Windshield Replacement?
 

out of curiousity, does anyone know how much a windshield costs for the 8??

my guess would be 400
why not call mazda or look up a repair guy in yellow pages

I just cracked mine, and waiting on the dealer to get one. I called over a week ago, they told me to bring it in Monday, which I did. They did the air bag recall and heat shield recall work, and were supposed to get three quotes on the front glass. The cheapest was $750.00. It wasn't ready, however, so I picked the car up the next day, and am still waiting for their call.

I asked a friend of mine who used to work for State Farm if such a repair went under the "comprehensive" portion of the insurance and would not enhance my risk of rate increase or worse, being dropped. She said not to make that assumption, and that it is better to pay out of pocket to reduce that risk.

Between my wife and I, we have 4 accidents in the last 4 years, 2 no-fault and 2 fault, so we didn't want to risk it.

Anyone else have any better numbers?

Yes I do...

My wife and I have had no acidents in the last 4 years...:eek:

LOL Sorry thought I'd try my hand at humor! :D

good one. :D

Our two no-fault accidents were pretty expensive, so we had to file. The two at fault accidents, there was NO DAMAGE, none, not even a paint scratch, to EITHER car in EITHER accident, but the scumbags each claimed "injuries" requiring us to file a report (both low speed rear-enders).

This is why everyone's insurance rates are so high, because of jerks like that.

It also doesn't matter HOW expensive a claim is, just the fact it is a claim counts just as much as a totalled car.

doc how'd you crack yours?

heat shield recall?

Must have been a rock, but strangely, I don't remember getting hit. After work one morning, I noticed a one foot crack right in front of my driver's seat view extending across to the A pillar.

There is a tiny chip at the junction of the A pillar and window, so I guess that's where the rock hit me. But I don't remember it.

The heat shield recall ("Dynamic damper recall") got sent out at the same time as the air bag recall. Some little piece near the stickshift I think. Here is a link.

"I asked a friend of mine who used to work for State Farm if such a repair went under the "comprehensive" portion of the insurance and would not enhance my risk of rate increase or worse, being dropped"

I have State Farm and had 4 windshields replaced in my trucks and had them repaired 4 times. My rates never went
up and I still get the 10% safe driver discount. I already got a chip right behind the rearview mirror on the RX8. The rocks love me. I love the SUV's and the Gravel trucks here.

I do think they make windows softer these days. I have a chip in my window and the car only has 1200 miles. My 15 yo car has barely a scratch on the window.

At those prices I'm glad Florida requires all auto insurers to cover windshields for all Florida registered vehicles. This is with no deductable. I've replaced a few in my day. Never had to pay a dime (except for what they nail me in the premium).:)

Had my 8's window repaired just last week. Damn Wal-Mart truck kicked up a rock or something and spider cracked mine. Repair was covered by insurance (USAA), but I'm still filing a claim with Wal-Mart to see if they'll at least pay back my insurance company. Man, that pissed me off.:mad:

We already got a letter from State Farm basically saying we were about to get dropped if we screwed up again, so I'm not going to chance it.

I have been through that before. After college, when I got several speeding tickets, State Farm dropped me. The "high risk" insurance you have to get while you wait for the tickets to fade away is quite expensive (or it sure seemed so to me at the time).

This car is a rock magnet. Wish I'd got the clear bra. My front bumper looks like the moon.

750 dollars???

When I needed a new windshield for my Firebird, I called around.
There are those guys who come to your house or work place and do it in 30 minutes, I call them "mobile" repair.

The alternative is to bring it to a special shop and they'll keep it overnight. They told me something about how those mobile guys do a bad job and that it will rain through or I'll hear the wind.

QUOTES:

Mobile guys, California Bay Area: $250 - $300

Shop (overnight), California Bay Area: $450

Then I went on a road trip to Vegas.

Mobile guys, Las Vegas: $170 :-)

I went for the $170 solution and the car was fine. Waterproof, "soundproof", just like new.

I doubt that there's a big difference between a Civic, a Firebird and a RX-8 when it comes to the windshield. I'm happy to learn and be corrected though.

-Peter

When I had my Windshield replaced in my Lexus IS300 it cost $770. I would hope the Mazda windshield would be cheaper. I went with a factory windshield because I wanted to make sure all the shading was still going to be on the window. I replaced my 3000GT's windshield with a generic one and it did not look the same as far as the blacked out areas.

Nat

Thanks for the info. I put a link in my post with the picture above to the dynamic damper (heat shield) recall.

OEM is always going to be more expensive, but may be the only option as this is a first year new model car, so the aftermarket glass folks may not have the correct windshields yet.

Good luck on your search.

FWIW, I had my New Beetle ('girl car') in Houston when working there back about 2000 and had the windshield cracked there. Think I was on 695? on the way to the dealer to get an estimate on repairs after someone helped themselves to my side turn marker lenses. My crack seemed to start about 10" from the bottom along the driver's side of the glass edge. Iit seemed to me like there were a whole lot more cracked windshields on the roads in TX (Dallas & Houston) than most places I've lived.

Phoenix is really bad for windshields. in the last 8 years I'm sure I've had 10 windshields replaced between 2 cars. I have full glass coverage on my insurance with no deductible. oddly enough, that option added to my car insurance policy was very cheap. it's more than paid for itself.

I agree. My wife's Cabrio got a crack in it less than a month after we bought it. My father bought a Honda Element last year, got a crack in it a couple of months after he bought it, got it replaced, and now has another crack. Same thing happened to my Integra. Got a couple of chips a few days after I bought it. Then my neighbor's kid and nephew broke the windsheild during a rock fight. When I told their dad/uncle what happened he was cool about it and paid for the damage.

After I got the 8, my neightbor brought his son over to my house pointed at my car and said "See this car? No rocks!"

That almost looks like a stress fracture which would be covered under warranty...but since there almost seems to be a little crater it could be hard to argue that with the dealer.

If you have glass coverage on your insurance it shouldn't cost you a penny.

-Eric

Is there a kit that can repair half inch cracks???