Windshield chippings

[Richard Martinson]

So driving on the freeway today for about 150 miles minding my own business having my cruise set to 75 mph and a trucker decided to cut me off. Car did great in recognizing it and slowed down, but while I was behind him I noticed he was kicking up pebbles (I'm sure most of us have been through this before). When I got home I noticed about 10 chips or scratches (very small of course, barely noticeable, but I notice them) on the windshield. Question is... Does anyone have a solution to this other than replacing the whole windshield. They aren't bad but man, I just got the car..

 

[DCBStingerGT]

Sorry to hear about the windscreen chips @Richard Martinson , but i believe small chips can be fixed, i do not know who repairs windscreen chips in the US, but in Australia we have O'Brien AutoGlass Repairs, they also offer a mobile service to Home or Office.

 

[Bryan3.3]

Safelight Auto Glass repairs chips. They put an epoxy to fill them. Chip fills if not large turn out to be almost invisible. Check with your auto insurance too, it might be covered for replacement.

 

[SteveCo]

Anyone have to purchase a new windshield yet? I wonder if PPG or other glass manufacturers have geared up for these yet, or if they need to come from KIA at this point. We end up with a lot of road debris due to our full four seasons up here, so windshield shops do a brisk trade. OEM could be mighty expensive ...

 

[mldavis2]

Good advice here. My '00 Pontiac GrandPrix GTP had a simple HUD and the windshield was about double the price of a plain one. There is, apparently, some kind of invisible reflective film in the inner layer that allows the LED to focus and reflect back to the driver. And the windshield on the Stinger has some fancy curves at the top that will no doubt be more expensive to manufacture.

The glass repair people are your friends here. As mentioned, many insurance companies will pay a few bucks for sealing a chip. Almost all chips will expand and begin to crack if not sealed quickly due to thermal cycling. Get those chips sealed immediately! I heard somewhere (un-vetted) that a windshield for a GT2 (the only one with the HUD) will run close to $1,000 US. That's one reason I tried to order a GT1 but couldn't get it to my specs and had to go with the GT2.

 

[eflyguy]

They also sell chip repair kits, I've used them successfully on chips and small cracks. It's a thin, clear epoxy that gets sucked down into the damaged area, then you scrape off excess when it dries.

 

[mldavis2]

They also sell chip repair kits, I've used them successfully on chips and small cracks. It's a thin, clear epoxy that gets sucked down into the damaged area, then you scrape off excess when it dries.

I've never seen those. Might be better than a spare tire.

 

[Clearly Canadian]

They also sell chip repair kits, I've used them successfully on chips and small cracks. It's a thin, clear epoxy that gets sucked down into the damaged area, then you scrape off excess when it dries.

Which one do you use?

 

[eflyguy]

Latest one is from RainX, couldn't tell you what I've used before, they're all about the same but this latest one has a much better way it seals - uses a soft O-ring on the bottom of the main chamber. This limits the size of repair, but is easily reusable compared to the ones that use a sticker..

https://www.amazon.com/Rain-X-600001-Windshield-Repair-Kit

 

[Mach_Tuck]

i am also curious about the piece of glass in between the windshield and the sunroof. In AZ, i have had rocks hit that portion of the car, which usually is car body, ahead of the sunroof. This looks to be a piece of glass covering some sensors and such.

My bigger worry is calibration of the camera in the mirror after said replacement. Not sure as this is the first auto i have had with a camera mounted anywhere.

FWIW, my M3 windshield runs around $900 - $1200 depending on vendor and have never had issues with replacement by insurance. Even agreed to let the dealer do it at one point. A good argument for dealer replacement would be to explain the HUD and rain sensing and camera to the insurance and that dealer is best suited for the replancement.

I dont need the KIA logo on the window but it should be at least the same manufacturer.

 

[SteveCo]

Windshields take such a beating from flying gravel around here (especially in the spring) that glass coverage on an insurance policy is prohibitively expensive - so my windshield costs are normally out of pocket. I called my local glass shop and she confirmed the glass is not yet available - she has listings for the HUD, rain sensing, etc. variants, but no pricing as there is no available product.

Looks like for now the windshield would have to be OEM supply ($$$). Her recommendation was to pony up for insurance glass coverage for the first year, then check back in a years time and get pricing on replacement glass then.

 

[Weareblondi]

good info, didn't even think of that. i did like steveco has done for years. even to the point that i would scour the junkyards and pickaparts in ny for certain parts for my cars and just stored them for future use. my older brother had an aerocoupe monte carlo that he bought new, 3 months in, found 2 wrecked ones at the junkyard and grabbed the sloped rear window and trunk lid. the back glass was, used at the time, 2900 dollars. used! he ended up selling the car years later and made more on the 2 windows than he did on the actual car.

 

[Mach_Tuck]

Windshields take such a beating from flying gravel around here (especially in the spring) that glass coverage on an insurance policy is prohibitively expensive - so my windshield costs are normally out of pocket. I called my local glass shop and she confirmed the glass is not yet available - she has listings for the HUD, rain sensing, etc. variants, but no pricing as there is no available product.

Looks like for now the windshield would have to be OEM supply ($$$). Her recommendation was to pony up for insurance glass coverage for the first year, then check back in a years time and get pricing on replacement glass then.

Oh yes, i go through windshields yearly in AZ and most insurance co have reasonable glass coverage or its included in the comp with no deductible (like mine). however, they get you elsewhere...for instance my under-insured and un-insured coverage is exorbitantly high give our location close to the Mexican border. All other states i have lived in, these two were combined, not in AZ, get me for both.

@Weareblondi - i do the same with "pick a part" locations...always looking for hard to source items on my other vehicles. Bad thing is that many others do this as well so you have to be fast. Another bad thing is that most of these places know the values so they jack the price. For instance, seats for my 95 Jeep Wrangler are only marginally cheaper from a junk place than retail online.

 

[Weareblondi]

hey mach, true, but it might also be that jeep parts, no matter where will always be sought after. like tailgates for pick-ups. i tend to find where the insurance companies dump their cars, those places will take what is needed and then give the rest to local junkyards, etc. if you have any friends who are police officers, they usually tell you where the yards are.

 

[SteveCo]

I too love a good parts yard, but I don't think I'll be gathering much there for my Stinger, at least for for a few years ...

I called my insurance company and activated windshield coverage on the Stinger policy for now, and also lowered the replacement deductible from 500 to 250. I'll sleep a little easier with that in place, at least for now. The last BMW windshield I had replaced (for cash) made it about 10 miles coming back from the glass shop, when a cement truck heading the other way kicked up a rock and nailed it almost dead center. A crack shot up and hooked to the side, about 2.5 feet long (unfixable). Grrrr ....

 

[Mach_Tuck]

I too love a good parts yard, but I don't think I'll be gathering much there for my Stinger, at least for for a few years ...

I called my insurance company and activated windshield coverage on the Stinger policy for now, and also lowered the replacement deductible from 500 to 250. I'll sleep a little easier with that in place, at least for now. The last BMW windshield I had replaced (for cash) made it about 10 miles coming back from the glass shop, when a cement truck heading the other way kicked up a rock and nailed it almost dead center. A crack shot up and hooked to the side, about 2.5 feet long (unfixable). Grrrr ....

Oh i can relate to that pain...leaving the PPF place with my 2 day old stinger, same thing, a cement truck opposite direction, and sure enough, the "dark chrome" trim piece has a chunk missing from a rock...ironic too since the dark chrome trim around the front grill and lower bumper is LITERALLY the only thing on the front of the car that is not covered in PPF...go figure

 

[SteveCo]

Ouch! Did you get a price on a replacement piece?

I'm checking out local PPF applicators now, to line that up for after picking up the car. Do you mind revealing what you paid, what amount of body coverage you went for, and how that number compared to what the dealer wanted for the same job?

 

[jonaxx122000]

So driving on the freeway today for about 150 miles minding my own business having my cruise set to 75 mph and a trucker decided to cut me off. Car did great in recognizing it and slowed down, but while I was behind him I noticed he was kicking up pebbles (I'm sure most of us have been through this before). When I got home I noticed about 10 chips or scratches (very small of course, barely noticeable, but I notice them) on the windshield. Question is... Does anyone have a solution to this other than replacing the whole windshield. They aren't bad but man, I just got the car..

Ugh, that's the worst when a trucker's pebbles leave their mark on your windshield. It's frustrating, especially with a new car! Before considering a whole windshield replacement, you might want to look into windshield repair kits like the ones from Crack Eraser. They're designed to tackle small chips and scratches, and they can help make those imperfections less noticeable.

You can check out their collection here: Crack Eraser Windshield Repair Kits. It could be a cost-effective way to keep your windshield looking good as new.