Added to the 3G Garage/Service Dept! E-049

 

I'm on my second go-around of doing exactly this (paying the difference for the factory glass) with State Farm this week. I just don't want to mess around with potentially ending up with sub-par glass and completely changing the acoustics of my interior.

 

I had my windshield replaced soon after I bought my car in 2006 at the Acura dealership and the funny thing is that my windshield has an Acura logo, however, the rest of the glass has Honda logos... i thought it was weird.

 

They changed all the glass stamping on the factory glass beginning with the 2007 model year. Mine's the same way right now.

 

After 07, Acura started putting it's own logos on it's glass and now most of the glass ordered from dealers have the Acura Logo instead of the Honda Logo.

 

got it replaced with the requested glass ( AP Tech ).
Old and new glass have the same numbers on them. cost was 491.xx

got it done @
Accurate Auto Glass in maspeth

only waited about 70 minutes.
Went by real quick though since i was at the Deli adjacent to the shop.
Had some breakfast and watched The Maury Show.......
by the time that was done, so was my car.

Thank you.... to the OP for doing the research on this glass.

 

70mins -- quick

 

I went to my local Acura dealership and had the glass replaced with a OEM generic. They use Pilkington and PPG there. I made sure to ask for an acoustic barrier. Thankfully my friend works there and she HOOKED it up as far as cost goes. The glass guy charged me $100 on the side and the actual glass with her discount was an unbelievable $87, for PPG Acoustic layer glass. It's fantastic. No waves, no awful sounds and perfect tint and fit everywhere. Overall I'm super happy. I'd recommend the PPG glass for sure. While I know many of you guys won't be able to get the hookup maybe look into some of your local Acura dealerships if they have a glass department.

 

Thanks for all the research. When I got into my car yesterday morning, I had a crack in my TL's windshield in almost the exact same place as yours.

 

Insurance (GEICO) will not pay for Acura glass or an OEM replacement. They will only pay for aftermarket.

this is weird because I have geico too and they told me you can take your car whatever you want, we pay, I'm ok with Geico but the problem is with my local dealers, any of them don't want to do the job .

 

Wanted to add my thanks to the OP and yet another brand to IMHO, stay away from.

After buying my car in March, the windshield was pitted and nicked to hell. I was so happy when it finally caught a rock that I couldn't wait to get it replaced. I called around, starting with a local glass company I had used in the past that I had never been disappointed with. I make a call to State Farm and get the info I need to get it replaced by them at no charge b/c of the policy I have.

In my initial calling, they stated they only used PPG glass, and after a couple other shops knew nothing about AP Tech, and after re-reading this thread, I decided it seemed to be my best option and having prior experience with the shop and their excellent work, to go for the PPG.

The day of replacement finally comes and the tech shows up at my work to do the job. I leave him the car and he calls me when he is done. I get to my car, only to find they had actually installed another brand, "Saint-Gobain Sekurit" is what the stamp said. It had all the acoustic shielding and sun-shading, but I expressed my concern. He assured me that this is a top brand and is OE for Mercedes, high-end VW's and a few other manufacturers. It was on the car, there wasn't much I could do, so I decided to bite my tongue and live with it.

That evening when I was driving home, I am looking at every possible angle and eventually see a couple of ripples/ distortions on the passenger side, nothing too big., but still there. About 2-weeks go by and I am driving home again and I notice a distorted area above the center channel and that was the final straw.

I ask my wife on our way to dinner the next night to pay close attention while I am driving and tell me if she sees anything on the glass, I tell her I see some spots, but don't tell her where. About 10 minutes later she sees the one above the center channel and I knew I wasn't crazy, what a relief!

I call the shop back and without any argument they ask me to come by their shop so they can see it. This past Monday on my lunch hour I stop by and the Manager comes out to see it. He is immediately shocked after he sees the brand, again stating the same thing about being a good brand and saying they are not seeing good results with PPG as of lately due to them moving a large part of their plants overseas (i.e. China). He sits down in the driver's seat and looks briefly and gets out and says no matter how hard he tries, nobody drives at the same angle and if I see them, he will replace the glass under warranty. He says to give him a couple of days to see what other brands he can get. No arguments what-so-ever.

Tuesday I receive a call from the shop and they have found a Pilkington or says according to my insurance policy I can pay $170 to get the dealer glass. While this was tempting, I tell her I had been doing some of my own reading and from what I understand that AP Tech is the OE manufacturer and have heard a lot of good comments about their glass. She makes a few more clicks and says she can get a "APT". I comment that AP Tech, APT seems like a likely abbreviation and that she says she can get it at no extra cost to me. I tell her sure and she says she will get it in, inspect it thoroughly and let me know when it comes in.

Wednesday afternoon comes and I get a call asking if they can schedule me for the next day (today) to come swap out my glass.

The installer shows up at about 9 this morning and I move my car to a shady area in our lot so he can work his magic. I get my car to him and see he already has the glass out on the stand and take a look, sure enough AP Tech, just as pictured by the OP. About 1 hour later, he calls back and says he is done and to come move it back.

I inspect the job and it looks great! Yeah, the Acura logo is missing, but I can get over that for some missing distortions and $170 still in my checking account!

I was expecting to have to put up a fight, but to my surprise they never argued one little bit. I must say this is a huge plus for them and I will continue to recommend my friends to them.

If as anybody reading this is in the KC area and needs a windshield replaced, I highly recommend Santa Fe Glass (http://www.santafeglass.net/SantaFeGlassMerriamKs.htm)

What an experience, but I am happy it is over. I have attached the pic of the stamp on the defective glass, it was located on the passenger side lower corner as opposed to the AP Tech being on the driver's side. It is nice to see that stamp again when driving, that's for sure!





Overall the defective glass didn't make me sick or anything, I was just annoyed that my car had an inferior product on it. Every time I looked to the right, my eyes went directly to the spot above the center channel and it bugged the hell out of me.


Hope this can help somebody, hold your ground, insist on the AP Tech if you can't get the dealer glass!

 

Glad my research is benefiting this community and I could give back...

 

So Tuesday morning on the way to work I heard the sound of a rock hitting my windshield but I didn't see any damage. Of course when I came out to my car after work there was a nice ~ 1 foot curved long crack which was similar to the one the OP had, except it was on the passenger side. The impact point was an inch or so from the edge/molding.

Allstate tried getting me to go the Safelite route, but I wanted OEM and luckily came across this thread and got educated about what crap Safelite is.

I had it replaced by a local NJ shop for 249+tax installed. They came to my house and did the work in my driveway. They did a good job and finished in just over an hour. I just needed to ask for the AP Tech OEM when I called. The woman in the office had a make a few calls to find it and could have given me an appointment the next day. It is the same exact original glass w/o the Honda/Acura logo, all the numbers, symbols, tinting dot matrix pattern match up (same as OP pic). The only difference is the window for the vin is a little higher then I remember, but you can still read it, just on an angle as about half is covered when you look straight on. I've got an '05.

For anyone in the area, here is the info on the shop:
Dunellen Auto Glass
148 North Avenue
Dunellen, NJ 08812
(732) 752-5740 / (800) 780-1080
http://www.dunellenautoglass.com/

Thanks to the OP!

 

^^

elegant-good work. i used this info as well after my tree branch incident earlier this yr. told the body shop what i wanted provided pictures and alink to this thread. they came through for me without issue. i told the insurance company what i wanted too. no argument there.

 

So yesterday I'm driving down to Socal and this happens



Big ass rock or something, I didn't really get to see. Just a loud bang.

 

Thanks AdamNJ. I got a rock hit and it continued cracking from the edge. MY insurance company (NJM) is not cover windsheld replacement. I have to pay for it(how nice). I will call Dunellen tomorrow. Thank you for your experience and post.

Walker

 

This morning, I got replacement windsheld at Dunellen Auto Glass. The lady who I talked a couple day ago said she only has Sekurit instead of AP Tech. Anyway, I hope my replacement Sekurit might be way better than Safelite...

 

Unfortunately, thanks to a dump truck on the turnpike, I need to replace my windshield again. I just called Dunellen Auto Glass again and the woman checked and said she could still get the same APTech glass for me. It will be installed friday. FYI, the model/part # used for my 05 TL is FW2452.

wmaung, I don't know if you have a different year and maybe it uses a different glass, although unlikely. How is your Sekurit holding up? SilverSVT reported having problems with it.

 

Bringing this thread back for a question- I have an 04 and Im getting the windshield replaced next week under warranty. I read through this thread and there is a lot of good info, thanks to all of you who posted. I searched my entire windshield, in and out, up and down, there are no markings anywhere. I'm getting a Piklington installed, I was skeptical at first but Mercedes, Jag, and BMW have used them from the factory and the 2 factories they make aftermarket auto glass with are both in the USA. I researched them and they seem pretty reputable, and I get to inspect the glass before its installed...

My question is: I saw a lot of people recommending AP Tech because it is OEM, but has anyone actually used Pilkington and experienced any of the distortion or road noise described???

If mine had the AP Tech logo stamped on it now, I would definitely request a new AP Tech windshield, but with no proof of what it is, it is hard for me to fight for AP Tech...

 

^did you look on bottom corners? Hard to imagine a windshield not having ANY markings. Look carefully, they are easy to miss

 

Nope, nothing there. Its weird...
Btw, I just saw a 2011 bentley conti, rear glass is pilkington so im not very worried about quality now

 

I do auto glass for a living. The acoustic has a slightly thicker laminate in between. I have the AP Tech replacement in my car, the cost for the Acura logo makes it like 10x higher. They all still have waves in the glass.

 

If you're just anal about having it as close to OEM as possible, then source AP Tech, my original windshield was distorted on the passenger side bad. So don't be fooled into thinking it's superior to anything and everything. LOF pilkington is a good brand as well.

 

Im retarded, I found the markings, it blended in with my registration sicker, I just missed it before... It is in fact AP Tech.

REDT2: would it say "acoustic glass" or something on the label, I want to make sure it is before its installed. If I ask will they know what Im talking about???

 

I just had another crack and had to search a little for the AP Tech in my area and navigate through all the stores saying they are all the same blah blah and just get pilkington or safelite or PPG. I stood my ground and got the APTech finally. Easy and straight forward.

I'm glad I made this thread and it has benefited many! Happy to contribute.

 

Ill talk to the glass guy Tuesday and see what he has to say about the differences, and if I dont like how the pilkington looks I wont have it installed. The shop said they dont use PPG glass because the quality has decreased now that they are made overseas, so thats good I guess.

 

The oem wont, the after markets usually will. But the after markets are made to OE specs.

Now I'm really about to mind F you.
Safelite now manufactures a portion of AP techs glass with an AP tech logo. The DOT number will tell, 376 is their own.
Id be happy with most brands.

FY Fuyao makes oem for GM and hyundai.

Any other questions??

 

Had my windshield replaced 6 months ago, I requested AP Tech for the replacement. The new windshield says "ACG Automotive" on it with DOT-376, but I was assured it was AP Tech. I used ABRA Auto Glass, as I don't trust Safelite.

I currently have a brand new 2014 Acura RDX to drive around, parents left it behind while they're out of town. All of the windows and windshield says "ACG Automotive" with DOT-376 and a Acura "A" Symbol as well.

It looks like the replacement windshield I got is the same as the ones being used by Acura on all of the new vehicles, minus the "A" symbol.

 

A question for those who have had their windshields replaced…was the installer able to remove and reinstall the windshield trim without breaking those weird "gradated" clips? I’m tempted to try to remove the trim myself but the way the clips are described in the service manual, I’m sure I’d break a couple before I figured out the correct technique. So I’ll probably leave it alone and hope that the installer knows what he’s doing. I’m just afraid that standard practice may be to rip out the trim, breaking the clips in the process, and then glue the trim back in place. So I’d be interested to know what everyone’s experience has been. I plan to have this done in my driveway so I suppose I could have a spare set of clips on hand.

 

They are not too hard to remove, just need a pick and a panel tool. Standard Honda style clips. If you're worried about them breaking, they're fairly cheap at the dealer.

 

Any glass that has the AP TECH logo is made to OEM specs, AP TECH has a replacement glass division, so if you get a replacement W/S or any other glass, sidelites, backlites, sunroofs... the only difference is they have to remove the Acura or Honda name from the logo for legal reasons. The glass is produced on the the same line during the same run as the OEM parts.

 

My 06 has the Honda logo mark on it. ...

 

Some of the 06's have Honda logs on all the glass... depending on when it was manufactured. This is when they were transitioning over to the Acura logos. They started to put Acura logos on all vehicles for the 07 and up.

 

My windshield cracked and I'm having issues finding "AP Tech" anywhere around Chicago. Someone please chime in if you know of a shop that can get it.

Now I was quoted $166 installed for a PPG windshield and that seems like too good of a price to be true. From what i've gathered, my understanding is that "PPG" is 2nd closest to OEM behind AP Tech.

I'm still not sure I'm convinced that PPG is as good as OEM or AP Tech.

I've replaced a windshield before on my old DD and went cheap. Later to find out that condensation collected on the inside during cold winter nights where I had to scrape the insides. I definitely do not want to go cheap again.

Is "PPG" real OEM quality? Or do I keep searching for that "AP Tech" Brand?

 

Make sure the windshield glass is OEM-spec, with the acoustic layer.

Otherwise, Pilkington also makes OEM-spec glass.

 

You want to ask for "OEM distributor" glass. Read this:

https://acurazine.com/forums/showpos...1&postcount=15

 

Thanks. I appreciate the help

 

So PPG distributor is out of stock and I can't find AP TECH anywhere in Chicago. The dealer quoted me $1,250.00 with installation & taxes.

 

That's "dealer glass"-- with "Acura" or "Honda" stamped on it.

Try looking for OEM-spec/OEM distributor glass by Pilkington-- its American HQ is in Chicago, BTW.

 

You are correct!
I'm a windshield repair technician, I fix all types of windshield glass, the worse are the Chinese brand windshields. They are very thin, they will have the waves, and they will easily crack.

Because is oem it doesn't mean is better most Japanese cars have really thin windshields, I recommend y'all go with Pilkington and PPG.

Sometimes after getting a new windshield even if they use an oem windshield, you might hear the wind or get leaks, this is why you have to get a warranty, after removing the factory seal is never the same again.

Use Pilkington and PPG

By the way that crack could been repaired with out replacement, we fix up to 24 inches.

Geico is the worse insurance company for windshield replacement and repair