I have several horizontal scratches on the windshield. Can they somehow be buffed out or minimized.

2013 RX 350 6K miles, 12 months old. Traveled to Southern Utah and got some ice overnight on windshield. Carefully scraped off w plastic scraper. Now noticed several scratches when sun hits at certain angles. Last car (Highlander) for years in midwest with plenty of ice, never noticed marks like this. Also I have at least 6 small chips in windshield from usual road incidents with pebbles getting kicked up (seems this is common in AZ). In 7 years w Highlander I never had that many chips. Is there such a time as "soft glass" or "hard glass". I had sealed class w Adam's glass sealant ( I know that is not a protectant).

Thanks
Joe

 

To answer your question: maybe. A really good glass shop MAY be able to buff out the scratches--you need to talk to them to see what your options are.

Those type of scratches are usually from scraping ice/snow from a dirty window where the dirt contains some fine sand particles that get dragged across the glass as you scrape. Common problem here in Colorado.

Small chips from rocks/sand on the road is also common here & is MUCH worse in the winter due to the sand dumped on the roads by the various highway depts.

 

It is the angle of the glass and the slope of the hood creating the problem with windshield damage. Fortunately, the later models are better than earlier ones. My 2004 windshield was so badly pitted I went through wipers every 3 months.

The scratches cannot be buffed out nor filled. You can minimize them by keeping the outside clean with something akin to Bar Keepers Friend. Some people have used petroleum jelly on the scratches as it changes the optics of the scratch but that creates it own problems.

The only solution is replacement.

 

I had the glass on a 67 Vette buffed out and it looked like new.

 

Yep, it CAN be done, but I wouldn't be surprised if not many glass shops will even attempt it. First, it can be tricky, and some over-zealous buffing in a given area may change the optics, resulting in an unhappy customer that now has a weird spot in the glass to look through. Plus, replacing a windshield is more much profitable and has less risk to the glass shop.

IMHO, as a culture, we have lost those folks we used to call craftsmen. They have been replaced by novices who can't actually fix or build things, but are "experts" at removing & replacing parts & pieces. Sad.

 

There is a glass buffing kit available. But you need a power (air or electric) buffer/polisher to make it work. I have the kit for my home's sliding glass door - the dogs scratched the glass pawing at the door. I also used it on my glass shower doors to remove the etching.
I suppose it depends on how deep the scratches are.

Here's what I used: http://search.eastwood.com/search?w=...atch%20remover