Driving home yesterday evening during rush hour, I see a stone inbound right at me. It's size was no bigger than a typical marble. I actually flinched because it's tragectory was right at my head. Had a nice arc to it - kind of like a fly ball into the outfield.
Windshield took a direct hit but didn't break. I was suprised because it made a loud "tink" sound. I now have a small nick in the windshield which wouldn't be so bad except it's directly in my line of sight.
Does anyone know of a remedy for this? Is there some way I can get it filled or buffed out?

 

There used to be stuff that the glass companies used to "fill" those... also prevents the crack from forming and growing. I believe it was a 2 part clear epoxy, and was 90% effective, i.e. unnoticable. Check with a local glass company. Also, In FL anyway, maybe VA as well, there is no deductible on glass from debris, so if you need a new windshield, it would be free under comprehensive.

 

Call Mike at Wise Cracks 703 314 1382. He is mobile, so you don't have to do much, although with this cold weather, there may be other considerations...

http://www.wise-cracks.com/

I have not used him for windshield repair, although I wish I did. I have used him to apply Diamon Fusion.

Cover the chipped area with clear tape. While this won't keep the chip from spreading, it will keep moisture and contaminants out of the chip, allowing for a cleaner and clearer repair. Be careful not to touch the chip, and don't attempt to repair it yourself. That could cause contamination of the area as well, and may make it impossible to repair. Any damage from a rock chip to a crack is likely to spread if left untouched.

The sooner you get this repaired the better, especially with all the salt on the roads now.

I waited several months before getting my "star" crack repaired, and the results were not very good. The company that did it was recommended by my insurance company. The repair is not covered by insurance (at least State Farm), and costs about between $60-80. The sooner the repair is done after the damage, the better.

 

I understand the rules vary state by state. In PA, generally glass coverage as part of collision covers this type of damage with no penalty / rate increase.

Most insurance companies in PA will offer ding repair rather than replacement and waive the deductible. Ding repair I'm told is not a perfect fix. If you insist on new glass since the ding is line of sight they will agree. They go by what you say - not an inspector.

If you go this route, choose your repair facility carefully. All glass is not equal. Insurance companies may route you to a very convenient, even on site repair. Find a repair facility by recommendation of customers and the brand of glass they use - not your insurance company.

 

They have stuff at walmart that suppose to fill in minor crack on winsheild...in the auto section. Probably have it at any auto place too. If the chip isnt so bad you might want to....Check that out....i saw it a couple of times when i was browsing.

 

Since the damage is in your line of sight, a repair may not be possible. Last time I had a small crack repaired, I believe they said it could be done since it was outside a certain "window"; if it was in a more direct "line of sight", the windshield would have needed to be replaced. Check with your insurance about your coverage, and then go to a repair shop.

 

Check state laws about windshield repair. CA won't let anyone fix a crack if it is in the line of sight of the driver.

 

I have had over 12 repairs done with various cars and have yet to spent on a single repair with State Farm insurance. Replacement of glass does have a deductable.

 

I have driven a Ford Expedition with one of those repairs, and they do not compare to what the windshield repair companies do. They clean, apply a device that pulls a vacuum, inject a resin, which the vacuum helps suck in to the various nooks and crannys, and then flash it with UV source to activate the hardening of the resin.

The resin has the same index of refraction as auto glass, which is what makes it work. When you see a crack, you are seeing reflection off an air glass interface. The resin tries to make the crack contiguous so that there is no air glass interface.

Anyway, I do not believe that the do it your self kits can do a good as job based on what I saw being done.

 

Well it could be my agent ripped me off, or it could be that it is a Virginia thing. Good to know for the next time.

PS, What state are you in?

 

i have one on my windshield, and once its gets bigger and bigger, then I wll change my windshield...

 

Had one just like yours in LOS. Out here they would not fix because of location. Good news is that the windshield not cost only about $3-400, down from $7-800 a year ago.

3A doesn't cover glass replacement in my area. I went through Safelite I think.

 

^ - I was hunting for a good price last summer and could only find 700? Or 600. Crap, can't remember exactly now, but it was well above 400 dollars.

 

Thanks for all the help. I don't know if the resin injection - vacuum - uv thing will work for what I've got. It's not really a crack at all, more like two small scratches about 2mm long. I can't see it when I'm focusing on objects outside of the window but do see them when I focus on the windshield itself. It bothers me because I'm over-the-top OCD when it comes to a clean windshield. Probably the aviation background.
I really doubt my insurance company will go for a replacement windshield for what most people would consider insignificant. On top of that I worry about having a replacement windshield installed.
Anyone have experience with new windshields? I remember something about the replacement glass not being the same as the factory and problems sealing it completely.

 

I've had two spider cracks repaired on my 2005 TL. Both times I called my insurance company (GEICO) and they sent a repair service to my house, next day, no charge. They'd rather pay the nominal cost to repair than risk the crack spreading and having to pay for a full windshield replacement.

 

I had to have the windshield replaced within the first week of ownership of my 04. At the time, only OEM glass was available. Replacement was perfect and have had no problems. Not sure but I imagine non-oem windshields are now available. Supposedly, the TL's OEM glass has special acoustic buffer qualities. May be all marketing BS but I wonder if non-OEM would be the same. Others may have more info on whether it would be worth the effort/cost to insist on OEM replacement.

My glass shop did explain that now they are required to use quick dry adhesives during the replacement process since the windshield is part of the air bag system. If adhesives were still curing, glass would not properly deflect the air bag into position if a deployment were to occur.

Good luck!

 

Here you go...Safelite Auto Glass 800.262.3424 in my area.

I paid $305.67 including tax and installation on 11/30/06. This was for new OEM Solar, Acoustic Interlayer Windshield #610371. This is an exact replacement but is Safelite brand. It even had the mirror holder imbeded in the glass just like the original. Seems that they also could have installed the Honda/Acura windshield but theirs has a better warranty. The only difference that I can tell is that it does say Safelite instead of Honda. I waited a whole year for the price to come down from the ~$7-800 I was quoted last year. I have had zero problems with the new windshield.

 

Put clear tape over the damage immediately, call a windshield repair place of your choice, or Wise-Cracks if you have no one to call, and they should be able to tell you. I think the resin will work, because you will be filling in the irregularity that is causing the visible reflection, with a material that has the same index of refraction as glass, but let someone who does it for a living talk to you about it.

We used to work with underwater sediment profiling cameras. The plexiglass port was scratched to hell, and hard to see through, because it was an integral part of a wedge design that penetrated 6-8 inches into the sea floor so you could take a macro picture of the sediment water interface. Sea water has the same index of refraction as the plexiglass we used, and the scratches disappeared like magic for the macro photography of the sediment water interface. The scratches became optically clear. The resin should work exactly the same way.