pringle

I got a chip in my windshield last night from a rock while driving on the highway. My insurance carrier, USAA outsources windshield repairs to SAFELITE AUTOGLASS and they are coming to the house tomorrow to replace it. Anyone know if the window is double pane? Opinions on whether I should have it done at the dealership instead? I assume it will be lexus oem... 2014 GS350 btw.

Polo708

I had to special order OEM. I have USAA and they used safelite for me too

SNiiP3R

iTrader: (3)

Dealer outsources windshield repairs as well.

The windshield has to be OEM, don't install if it is not. Before they do the install, ask them if it's OEM. Then make sure it has the Lexus logo on the bottom left hand corner.

Also, I would take pictures of your current windshield right now. You can use the pics later to check if the new windshield was properly seated. I've had nightmares with mine, so they had to redo it. So take a picture of your vin number, and then compare it after the install. You will be able to see just by looking at the vin if the new windshield is sitting too high or too low.

puckhead85

I had safelight repair my windshield on my old ES... never again. They didn't use OEM glass. What bother's me is the crappy install they did.

Joeb427

iTrader: (1)

Safelite is said to have the crappiest Chinese made glass.
If you must go aftermarket glass,ask for Pilkington or PGW.

pringle

Great, thanks for the tip. Is the Lexus logo on the passenger side or driver's side? I don't a lexus logo on the windshield now?

onexcite

The logo on the driver side. If not then they installed aftermarket glass for your GS. Ask for OEM glass.

pringle

Found it. It was hard to see as my registration sticker is on the same spot. Much thanks!

ronfsp

Does non original windscreen affect the HUD in any way? Anybody have any experience on this?

raytseng

well, are they doing a repair or replacement? Be sure you know the difference. All the posts above are mixing up the terms and talking about replacement when your OP is talking about repair.

If the chip/crack is less than the size of a quarter, you should do a repair. Especially if the chip is not in your direct line of vision and you aren't going to stare at it all day.

That is to all parties benefits, as it maintains the factory glass and seal, and is less costly.

However, repairs are similar to paintwork, and there is some artistry involved. You can get very very good results that is clear except for a pinprick with a good repair job. You can get a funny looking circle of waviness if it's a bad repair. Look on the web to see shops touting their skills and how different outcomes look.

Also, at least around me, a really really good glass place that had huge amount of positive reviews on yelp does repairs for only $40, and the results are very very good.

If you have concerns about safelite's quality, You may have to see if your insurance contract allows you to choose your own repair place, and they'll pay out the $40 for the repair. (Typically, you get to choose your own place for replacements, but the "free" repairs are a different story).
Or if you prefer to just pay out of pocket to maximize your chance for a better result from a higher rated place.

Who knows, maybe the safelite guy is good and you get will end up doing a good repair job

FishBike

After researching this for another thread, I found out that both the placement and the exact construction of the windshield do matter for the HUD. If either of these is off a bit, you get much more of a double image effect. I don't know if aftermarket windshields even have the right construction (which involves the inside and outside glass layers being at a slight angle to each other where the HUD reflects off them).

pringle

I should have mentioned that I hadn't made up my mind on whether I wanted a repair or replacement. I decided to consult with the safelight guy first and ask him if he thought it would look as good as new. He mentioned that it is largely dependent on the angle of the crack. If the angle is perpendicular to your line of sight, then you won't see it much but mine is not. Further, considering ours is right smack-dab in the middle of the windshield, after hearing what he had to say, I told him that I am going to insist on a replacement. I would rather pay the $200 deductible and get a new OEM windshield. I've used Safelite before to replace a rear window and the guy did a good job. Super convenient that they come out to the house.

raytseng

This doesn't have to be an either/or decision.

A way to think about this, which is what my repair guy recommended to me when going through this is you try the repair first.

Then if it isn't too your liking, then you pursue your options for a replacement down the line. (Whether you have to do some finagling or bending the truth of what happened with your insurance is another story).

It may also behoove you to consider how much of an increase it is reduce your glass deductible down to like $50. For me, it was relatively cheap, like a $15/6mo difference.
The way to crunch these numbers is if is a difference of $150, then it's 10terms to make up the difference in 1 claim. So if you see yourself needing to use this insurance once every 5years then you've broken even. (On the same note, if you don't see yourself using it every 5years, why are you signing up for it in the first place,?)

larryinWA

I had mine repaired. No charge. The dealer didn't do the work, they subcontract it out. After a couple of months, on a very cold morning, I had an 18" crack, that came from the initial repair, so I had the windshield replaced. With my insurance, it cost $50. Apparently many insurance companies won't replace with OEM windshields, unless you pay the difference, which is a lot of money. Allstate said that they would use OEM, if I insisted (which I did), as long as it's for a car that's less than 2 year old, or something like that. Got it done. Genuine Lexus logo, just like the original. So far, so good.