LOL. never been to texas but assuming by what you said i would not want to. BTW no chips on the windshield for me. i live in the city of Los Angeles. oh and we have some pretty bad potholes too

 

People in the greater Houston (or should I say, the not so great) area don't give a damn about other peoples cars. People think nothing of rolling a shopping cart into your car, or rather I should say letting it roll into your car while they watch. Opening their door into yours and looking at the dent, and thinking to themselves, "Ooh, what a poor pity for this person whose door I just bashed.".

Ever notice how Fort Bend county is THE most popular county broadcasted on all of the Houston area TV news for the worst things that can happen in a city? Newcomers to the area would equate Fort Bend to Falluja! No offense to Fort Bend Co., residents, but that's what the news constantly shows.

Anyway, unless you're just dying to come live in Houston's oppressive heat and humidity along with the nation's worst drivers, don't come here unless you have a job offer that will allow you to trade your Lexus in every six months. I'm being harsh, but truth is, people here really don't care about each others vehicles unless you park next to someone that has a nice vehicle and then it's still questionable.

Old Oiler

 

Angle as in steep rake or not steep? Reason why I question that is because I have cars that have much steep rake winshields than most any car out there and while I have had many rocks hit my windshield they have never cracked the windshield yet. This is on a 1992 car at that. Or do you mean it is more upright so the inpact is more diract?

 

Aaaahhh, rock chips... seems to be happening to me A LOT recently. A very nice sounding one came at my windshield *PAAACK!* about a year ago... it chipped and has a very small line (about 1/2 cm.), but never spread.

Then about 4 months ago, *PAAACK!*, damn rock hits my roof. Sounded like huge damage, but when I got home, just a nice nick, no dent. Still sucks though!

A week ago, I see this black thing coming towards my windshield (thought it was one of those bumble bees), but no... *PAAACK!* I matched the sound with a word starting with "F". Another chip on the shield, but not as bad as the first, and no crack lines on this one.

A few days after that, another one, but more of like *PIIICK*. Said to myself, I'm not surprised!?! Have no idea where this one hit, as no visible chips were spotted.

I remember driving our '95 Accord from AZ to CA to ship to Maui; passing a rig, a small, but obviously very powerful pebble hit and that baby starting splitting to about 6"... Quality issue? Force issue? Who knows... I won't even get started on the bumper & hood chips...

 

my friend's is250 also has a crack... it's pretty bad...

 

Is there no product that you can put on your windshield to protect it? Like some kind of thin clear plastic layer? If there's a clear bra for the bumper and hood, there should be something for the windshield.

 

I think the problem one would experience is that some sort of cover or film for the windshield would pit from the constant road sand, etc. and become very blurry due to the softness of it, from the fact that it would have to conform to the curvature of the windshield.

I'm not saying it can't be done, it's just that I don't know of anything yet. Not that I'm an expert anyway.

Check out www.griotsgarage.com this guys got everything. I've not seen anything for the windshield yet.

Old Oiler

 

I did a quick google search for windshield protectors and a bunch come up. Basically they are what I was thinking, some kind of film you put on the windshield. I wonder if anyone has tried any of them? Seems like a no brainer if they actually work. I'm getting my car (hopefully) in the next week, so I'd like to figure out the best products to have installed to protect the paint, headlamps, and windshield.

 

All very true statements. I'm new to the area, but have lived here before in my younger days. Many Houstonians drive nice vehicles, but there are also those that don't have nice vehicles, and love nothing more than to put a dent into a nice one.

I actually make it a point to get to my downtown office at 7:15 am sharp, no sooner and no later. If I leave home sooner, I have to contend with the roughnecks that are missing out on overtime because they are hung over at 6AM and driving their Ford F350s like mad men to get to work.

If I leave home any later, then I have to contend with the parking lot that is 288 north.

When I get to my parking garage, I go to the lowest level and park with a wall on the passenger side and a concrete pillar on the driver's side to avoid door ding damage. However, I do know that jealous individual could key my car at any given time.

 

You "hit the nail right on the head"! People will bash your car just because they don't have one. We really do live in a sad society.

Take care,

Old Oiler,

BTW, my office is in downtown also, but I take a bus.

 

I think we're on to something guys, we need to get a loan and invent this windshield protection material and were on a way to the millions$$$$$$$$!

 

^^^^ read 3 posts above yours, and your invention idea is crushed. sorry.

as for the "weak" glass that lexus is supposedly using; i have 14,000 miles on my lexus and not even a single rock has hit the window. do you know why? because i keep a safe distance.

one last word.

our lexus's are not tanks. rock chips happen on all vehicles. in paint and on your windows.

Live with it, because if you get rocked (literally) you would have probably chipped the paint or starred the window no matter what you were driving at that exact moment (other than a tank).

 

I feel your pain and that is EXACTLY why I am not going to replace my windshield any time soon. I had a thread about this same exact issue. I got a crack in my windshield on Tuesday, got it appraised that night, was going to get it fixed Wednesday and got another dang chip! So, I learned from that point on that with all the driving on the interstate I do its going to happen, and I'll just live with the crack instead of throwing money at broken windshields.

I was told by my glass guy that Nissan and Toyota seem to have the weakest glass, whereas the domestics, and BMW/Mercedes seem to have higher density. I'll buy that the way these windshields crack.

 

Yall got the Houston descriptions down perfectly, people are crazy out here!!

 

Add to that the fact that the roadkill I dodge every day is outrageous. I could swear that I dodged a dead elephant this morning on the highway!!