hey does anyone know whats the difference between the lexus windshield and the aftermarket ones that cost like 3-400? cus i got my car 06, my windshield cracked in 09 cus of a rock hitting it on the highway, so i got the lexus one which costs like....1200? (insane) and now it cracked too.. i mean im on the high way everyday for 60 miles but yea.... sucks... shud i just get the 300 one? does anyone know if that actually makes a diff? in terms of....safety... or anything?

 

lexus all the way.

I had safelite replace mine with their "same as oem" crap on Friday.

On Monday a rock flew up crack it right down the middle. Not to mention it was malformed near the roofline so that when light reflected off, it look like cheap warped plastic.

They replaced it again with OEM today. case closed.

claim it on insurance man...thats what it's for.

 

^ Safelite glass is complete crap. I would never let them do my windshield.

 

if your car is equipped with rain sensors, i'd go with OEM lexus. just to avoid from anything else not working properly...

if you are worried about insurance, here's what you do (i've done this before w/ my insurance):

get back on the freeway, find a big rig (any), and get its license plate number. call your insurance and tell them you were behind this truck while driving and the stone came from that truck. this way you just pay your deductible to have the windshield replaced!

 

If you have rain-sensing wipers try to go OEM if you can justify the cost... Otherwise, they won't work quite the same... they will come on randomly sometimes when its not even raining, and aren't as good in the rain.

Other thing people complain about with after market glass, even a good quality one is that there is a bigger gap at the top of the windsheild then with the factory glass which doesn't quite look as good. No one else will notice, but it will drive you crazy.

 

Do you guys know how do I find out if I have the rain sensors? =T

 

Hard to explain if you dont have it but if you do then the second from the top setting on the wipers will say auto - and when on that setting the wipers will automatically come on in the rain.

Look in owners manual for specifics and compare to your wiper ***.

 

I have PPG glass and I have no problems. I do have the ever so slightest "waves" in the utmost top corners of the glass but it's something only I as the owner who sits in the car every day would ever notice.

The glass is never really the issue (unless you have rain sensors) so much as it is safelite doing a horrible install of the pillars/gasketing.

 

Got my windshield done by a friend in the business for $180. it's Pilkington windshield and some members here say that they make oem for many european car company and OEM lexus as well. Had it over a week now and so far so good

 

Safelite installed mine and im not very happy with it. There is some noticeable windnoise now. Not sure if its the glass or the install (they came out and installed another windshield after I complained). Also, they lost a bunch of clips that go along the bottom plastic shroud. The rubber near the top of the windshield was not installed properly as well. IMO use insurance and get OEM.

 

I don't know if it's important to you, but the factory Lexus glass is "Tuned" to block out frequencies in the normal human speech range, to make conversation easier at speed. I doubt any aftermarket glass has done such research.

--dennis

 

have a source for this?

 

if you can wait, im getting a ppg glass installed on monday. in mass, we get annual free windshield replacements so long as its a safety concern (generally if the crack is longer than a dollar or it blocks your view but if you get a crack, people just crack it more just cause). sadly for me, i argued with insurance and they refused to get me an OEM glass so i requested PPG (best overall reviews on this forum for aftermarket glass).

i'm ridiculously picky about my car so i'll let you know how it goes >.<!

 

What do you guys do to get cracks? I've had 10 cars and never have had any issues with my OEM windshields lol.

 

just go with the original lexus windshield and claim it with your insurance.