The broken windshield thread
02-05-06, 02:01 PM
#1
The broken windshield thread
OK, how about we move it over into this one as the header thread lost track. My bad. 
Anyhow for those unfortunate enough in the future to have a broken windshield such as myself here is some information I came across while replacing mine.
I ended up with a rock traveling at light speed hitting my windshield which created a very clean 6" crack on the lower drivers side glass which decided to grow to over 14" by the time I got home. I have seen windshield repair before but normally they do not work on such long cracks and also as this was now in my face any repair would not be completed to my satisfaction. Once you know it is there, you will always look for it and find it, which would just drive me nuts.
So I checked around on prices and information on OEM vs aftermarket. I have had aftermarket windshields in the past and was deeply disappointed with the quality. The glass provided more distortion and just did not appear to be a factory replacement so this time around my very first thought was to go with a factory Lexus replacement which would run a tad under $700.00 my cost.
My other fear was not the glass itself but the quality of the repair as both inner and outer A-pillars shells must be removed. Rivets drilled out. Upper engine compartment cover removed along with wipers, and the visors with the forward head liner assembly taken off as well just to get to the windshield.
I found a place that told me that they would bring out a Pilkerton (which is highly rated) windshield for my inspection and if I was not satisfied then there would be no charge of course.
They brought out the glass and also to my surprise brought out a nice used Lexus OEM glass off another SC for me to choose which I prefer. This made feel pretty good.
I spent 15-20 minutes comparing the two and found the aftermarket and OEM were exact in every aspect, moldings and all. In fact the aftermarket seem to have better wire insulation for the lower wire.
2.5 hours later the windshield was installed. Only issue of course was that now some of the trim pieces have slight ,"dents" in them from them using a screwdriver to get them off. This was what I was stating earlier. It is very difficult to get a PERFECT repair nowadays. Perhaps I am being picky. Perhaps my expectations are just higher than what most people are capable of or care to perform on someone else's car. Either way I will be ordering up new trim pieces.
So the final price was $405.00 installed which is very inexpensive. My other option was to file a claim with my insurance company and after my deductible I would only have been out a little more than that. But after seeing the Pilkerton glass I am satisfied with the new windshield though not so much on the install. But given the quality of service nowadays in the world, I was not surprised.
BTW the local Lexus dealer have a glass person come in to perform their glass work.
Other options available is that most insurance companies will repair for free without deductible if the crack is under the size of a dollar bill.
Also, not sure of the newer 2006 SC's but the others do not have built in water repellent though the side glass is and works wonders.
Times like this I wish I lived in Florida. But in the end I have a nice new glass with no pits in it.
Lee
Anyhow for those unfortunate enough in the future to have a broken windshield such as myself here is some information I came across while replacing mine.
I ended up with a rock traveling at light speed hitting my windshield which created a very clean 6" crack on the lower drivers side glass which decided to grow to over 14" by the time I got home. I have seen windshield repair before but normally they do not work on such long cracks and also as this was now in my face any repair would not be completed to my satisfaction. Once you know it is there, you will always look for it and find it, which would just drive me nuts.
So I checked around on prices and information on OEM vs aftermarket. I have had aftermarket windshields in the past and was deeply disappointed with the quality. The glass provided more distortion and just did not appear to be a factory replacement so this time around my very first thought was to go with a factory Lexus replacement which would run a tad under $700.00 my cost.
My other fear was not the glass itself but the quality of the repair as both inner and outer A-pillars shells must be removed. Rivets drilled out. Upper engine compartment cover removed along with wipers, and the visors with the forward head liner assembly taken off as well just to get to the windshield.
I found a place that told me that they would bring out a Pilkerton (which is highly rated) windshield for my inspection and if I was not satisfied then there would be no charge of course.
They brought out the glass and also to my surprise brought out a nice used Lexus OEM glass off another SC for me to choose which I prefer. This made feel pretty good.
I spent 15-20 minutes comparing the two and found the aftermarket and OEM were exact in every aspect, moldings and all. In fact the aftermarket seem to have better wire insulation for the lower wire.
2.5 hours later the windshield was installed. Only issue of course was that now some of the trim pieces have slight ,"dents" in them from them using a screwdriver to get them off. This was what I was stating earlier. It is very difficult to get a PERFECT repair nowadays. Perhaps I am being picky. Perhaps my expectations are just higher than what most people are capable of or care to perform on someone else's car. Either way I will be ordering up new trim pieces.
So the final price was $405.00 installed which is very inexpensive. My other option was to file a claim with my insurance company and after my deductible I would only have been out a little more than that. But after seeing the Pilkerton glass I am satisfied with the new windshield though not so much on the install. But given the quality of service nowadays in the world, I was not surprised.
BTW the local Lexus dealer have a glass person come in to perform their glass work.
Other options available is that most insurance companies will repair for free without deductible if the crack is under the size of a dollar bill.
Also, not sure of the newer 2006 SC's but the others do not have built in water repellent though the side glass is and works wonders.
Times like this I wish I lived in Florida. But in the end I have a nice new glass with no pits in it.
Lee
Last edited by Pearlpower; 02-05-06 at 02:06 PM.
02-05-06, 10:44 PM
#3
good info there lee. so are you saying that your front windshields now have water repellent feature? i thought the front doesn't have it coz' it has the windshield wipers?
my gs400 also has a cracked windshield, but luckily it's only a little web and it doesn't grow (been 2 yrs). i plan to fix it some day but wanna wait till i don't have to drive long distance anymore. now i know where i should go
my gs400 also has a cracked windshield, but luckily it's only a little web and it doesn't grow (been 2 yrs). i plan to fix it some day but wanna wait till i don't have to drive long distance anymore. now i know where i should go
02-06-06, 05:32 AM
#5
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Originally Posted by Pearlpower
OK, how about we move it over into this one as the header thread lost track. My bad.
Anyhow for those unfortunate enough in the future to have a broken windshield such as myself here is some information I came across while replacing mine.
I ended up with a rock traveling at light speed hitting my windshield which created a very clean 6" crack on the lower drivers side glass which decided to grow to over 14" by the time I got home. I have seen windshield repair before but normally they do not work on such long cracks and also as this was now in my face any repair would not be completed to my satisfaction. Once you know it is there, you will always look for it and find it, which would just drive me nuts.
So I checked around on prices and information on OEM vs aftermarket. I have had aftermarket windshields in the past and was deeply disappointed with the quality. The glass provided more distortion and just did not appear to be a factory replacement so this time around my very first thought was to go with a factory Lexus replacement which would run a tad under $700.00 my cost.
My other fear was not the glass itself but the quality of the repair as both inner and outer A-pillars shells must be removed. Rivets drilled out. Upper engine compartment cover removed along with wipers, and the visors with the forward head liner assembly taken off as well just to get to the windshield.
I found a place that told me that they would bring out a Pilkerton (which is highly rated) windshield for my inspection and if I was not satisfied then there would be no charge of course.
They brought out the glass and also to my surprise brought out a nice used Lexus OEM glass off another SC for me to choose which I prefer. This made feel pretty good.
I spent 15-20 minutes comparing the two and found the aftermarket and OEM were exact in every aspect, moldings and all. In fact the aftermarket seem to have better wire insulation for the lower wire.
2.5 hours later the windshield was installed. Only issue of course was that now some of the trim pieces have slight ,"dents" in them from them using a screwdriver to get them off. This was what I was stating earlier. It is very difficult to get a PERFECT repair nowadays. Perhaps I am being picky. Perhaps my expectations are just higher than what most people are capable of or care to perform on someone else's car. Either way I will be ordering up new trim pieces.
So the final price was $405.00 installed which is very inexpensive. My other option was to file a claim with my insurance company and after my deductible I would only have been out a little more than that. But after seeing the Pilkerton glass I am satisfied with the new windshield though not so much on the install. But given the quality of service nowadays in the world, I was not surprised.
BTW the local Lexus dealer have a glass person come in to perform their glass work.
Other options available is that most insurance companies will repair for free without deductible if the crack is under the size of a dollar bill.
Also, not sure of the newer 2006 SC's but the others do not have built in water repellent though the side glass is and works wonders.
Times like this I wish I lived in Florida. But in the end I have a nice new glass with no pits in it.
Lee
Anyhow for those unfortunate enough in the future to have a broken windshield such as myself here is some information I came across while replacing mine.
I ended up with a rock traveling at light speed hitting my windshield which created a very clean 6" crack on the lower drivers side glass which decided to grow to over 14" by the time I got home. I have seen windshield repair before but normally they do not work on such long cracks and also as this was now in my face any repair would not be completed to my satisfaction. Once you know it is there, you will always look for it and find it, which would just drive me nuts.
So I checked around on prices and information on OEM vs aftermarket. I have had aftermarket windshields in the past and was deeply disappointed with the quality. The glass provided more distortion and just did not appear to be a factory replacement so this time around my very first thought was to go with a factory Lexus replacement which would run a tad under $700.00 my cost.
My other fear was not the glass itself but the quality of the repair as both inner and outer A-pillars shells must be removed. Rivets drilled out. Upper engine compartment cover removed along with wipers, and the visors with the forward head liner assembly taken off as well just to get to the windshield.
I found a place that told me that they would bring out a Pilkerton (which is highly rated) windshield for my inspection and if I was not satisfied then there would be no charge of course.
They brought out the glass and also to my surprise brought out a nice used Lexus OEM glass off another SC for me to choose which I prefer. This made feel pretty good.
I spent 15-20 minutes comparing the two and found the aftermarket and OEM were exact in every aspect, moldings and all. In fact the aftermarket seem to have better wire insulation for the lower wire.
2.5 hours later the windshield was installed. Only issue of course was that now some of the trim pieces have slight ,"dents" in them from them using a screwdriver to get them off. This was what I was stating earlier. It is very difficult to get a PERFECT repair nowadays. Perhaps I am being picky. Perhaps my expectations are just higher than what most people are capable of or care to perform on someone else's car. Either way I will be ordering up new trim pieces.
So the final price was $405.00 installed which is very inexpensive. My other option was to file a claim with my insurance company and after my deductible I would only have been out a little more than that. But after seeing the Pilkerton glass I am satisfied with the new windshield though not so much on the install. But given the quality of service nowadays in the world, I was not surprised.
BTW the local Lexus dealer have a glass person come in to perform their glass work.
Other options available is that most insurance companies will repair for free without deductible if the crack is under the size of a dollar bill.
Also, not sure of the newer 2006 SC's but the others do not have built in water repellent though the side glass is and works wonders.
Times like this I wish I lived in Florida. But in the end I have a nice new glass with no pits in it.
Lee
I live in Florida and understand the problems with replacing broken glass. Here, insurance hs to pay for a new windshield with no deductable. I had the glass replaced three times because the glass guys had no idea how to do the job. Door pillars were loose and inside window molding rattled because the clips had broken. Finally got the insurance company to let me use a buddy who owns a body shop to do the work and the car looks almost perfect.
02-06-06, 01:40 PM
#6
Lexus Champion
Lee, I can simpathize as I replaced my windshield 3 years ago. I insisted on OEM glass and my deductable was $200 on an $800 repair. Had it done at my Houston dealer who farmed it out to a highly rated mobile craftsman who did it at the dealership (Sterling McCall). There is no evidence of replacement on my car nor are there any rattles or wind noise. Got lucky I guess and was a first rate install. Sorry that you have gone through this headache.
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