sherman Way and Roscoe.

XKRacer,
Thank you for the information on the clips. I was able to instruct them about what to expect, and they brought bigger, sturdier new clips that are universal in fitment, so they worked very well. Your post was invaluable.

Finally, because of their acknowledged screw up, Safelite took off their $25.00 trip charge plus threw in a pair of $25.00 windshield wipers at no charge. And while that didn't make up for 6 wasted hours, it was the gesture that counted.

Hopefully, this windshield will last me a long time.
Thanks to everyone who responded with advice. I appreciate it.
Ted

Thanks for posting the result. Sounds like Safelite tried to make amends for their mistakes yesterday and you ended up pleased with the outcome.

Always good to know how these things end.

Graham

Believe it or not!
 

So, as I previously posted last Sunday, I had my windshield replaced last Saturday after a rock cracked it last week. Four short days later on Wednesday, while traveling on the 101 Freeway in Universal City, a small pebble bounced up and hit my windshield about 2" in from the A pillar on the driver's side, causing a pea sized chip along with a crack of about 3/4". Seeing the crack, I feared that I would be buying a new windshield after only 4 days. I called Safelite back, (this time asking them to call me 15 minutes before they arrived so that I didn't have to wait for 6 1/2 hours as I previously did), and they concluded that they could do the resin fill and repair the glass as opposed to replacing it. The installer repaired it with the crack disappearing altogether but with a small spot of about an 1/8" still visible almost like a water spot. I was charged $50.00.

The repair saved me from having to purchase another windshield at about $250, the repair was reasonable in both price and outcome, so I guess I'm pleased. But I only got to enjoy my clear, unpitted glass for just 4 days.

I hope that's the end of your bad luck.

Graham

Watch that area. If it is indeed a crack rather than a just a stone chip, it may return and spread....

Don't feel too bad. Back in the 80s, my wife broke two windshields in two days....

I am surprised you had to pay anything for a resin fill. My insurance, despite my $500 glass deductible, covered two repairs for free. I think the high cost of a possible glass replacement makes them look at the small cost for a resin fill and just cover it.

sorry to hear your plight but glad it is resolved. Thankfully - insurance in SC covers all glass repairs at no cost to the owner - would hate to have to pay. They even cover sunroofs.

The one thing I really hate the most is cosmetic issues that quickly return. I realize the windshield is safety rather than cosmetic but this seems to be one of those karma things that happen to me on a too frequent basis. Case in point. I, like most (or maybe more than most) go to great lengths to avoid dings and scrapes whenever we get a new car (which is not all that often). The first blemish is always a heartbreak and as small as it might be it always calls attention to me.

My wife and I managed to keep our 2012 Acura TL blemish free for quite a while until she chafed the bottom of the front bumper on a curb (very common with the newer car designs). So I quickly called this local guy who works magic with bumpers (Amazing Bumper) who came buy the house and did the repair as good as new. I encouraged the wife to be careful when approaching curbs and that stuck for a while but in a couple of months she did the same thing. I will be arranging to have that taken care of when I get the chance.

But shortly after that she comes home from the market and I notice 2 small creases in the door--one higher up and one low but in line with each other. She swore she parked in an end space away from the next car but I suspect it was a cart or something.

Naturally now that I have lived with the bumper scrape and creases for a while they don't bother me quite as much but I expect that I will be taking car of those sometime. The hesitation is that the repairs will likely be short-lived.

Doug

While my insurance probably would have covered the repairs, several months ago when a truck lost a drive shaft which I ran over (that was probably the cause of my leaking steering rack), I called my insurance company (as I was also hit from behind by another driver), and while they would pay, it would go against my record as a payout which would undoubtedly result in higher premiums. For as little as the windshield and the repair were, I just don't even bother to report them.

Doug,
I'm very careful as to where I park, almost obsessive, but no matter where it is, someone inevitably pulls up right next to it, usually even closer than the lines would suggest. As for my wife's car, I just plain give up, I can't keep up with the amounts of dings, scrapes, bird droppings, scratches...I surrender.