I had an ugly chip on the passenger side last summer and had Safelite repair it. They did a decent job but the resin "bubble" is much bigger than I would have liked.

Fast forward to last week; another chip on the passanger side. This one immediately started spidering and the crack seems to have reached the far edge. Made an appointment for Safelite to come replace the windshield yesterday while it was at the dealer for an oil change. Turns out they show up with an OEE MDX windshield for some mysterious reason - which I only find out when the service writer at the dealer calls to tell me the oil change is done and the windshield isn't. Safelite never called back at all and apparently re-scheduled another appointment without telling me, also at the dealer. And here I am thinking that making the appointment at the dealer would totally avoid this issue since they could pull a windshield right off the parts shelf.

Question is; should I push hard for an OEM windshield at my new appointment at work or will the Safelite equivalent do the same job?

 

ya know, over on the 3G TL side, we've pushed for OEM glass in all our "windshield" threads....

and then just recently, one of our veteran members got fed up looking for the OEM glass and went through safelite.
he found that safelite's glass was equal to the OEM glass and stated in his thread that it isnt worth the stress to find the OEM glass when the safelite replacement is just fine

 

I just had mine done and they put an OEM windshield in because the car was so new.

 

Why aren't you going through insurance?

Window glass falls under the comprehensive portion of insurance. If you've read my prior posts on the subject you'll know that you should keep your comprehensive deductible low ($100 deductible will cost an average GEICO customer in MD about $50 a year more over the $1k deductible) and that comp claims will not affect future insurance rates.

 

Safelite is Allstate's preferred windshield vendor. It is through insurance. I have no glass deductible. I actually called my dealer and they don't do windshields themselves and have Safelite come to them.

 

Doesn't Safelite have mobile installers who can replace your glass in your own driveway, or at work?

 

Yes they do - I foolishly thought Safelite was going to use an OEM windshield. I intentionally scheduled the appointment to coincide with my oil change at the dealer which would have avoided this issue.

 

Good. There are several advantages to scheduling this through the dealership and not via Safelite direct - even if they use the same guy.

If the Safelite guys cut your headliner getting the old glass out or break your mirror or cupholder (ask me how I know) then the Safelite guys will say "we didn't do that" and point the finger at Acura. If the Acura dealer contracts out the repair then they are accepting responsibility.

In my case, Audi replaced a headliner, a mirror and a cupholder after Safelitedamaged those trying to put in the wrong glass. I'd still be fighting with Safelite after 10 years if I had gone straight to them.

 

make sure you are happy with how the gasket around the edge looks. Glassmasters did a poop job on my 2008 Ranger and I had them redo it. It had a lot of breaks in it.

 

It's gotten worse. Safelite called last Friday morning (this is the 2nd attempt) and said the windshield they ordered came in cracked so it was a no-go. They rescheduled for today (Monday) but it's raining out here in New York so we re-scheduled again. 4th time is a charm, right?

 

The adventure continues...

Safelite did a replacement on Saturday and everything seemd to go fine, until I looked more closely at the top edge of the windshield. The tech had layed the glass on top of the weatherstripping so the rough edge of the glass is exposed and water pools up there. I called the tech once I spotted it and he said that's how it's supposed to be. I took a quick ride to the dealer, checked a 14 RDX, and showed it to a service writer and yep, that's not correct.

Time for a 5th appointment...

 

Exactly why I recommend doing this through the dealer. Safelite screws up and you're driving a loaner until they fix it right.