Originally Posted by Jim_Chow

The Toyota/Lexus windshields will crack if a rock strikes the windshield within about an inch of the edge. That area is under tremendous stress. When a rock hits far enough away from the edge, the windshield slightly flexes to absorb the impact. But near the edge, the glass takes all the impact. I lost 3 windshields in 3 years on my LX (each time, replaced w/ OEM glass). The first time, a rock hit about 1 inch from the PS vertical center edge and cracked about 1.5 ft long. The second strike was just below the wiper blades in the center bottom, again about 1 in from the edge. It resulted in a 12" long crack up the center. BTW, the first windshield cost $1K out the door. Exactly one year later, the second windshield cost $1.2K. Exactly one year after that, the third windshield cost $1.5K. At that time, the SM at the dealer said he just replaced a windshield on a LS430, costing almost $1.7K. That was 2 yrs ago, so I suspect a LS 430 OEM windshield to run $2K easy. BTW, you want someone who is familiar with the LS windshield to replace it since, like the LX, it has rivets on the side (unusual for a windshield). Many people on the LX/landcruiser forum have gone aftermarket to save money, only to find either their windshields leaked afterwards, the mouldings didn't sit flat and whistled in the wind, or in some cases, the installer had difficulty removing the old glass and scratched, bent the body metal around the windshield. The dealers don't do the installations themselves. Rather, they contract out to a glass shop that is familiar with their models. If you could find out which glass shop they use, you could probably save 50% on the labor (IIRC, the labor was around $300 through the dealer). But that's only $150 out of $1500, or 10% savings. The bulk of the cost is in the parts...$1K for the glass alone, plus mouldings, rivets, rain sensor, etc.