I was on the freeway coasting along when all the sudden a rock from a truck up ahead fell off and hit my windshield! The point of impact was at the very top of the windshield and has expanded into a long crack. The crack is now about a foot and half, and I'm trying to find out what to do to get it repaired. My insurance company (eSurance) is willing to fix it, but I have a $500 deductible. I didn't get the license plate number of the truck b/c the crack hadn't developed yet when it happened.

What do you guys recommend? Fix the crack or repair the entire windshield (which is over $500)?

 

are u sure it is a 500.00 deduct , b/c that should be under your policy for vandalishm ... but check it out any way .... I know I have a crack on my truck and it is 250.00

 

You can't "repair" a crack that long. You'll have to replace the windshield. Get estimates from several auto glass companies before commiting to any particular one. You may find that it will cost you less if you don't get the insurance company involved.

 

Just had mine replaced.

True. If the crack is "longer than a dollar bill" it cannot be repaired and must be replaced.

My deductible WAS $500 for comp claims which is what I am outta pocket for the replacement. I have since lowered my deductible to $250 for a measly $27 a year.

Here is the best part. Dealer jacked me around and wanted to put in a damaged piece of OEM glass in my car. I said no. They said they'd order another piece. Never did.

Contacted Glass America. They said they would put in PPG after market glass which is "exactly the same as OEM". They came out and installed Pilkington after market glass telling me that "Pilkington bought out PPG" (hmmm...did someone open sardines?)

Anyway, the mirror would not tighten properly as the attachment stud was the wrong size.

They came out a second time after I insisted they install OEM glass. Mirror tightened as designed.

I dunno why I ever buy after market crap, I know better than that. Still cost me $500. Never again am I going to buy other than OEM parts.

My advice, BUY OEM glass.

BTW I have the Homelink Autodimming mirror.

 

got my new windshield for $420

diamond triumph auto glass i think is the name


and no you can't repair a foot long crack


you better believe my comprehensive deductible is now only 100 bucks! oh well, lesson learned

 

I would lower your deductible and then inform them *the next time* a month or so later that your window is cracked. You can definitely get a new OEM window cheaper than $500.

 

And just where the hell can you guys find a glass for so cheap? I live in Bellevue, WA, and the cheapest glass I can find is $450 from www.89glass.com -- apparently the Rx-8 glass is "special" in some way. Is it the mirror?

-jc

 

Go to:

http://www.windshieldrepair.com/map/wa.htm

http://www.windshieldrepair.com/

A rock damaged the windshield on my Mazda Tribute about a year ago. In that website I found the information from a local guy who was able to fix it, now I can bearly find the crack when I look for it. The total cost of repairing the crack was $50 here in California.

I imagine you would rather have it new. However, removing the current windshield and replacing it with a newone would never be the same as from factory.

 

I called around to local glass companies when a tree jumped off the back of a truck and hit my windshield. I got quote from $410 to & $750!! I took the $410 and I have the GT model (w/the homelink system).

 

Haven't had to replace windshield but have a star in it from a rock i suppose. Was so quiet when it hit but I knew what happened when i heard it. By the way, if it was a dump truck of some sort, you are to stay back over 200 ft. Some say it on the rear but some do not. Even if you would have gotten the tag, it would have been no good. A cracked windshield is the first sign of "tailgating". Your case would have been dismissed.

 

You've got a good point on "tailgating." Not that I'm admitting to anything, :D but all I have to say is lesson learned. From now on, I'll evade trucks of all sorts, especially ones with sh** in the back. I've learned something from all this. Comprehensive coverage and Collision coverage are two TOTALLY different animals, and each have their own deductible associated with them. I'm sure not everyone understands exactly what's on their policy (unless you file claims every other day), but you should definitely read your policy IN DETAIL. After knowing about all this, I called my insurance company and reduced my deductibles to less than $500 for future incidents; I removed underinsured motorist b/c it's actually covered by the collision coverage -- that saved me something. Overall, my premium went up by about $120 for every 6 months. I anticipate other crap happening to my car being that I recently moved close to Seattle, WA. (Note: the deductible for my particular claim is still $500 even though I made changes to my policy. If you do otherwise (like cancel the claim and file the same thing later on) you are commiting fraud, and that'll get you in trouble -- pretty much guaranteed! (they're not stupid! -- They are all masters at f***ing us over -- specially GEICO!).

FYI, in Florida, all insurance companies MUST fix your windshield (as long as you have full coverage on your own vehicle); however, I think that's the only state where that's applicable to. Moreover, most cracks are covered if they are smaller than the size of a dollar bill. (Note: driving fast, vibrations, and temperature fluctuations can increase the size of the crack!)

The have to special order a glass molding for me, and it looks like the glass will be repaired at the end of this month (August). Total cost if no insurance is about $560 (including the special molding which has to be ordered from Mazda). The crack in the glass has grown to half my windshield!

-jc

 

I agree with the tailgating behind dump-type trucks thing, but there are other things to be aware of as well. Other vehicles, especially tractor-trailers, pick up stones in the tread of their tires and throw them out at inopportune moments. So tailgating in general is to be avoided. Also, vehicles in the opposing lane in two lane roads also throw stones out as I discovered one day with a brand new Miata. Not much you can do about that, however.

 

Yeah, it's bound to happen even if you stay back. A small car in front of you with brand new tires could pick something up and fling it good enough to put a nice bulls-eye on the windshield. I apologize if I came across as an *** earlier bud. The funny thing is, just about any problem you can think of has happened to me including yours, just not on this vehicle.

 

Has nothing to do with them being stupid. Once you call them and make a claim they date stamp the claim. You can certainly cancel the claim and if you re-open the same claim at a later date, its not committing fraud even if you lower your deductible. They just use the deductible at the time you initially called.

 

how about this cracked window

 

I'm calling BS on this "special molding." Had mine replaced w/o the help of Mazda and haven't had any problems.