Safelite repair, Safelite replace

Jeppo

Jeppo

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Seems their commercials work 'cause I remembered the jingle.

Mrs. Jeppo was coming home in the GMC Envoy the other day and a vehicle kicked up a rock. Put a nice deep chip and about a 4" crack in the windshield. I told her she needs to find another route home 'cause it was almost the same place she got rear-ended in her silly notso-Smart Car (which has been in the shop just short of 4 months). :(
  • Anyway, in the Triad area, is there anybody else I should use to repair or replace the windshield?
  • Anybody used them for a repair or replacement that can share the experience? Hard to imagine how they can repair glass but they claim it is possible if the crack is 6" or less.
 
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Iā€™ve seen them work magic on cars in the parking lot at work. Repairs and replacements. I;ve got a BB-sized chip in my windshield, but itā€™s not in the line of sight. I donā€™t have any direct experience.
 
There's a place in winston on Stratford near the mall that I've been going to . They're usually not much more than my $100 deductible.
 
Brian K said:
There's a place in winston on Stratford near the mall that I've been going to . They're usually not much more than my $100 deductible.
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@Brian K
You've had repairs done? So, repairing cracks in glass is actually "a thing"? I'm gonna eat this 'cause I don't want to submit another claim to Erie.
 
Jeppo said:
@Brian K
You've had repairs done? So, repairing cracks in glass is actually "a thing"? I'm gonna eat this 'cause I don't want to submit another claim to Erie.
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Not repair, replace. Had the front AND rear glass in the CV replaced for about $250.
 
I've used Safelite for windshield dings and full replacements. Great work and service in my experience.

If you have Erie they use Safelite for their glass repair program. Call their number on their website, schedule it through them, Safelite comes to you and does the repair in your driveway. You sign the papers and they leave no $ out .
 
Erie's glass repair line:

8005523743
 
The secret to the repair is to do it as quickly as possible. The longer it goes after occurrence the less successful the repair. They say that "trash" gets into the crack and prevents adhesion of the liquid they inject.
Last year coming back from hunting in KS I got a rock chip and kept driving back to NC. When I got home I took it to them (4 days later) they tried the repair, didn't work out and replaced it 2 days later...
 
Iā€™m really reluctant to file another claim with Erie, particularly for something so minor. If I ask Erie to arrange the repair, wonā€™t that be a ā€œclaimā€?
 
It's filed under your comprehensive coverage, not collision. Shouldn't affect your rates.
 
I've had a couple of "chips" repaired through our insurance which is Met Life. I used Pfaff's Auto Glass on Peter's Creek and they were fine to deal with. Met Life paid for it.
 
@Jeppo I've used Safelite for years for both my personal and commercial vehicles.

Always great service.
 
Usually auto glass doesnt count as a claim and sometimes doing it through insurance is free tl you because they have a service agreement with the installer. Safelite does good work and will come to you, they have done all of vehicles in the past.

Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk
 
In another life I did auto glass for about 15 years. I did work for Safelite. It's a big company and they have some of the big company problem- higher up guys never did the work so they don't know what is involved in it. All they could see were numbers and pushed for more units per day per installer. Had the regional manager come to our shop one day and he was trying to push the guys to work faster. My fast installer finally had enough and got in his face and said " Asshole, the only way I can make it faster is to glue the new on top of the old one!" . Top cheese pulled me into my office and start in on me about installers attitude. I stopped him and told him installer was right. I left them about two months later to go to manage a smaller glass company. So I am a fan of mom and pop places but some folks feel safer with a "big name" company.

To understand the repair, you need to know that windshield are two sheets of glass with plastic between them.Most times only outside she is broken.
Repairs are great on some breaks. The best is a bullseye kind ( in fact I think the first company doing it was called Bullseye, lol), stars are next, then a combo of the two. The worst are lines breaks.

Most systems us a vacuum to pull the air out of the crack and insert a clear resin back in. I is harden by UV and at best just leave a small blemish. To me this is fine if not in my main line of sight ( at one time you could not repair in a 8x10 inch box in drivers vision area). Repairs are great to keep from having to come out of pocket for a deductible.

If you do use Safelite, demand the same maker of glass that you have in your car now. Safelite has their on glass factories (or did have) and it would have some weird distortions and waves in it. We had to replace a lot of windshield twice because the first would have wave the owner could see.
 
They did my Taurus at my home, glass was made in China.
I called but the guy was so pushy to sell me new wipers, I hung up.
Used website and no problems and no extras.
 
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FWIW...youā€™ll hear and/or read that if the damage is smaller than a dollar bill, they can repair it. What they didnā€™t bother to mention was it canā€™t be close to the edge, or the contraption they need to attach to the windshield to inject the filler wonā€™t fit.

Iā€™ve had several replaced at home. No issues. The one time it was too close they had to come back another day because they hadnā€™t brought replacement glass. At no point in the process did they ask where the damage was. :rolleyes:
 
Had a couple replaced in my driveway, by Safelite. Overall, I'm happy with the work. The did the rear window on my wife's 4Runner after it blew out going down the road. The installer has some trouble with the window controller, so she took it to the shop, where a more senior guy fixed it.
 
Jeppo said:
Seems their commercials work 'cause I remembered the jingle.

Mrs. Jeppo was coming home in the GMC Envoy the other day and a vehicle kicked up a rock. Put a nice deep chip and about a 4" crack in the windshield. I told her she needs to find another route home 'cause it was almost the same place she got rear-ended in her silly notso-Smart Car (which has been in the shop just short of 4 months). :(
  • Anyway, in the Triad area, is there anybody else I should use to repair or replace the windshield?
  • Anybody used them for a repair or replacement that can share the experience? Hard to imagine how they can repair glass but they claim it is possible if the crack is 6" or less.
Click to expand...

I've only ever used Safelite for the windshields I wanted replaced. Always came to me, fast and efficient in varying weather. Nice and easy.
 
The glass they use sucks. They did my truck a couple of years ago and the windshield they put in has not faired well. At night you can see hundreds of little pits in the glass from road grit hitting it and it makes it very hard to see. It normally takes a decade or two to get the kind of marking on a windshield that has appeared on mine after 2 years. Make sure who ever you use puts factory glass back in. If they do repair a place for you it will not remove the damage only stop it from getting worse, the mark will still remain.
 
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Used safelite for both repair and replace multiple times on work vehicles over last 10+ years. Always done a good job. My choice for a repair is if its not in main line of site I will go that route if big cost advantage and newer windshield. Most of the time it has been a full replacement since factory one is usually pitted up and several chips from road debris after a year or so as much as I am on the road. Seen no diffrence in the glass vs factory on ones I have had done overall but have noticed when wearing polarized glasses I see some waveyness in some even in factory ones and usually makes a repair stand out more. If you see how they are made its no wonder some seem wavey the way the glass is heated and molded being multi layers.
 
Hereā€™s where Iā€™m at...

Spoke with my Erie agent who confirmed thereā€™s no free lunch. Anybody who gets a ā€œfreeā€ windshield has actually filed a comprehensive claim. My deductible is $250 and Iā€™m reluctant to file a claim anyway.

Saturday, I rolled over to Safeliteā€™s local franchisee and got a replacement estimate of $260 OTD. In a lifetime of driving, this is the first time Iā€™ve needed glass. Iā€™m hoping for the best because that price seems plenty reasonable to me considering labor, materials, taxes, etc. Have an appointment for Friday afternoon at their shop.

Thanks everybody for your input.
 
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