Thought I'd throw both subjects into the same thread. Just because. In May we put over 4000 miles on our '23 RX350 PP. Family in Michigan, Scottish Deerhound specialty in Lima, OH. Then back home to the KCMO area. Home 5 days and headed for Logan UT for the Irish Wolfhound Specialty. Then home. We averaged 30 mpg for the trip! The Michigan loop had us at 29/30 mpg round trip. And the Utah leg had us at 32 mpg. Me thinks the vehicle likes the mountains. Or, maybe the unending straight roads, maybe. . Then!!! Going thru Rock Springs in WY we took a hit to the windshield. Rock Springs living up to it's name. Then, in Nebraska we took another hit, got another chunk out of the window. Argh!!!! Anyway, the car performed magnificently. Just rolled on down the road. Quite happy with the vehicle.

But!! ... on to the windshield. We have $100 deductible on our windshield. But only for non-oem. The online responses to OEM vs Non seemed to be fairly well balanced. With the installer being perhaps the most important piece of the puzzle. Had mine replaced, today. With non-oem. Looks great! The installer did a good job. Even showed me their calibration system, which is wild in itself. All looks fine. Except .... the HUD. The glass indicates it's made for a HUD, and it does work. But the display is squashed and elongated. And the colors are off. I know from my time as a printer, the squashed image generally means the glass isn't aligned with the "camera". Which leads me to believe the inside of the non-oem glass isn't properly beveled for the projector. The installer is sending out a tech to "adjust" it for me, tomorrow. Of course, there really isn't a lot of adjustment - up/down/tilt right-left. Unless I'm missing something. The installer is contacting my insurance to see if they'll go for OEM, with my deductible. The wife says just pay the difference. Maybe I should have just done that in the first place.

 

Yeah, sorry about that. When we got a chip repaired the safelite guy said if you ever need to replace a windshield, INSIST on having OEM because of the HUD, rain sensor, defroster “dots”, etc., and just pay deductible.

Hope it works out for you and they fix whatever’s wrong.

 

There is difference versions of the glass for OEM I know for sure, one includes HUD option the other doesn't. I would assume they got the aftermarket one without the HUD. As the HUD angle adjustable via the screen which you can do yourself.
Also if your insurance company gives you an issue about the glass, there Toyota document that states that for safety reason and for liability it must be replaced with OEM glass.

 

I did check, and had them check, to ensure it was HUD compatible. And it is. It's just not the correct angle, as far as I can tell. So yeah and no at the same time . As for adjustments, there is really only Up/Down/Tilt, as far as I can find. Are there more that I'm missing? Would love to see any docs from Toyota about OEM only, if you have a link, etc.

 

Maybe you can ask dealer it was official Toyota document with letterhead and it said due to safety only OEM glass is required to be used. What my installer did was call Geico with me, they of course wanted nothing to do with it. He got on line told them he had document from Toyota and that he was recording the call and that if they didn't approve OEM they understood they were liable for his clients safety. They of course switched it to another manager who gave same BS. Then finally someone came on I think we were at around 1600 for replacement they agreed to 1300, I just took it and pay difference. Let me see if I have it at all, but I don't think I ever got it back from him.

 

I did quick google this sounds like the exact wording from it, it was collision shop which would make sense on how he pulled document.

Toyota states that systems that could be affected if Toyota genuine parts are not used are the lane departure alert system, forward recognition camera system, dynamic radar cruise control system, pre-collision system or automatic high beam system. If an aftermarket glass is installed, there is the possibility that the black ceramic border may not allow the camera to see through it properly. In addition, the aftermarket glass may be missing the brackets necessary for mounting the camera.

Many of the newer models are now equipped with a forward recognition camera, which is part of the adaptive cruise system. When the windshield is replaced, the camera unit will need to be calibrated. A link to the front camera is found at the bottom of the window installation procedure.

To find the procedures in the vehicle-specific body repair manual, go to: Vehicle Exterior ➤ Window/Glass

Toyota/Lexus/Scion vehicle-specific body repair manuals can be found at: techinfo.toyota.com

 

Thanks for doing the research, John! Much appreciated. I'll show this to the glass company, and my insurance, if it comes to that. Hopefully not.

 

I did end up paying out a little bit, but nothing close to original amount in which Geico said they were going send me check for to close it out. I told them I proceed and email them final invoice, and they did come up but not 100% to cover it.

 

Please, never ever install aftermarket windshields. Better to accept a higher deductible! I've seen way too many issues in the glass—on my own car and on customers' cars. If someone doesn’t care about clear vision and prefers cloudy views anyway, sure, go ahead and save a few bucks.

 

TANSTAAFL. You get what you pay for. I need to replace the windscreen and it will be Lexus OEM.

 

What?

The glass itself is actually ok. Very clear, no real distortion. Except right where the HUD projects. The tech that come out today noticed just a bit of "something" in the HUD area. Which I guess makes it bad glass after all. So, we're going OEM. Which, yeah, I should have just insisted on initially for a Lexus. They're working it out with the insurance now. Then it's waiting for Lexus to ship them a windshield.

Kinda surprised no one has jumped on the 32 mpg for our Utah leg. We were quite pleased with that.

 

When I bought my '23 RX I added extra glass coverage. 6 months in I had a cracked windshield. Lexus glass with new calibration at Lexus dealer $3200. I paid $0..

 

I recently upgraded to a new RX 350h after owning older vehicles, the latest being a 2005 Avalon. Older cars all had a dark band at the top of the windshield and indicated "tinted" in the corner of the glass.
This new Lexus does not appear to have a tinted windshield. Is that because of the HUD feature and/or cameras? Older cars with HUDs still had tinted glass, but no cameras.. Thanks for any feedback.

 

A quick update. After just a bit of back and forth with the insurance company - nothing bad, just bureaucratic nonsense - we are getting an OEM windshield. Sometime. The glass company didn't say exactly what "dealership" they went to (we only have one in KC, so yeah, we know). But that dealership is saying it's on backorder. Which really doesn't surprise me. Makes me kind of think that even if we'd insisted originally on OEM, we might still be waiting on the windshield.