madehtsobi

just want to vent and say that the TL windshield sucks..

this is my second rock chip on a less than 6 month old car and this last rock chip is spider webbing and i just asked this glass distributor place near my work place and they wanted $450 installed.....i was like....wtf $450?? what a rip off...

anyone replaced their front windshield? and for what price?

thanks

ndx2

jeez, the TL's windshield doesn't suck. your luck does.

you can go through your insurance, unless you set your deductible at more than $250 for comprehensive. and next time you get a chip, get it fixed right away. if you weren't so lazy, you could've gotten it fixed for less than $50... most places come out to you to do this, which takes 10 minutes. my insurance company (AAA Mich) fixes small chips and cracks (under 10" or so) for free.

$450 sounds pretty cheap... if you go OEM or high quality, some places will quote you as much as $1000~.

Aegir

I had mine replaced last year. I think it was around $550 for OEM glass - installed. I don't think the TL windshield is worse than other vehicles. The last few years each of my vehicles has averaged a new windshield every year or two.

Ron A

Make sure you get the OEM because it has the sound absorbing layer which the aftermarket windshields do not have.

kfischer

I had to have my windshield (04 TL) replaced last winter because of a rock chip that was too big to repair (larger than a quarter). It was $750 with OEM glass. Insurance paid all but the $50 deductible. I have to say that I'm somewhat disappointed too though...6 months later and the windshield is fairly significantly pitted.

TLOBLLC

Stop following too closely. Especially dump trucks on the highway.

You probably have a lot of rock chips on your front bumper and headlights too.

crazymjb

Jeez, my family has had cars over 10 years on the original windhshield.

xlilbluux

one time i was riding on the freeway with my friend and a small rock hit his car. it cracked the windshield but the crack was really small, about half the size of a pea. 10 minutes later that cracked went across the whole windshield. man was he pissed.

i dont think its the windshield, i think its what type of crack it is...

MR1

Low areodynamic front end design, construction and road junk makes all windshields suck

Aegir

I think the probability of having a windshield broken has a lot to do with where you live - traffic, terrain, weather, amount of freeway travel, and amount and type of construction (gravel), and very little to do with how you drive. My wife and I never had a broken windshield until we moved to California. In the last seven years, we've had at least five windshields cracked beyond repair and one side window broken while driving.

I can certainly understand why some would have a hard time believing that windshields could be routinely broken in normal driving, but depending on where you live it can and does all the time.

TBone2004

On my old car I once had a windshield split all the way across just from sitting in the hot sun all day...also - same car once had my rearview mirrow fall off too - got so hot, the glue must have given way and there it was the entire assembly & mirror on my console when I got in later in day.


TL windshield does seem to pit pretty fast, but I am also on 287 all the time and there is so much crap on that road it is bound to happen. Even if you hang back - the rocks will find you - what goes up must come down.... I have had them hit my roof. Chips or pits - she still looks goooooooooooood!!!

mickey3c

I live in mass and drive 495, 95 and route 3.

I have had 3 windshields in 3 years on two cars.

Prolanman

All new windshields will pit. Safety glass is soft. I've had this hapeen on my last few cars that I used to commute and the TL is no different. You're headlights will also pit and get cloudy with time. I would suggest getting the Xpel covers for the headlights. It was worth the $40 and very easy to install.

madehtsobi

i wasn't behind any car and i dont follow close either....i think the first guy was right...my luck sucks....

and i have just one very very small chip on my hood....none on my front bumper

madehtsobi

xpel covers? i saw that earlier on ebay...its like that 3m film cover for the bumper, hood, mirrors, etc... right?

something like this?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...category=38661

crazymjb

15 mils thick? Ha, ya right. Thats what they recomend for headlight protection, Ill look somewhere else. If people in MA coudl please say where they got headlight protectors that would be great.

GunnmeTaLCURA04

i have gotten hit by rocks 3 times. and 2 of them i had to even duck and brake fast becuase of how hard that shit hit my windshield... i personally think its just your luck that those rocks hit you at suck a perfect angle causing it to crack or give you the spider web look. I have also gotten hit by rock on my bumper, and some what small chips of paint, but my bumper doesnt suck nor does my paint.

crazymjb

Did the rocks actually enter the car? On the discovery channel they have a show called Impact: stories of servival, and one time a piece of rebar impaled a passenger, and another time a metal plate it a guy in the nuck, cutting one othe major arteries. Next advance would be think wire mesh in the winsdshield. Or Lexan.

KJSmitty

While working at the dealership many years ago a new Nissan truck was towed over to our body shop. Not only mangled, it had what looked like a 3-4 inch diameter clean "bullet hole" right smack in the middle, on the drivers side of the windshield. I went in to chat with the tow truck driver and he informed us that the truck owner had been following a semi trailer. A large rock had been lodged between the left rear "duelly" tires. It had "dislodged" at highway speed shooting back right through the womans windshield striking her in the face
Yep, you "visualized" it right......

Good thing is she survived, yet with a severely shattered skull along with several other broken bones. Her truck was soon totaled, mainly due to the badly twisted frame from rolling over several times after she flew off the road unconcious.....

Talk about being in the wrong place at the wrong time.....

eek!!

Kandyman

Had a rock chip that was barely noticeable (a little wider than the tip of a ball point pen). Being so small and looking like a surface chip only, I didn't think it was necessary to fix. 2 weeks later, when temperatures rose, I was greeted in the morning with a 10" crack originating from the chip. I have had chipped windshields in previous cars, but none of them developed into a crack.

kosh2258

The TL windshield is no worse, and no better, than any other.

Cars are just more vulnerable because they're lower to the ground in a world populated with far more pick ups and SUV's than there used to be. Many with heavier lugged tire treads that pick up rocks and debris that eventually are shed.

Many people don't realize that these days the front and rear glass are under stress in a vehicle because they're used as part of the structure. That began when the manufacturers started using bonded in place glass.

A rock hit in the right spot can result in a spreading crack(s) since the glass is being pulled, pushed, and twisted as the body structure flexes. Whether a hit ends up as just a pit, spider or crack also depends on how the hit takes place as much as the size of the piece.
I've had hits sounding like a rifle shot that did nothing more than leave a tiny chip, and others that hardly made any noise but left a small birdseye in the glass. The difference between a flat surface hit versus a point hit, which concentrates all the force in one spot. Pure chance.

And having them repaired right away is no guarantee the crack won't get worse. The invisible repairs don't always work and aren't always invisible. I know that from past experience.

Prolanman

I think the Xpel headlight protectors are much more than 15 mil thick. At least they seemed much thicker when I installed them. You may want to contact Xpel for the exact thickness.

DarkWraith33

Two points -

Tl windshield is worse than any other car I've owned... And compared to all my friends cars, is less "durable." I see a trend...

I have to RockBlocker headlight protection kit and these things are THICK. I mean like almost an 1/8 of an inch!!! NOTHING is getting to my lights... I highly recomend them. I had some bubbles, but after a couple months, they are 95% invisible.

JDM5lugHatch

deandorsey

i assume all of you who think this windshield is so bad never had a 2gen?

leeherman

It's not the windshield.

Today's cars are shaped in just the right way to help rocks and debris hit the windshield, rather than hit the hood and bounce off the car.

I had to replace the windshield in my Solara a few months ago, and I've heard stuff hit the windshield of the TL a few times, thankfully, without damage.

madehtsobi

how much did you pay for that rockblocker headlight kit?

do you know any difference in that xpel headlight kit?

thanks

DarkWraith33

Been at the beach... Sorry so long to reply...

I think it was $42 shipped, but I got it during a "deal" time I think... I found a local place here in Pittsburgh that does the install for you (although I did mine myself).... For the kit AND install, total was $75 so not awful. Not sure what "brand" of headlight protection that was...

I've never seen an Xpel kit, so I can't comment on that! Hope this helps.