Least expensive windshield replacement?

[6716]

I could have kicked myself today ... I was loading some 10-foot-long boards in through the hatch (could have gone up top!), and when it was a little snug, I pushed the liftgate down to get it closed ... and looked up and saw I had cracked the windshield with the end of the board.

Dealer doesn't do it (called just to see how outrageous that quote would be).

$325 + WI tax for Auto Glass Specialists.

$200-ish through a junk yard.

Anybody here done it DIY? I searched, didn't find anything.

 

[meerschm]

I think mine was around $200 installed for a new one. earlier this year after a trip to W VA when a passing escalade threw a rock into mine

I called my insurance co and they provided a reference. (they should know who has good service and good prices)

don't feel bad, a few years ago I learned i should have anchored the basketball hoop.

I swear I have had four windshields on this. the first one changed I made them re-do, since it had a wavering right where you would see a half mile down the road.

so be careful about too cheep.

 

[fadyasha]

I dunno what brands you got there but when i cracked mine a few months ago I got one that was made in Thailand. Word of advice though it's not the same. First sandstorm I drove into the windshield was more or less totaled. There's sand spots (or whatever term you wanna use) all over the windshield now.

If i'm driving and the sun is in my face it's so frigging annoying you see spots all over. I'm replacing it with Original end of the month.

 

[dingle]

I had a windshield replaced on my old Honda accord and I think with tax and everything it was $179. I went with safelite. They came to my house and did it also. I have geico insurance and I also got a 20% discount just by telling them that's who I had my insurance thru even though I paid cash. I could've gotten it even cheaper but the closest safelite shop was an hour away. So if you have a safelite shop in your area I'd call them for a quote

 

[de3jr88]

Replacing yur windshield is something that should be left to the pro's. It is an essential part of your vehicles safety cage if you are in a crash, especially if you roll over. A cracked windshield is weaker in strength, but a cheap windshield not installed properly is dangerous. Usually, cheaper glass is thinner than stock glass. In western Canada, most replacement glass comes from Mexico but it is the exact same dimensions/thickness as original.

Plus consider the method and materials that the shop (or yourself) would use to remove and replace it. My experience is that a good auto glass shop (safelite, apple etc) have a viewing area so you can watch the tech do the work if you wish.

 

[MAY03LT]

Shop around! I used a local company because their price was much cheaper then the big name guys.

 

[6716]

Waiting right now for the windshield installer to show up. Here's what I think I learned in my search.

My bill is going to come to $250, I expect, and I am going to have a PGW (pittsburg glass works, I believe) installed here at my house. PGW & Pilkington seem to be split 50/50 for OE on the TB. As a note, PGW used to be PPG, changed names in 2010.

I could have gone to a salvage yard and paid $215 in total, but had to sit there and wait for four hours for glass that came out of a truck that ended up there.

I could have gone with another shop that came in at $210 for new, but they wouldn't say who the mfr of the glass was. "it's like OEM glass, y'know, I mean, for some vehicles, but I don't know for your vehicle, but, y'know it's OEM." OK .......? No.

I could have paid Safelite $325 to come to my house with non-OEM glass. This was before I was clear on the difference between the OE/non-OE manufacturers. I don't know what they would charge for OE glass.

I could have gone with ABRA using PGW glass for about the same price on as I am getting, but this guy could install today, and he was willing and able to fill me in on how to figure out what I had, and how to know what I was getting.

I found out that the windshield in my vehicle was already replaced once, and that it was Safelite glass. There is a stamp on the glass right above the VIN slot with SGC, in my case. Safelite is a manufacturer that also has an installation network. The guy told me the that he thought they had a reputation for using less than enough glue on the rear-view mirror hanger, and a lot of times the mirror came off and took a chunk of the glass with it. This is exactly what happened with my SGC replacement windshield that was on the truck when I got it.

It seems as though individual glass replacement shops can also buy safelite glass, and install that.

As for the rest of the glass on the truck, some of it is PPG, and some of it is Pilkington.

Windshield replacement forums seem to think a lot of the glass is manufactured overseas (China), and you can figure out whether the glass in front of you is made here or there by the DOT number on it, but nobody seemed to know how to cross-reference the number to the factory. So you could, if you knew, but nobody did, so I guess I can't. But supposedly it all ought to be up to spec by manufacturer no matter where it came from. If you believe what you read on the internet, anyway.

So ... the most I was quoted was Safelite, and that was not OE. Cheapest new replacement for (probably) not OE was about the same as salvage yard pricing. Middle of the road was OE installed by a local company.