Now it's foggy all the time

Ouch, that suck...

note to self - only use windex on windows, never anything else

 

WOW... $1,100 sounds excessive, even for CA. In driving my 04 home about 250 miles, a truck flung a stone into my original windshield and produced a small crack unrepairable with silicone, so I had it replaced with an OEM (Toyota brand) windshield. The TOTAL bill was $645 of which I paid $50 (my glass breakage deductable).

Don't know about your insurance coverage, but have you considered talking to an independent auto glass shop? I could have accepted PPG, but insisted on Toyota brand to maintain the "origialness" of my Prius.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Pinto Girl @ Oct 9 2006, 02:00 PM) [snapback]330109[/snapback]</div>

That does bite... Usually when stuff like this happens, I call my insurance co., is that a possibility for you?

 

ouch! and right in front of the driver's seat, of course. sorry to hear about that.

 

Over the years I've had four windshields replaced on different cars. Two of those were from mobile guys that did it in the parking lot where I work, and two were in shops. All of them turned out fine, no leaks, and good workmanship. I'd call a few places up in the city for pricing and give one a try if they are cheaper than the dealer.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Pinto Girl @ Oct 9 2006, 03:58 PM) [snapback]330182[/snapback]</div>

I seem to go through a lot of windshields, I've had the one in my truck replaced about 2 years ago, and my pre-Prius car the year before that. Both times, they came to our house, and no problems with leaks or anything else. These were PPG, not OEM-branded glass, but both seemed fine to me. The Prius has a big windshield, but other than that I expect it's not any different from any other car, and I'd hope it would cost a lot less if you went with a local glass company as opposed to having the dealer do it. I'd ask around, or start looking at the yellow pages.

My insurance company will also send someone out free to fix chips, in the hope the windshield can be saved and not need to be replaced, your co. might have something similar (not trying to rub it in or anything, but just for future reference). Good luck!

 

"I freaked out and tried to rub it out with (it sounds stupid even writing the words) a cleaning/polishing wax that I had sitting around the garage"

Imagine what that crap does to paint!

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Pinto Girl @ Oct 9 2006, 12:58 PM) [snapback]330182[/snapback]</div>

I doubt that the dealership does its own glass work. They must farm it out to a glass shop. Call your sales or service adviser and ask. If they value your business, they'll tell you whom they use. Then call the glass shop and see if they'll give you a better price, since they will not have to pay the dealer to act as the middleman.

 

I have full glass coverage on my car. The way I see it..I am paying for that glass coverage, if this was covered I would certainly use the insurance.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Pinto Girl @ Oct 9 2006, 02:58 PM) [snapback]330182[/snapback]</div>

I think it was darell that chimed in on another post a bit ago... apparently he had some problems with the glass and such... Maybe he could explain what to look out for?

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Pinto Girl @ Oct 9 2006, 04:58 PM) [snapback]330215[/snapback]</div>

You should call them and be truthful about what happened. Worst case is you pay to fix it yourself, which you were planning on doing already... I've of heard more stupid things happening, like a guy adding one of those cold air intakes that has an inlet low in the air dam to a car, and then driving through water and hydro-locking his motor, and insurance covering it, i.e., a new engine to the tune of 6 or 8 thousand. I wouldn't lie to them, but I add up the amount of claims I've had vs. the amount I've paid over the years, and I don't feel too badly about asking them to cover things. Good luck again!

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Pinto Girl @ Oct 9 2006, 04:58 PM) [snapback]330215[/snapback]</div>

I think that's the way to go.

However, you might try another glass place. I find it very hard to believe that you could do damage by hand (outside of rubbing sand onto it) that a pro with a machine polisher couldn't get out. They have more agressive polishing compounds like optical rouge available. After all, telescope mirrors are ground from very rough cutting grits then polished far smoother than our windshields with finer and finer polishing compounds. And a good shop won't leave a distored area.

Worth a couple of calls at least.

- Tom

 

i had a windshield replaced on my last car, and about a year later had a nice rust spot front and center above the windshield. and when it rained, it rained in the car onto the rearview mirror. but that was with one of those mobile deals, the guy comes to your driveway, etc. most dealers do not do their own glasswork, sort of like how most don't do their own body work. they send it out to another place to have it done.

beryl, i bet you do go through lots of windshields in raleigh! i hate the very thought of driving through there.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(richard schumacher @ Oct 9 2006, 01:31 PM) [snapback]330199[/snapback]</div>

Meguiar's says cleaner wax is supposed to be slightly abrasive in order to scrub (clean) off the oxidation and built-up contaminants on the clearcoat giving new wax a clean surface to bond to. Then again, waxes, such as carnuba, vaporizes in heat so it wouldn't have been permanent.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(galaxee @ Oct 9 2006, 05:42 PM) [snapback]330241[/snapback]</div>

My commute on I-40 claimed them -- lots of construction and lots of trucks with Keep Back 200 ft signs on the rear that like to weave in traffic, and to not use those cover things. Never understood why license plates on the rear aren't required here; I've never seen a dump truck that had one.

I think (hope) the Prius will fare a bit better, since the sloping windshield seems to deflect things a bit better than a relatively straight up windshield on a truck or an old Volvo.

 

Wow. Really sucks! However... I'm having a heck of a time understanding how a product that you would run on by hand (and made for paint!) could possibly scratch glass deep enough where it could not be polished out by machine with a proper glass polish. I've seen some horrible glass brought back to usefulness that was initiall sand blasted all to hell. Can you give a product name of what you used to rub in there?

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Pinto Girl @ Oct 9 2006, 12:58 PM) [snapback]330182[/snapback]</div>

Well, from my extensive (unfortunately) experience with glass replacement, this is just BS. They guys who know what they're doing just don't have leak problems. The replacement is put in the same way as the original was put in. Clean, glue, slap the glass on.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(eagle33199 @ Oct 9 2006, 01:57 PM) [snapback]330212[/snapback]</div>

Yeah, I had problems with the optical perfection of after market glass. I'd stick with OEM if possible. I was trying to do something fancy (get a shade at the top) and now wish I'd just gotten the OEM and used a film tint strip like I had before my replacement bonanza began.

Best of luck to you!