Hello All,
I was driving to work this morning and a semi truck decided to kick some rocks up my way. Well as you can guess, I now have a few small chips on my windshield. I dont have any pics at the moment, but they are very small (no cracks, just an indentation on the outside of the window). You can feel it when you run your finger over it on but doesnt seem to be too deep. What is the best way to fix this? It seems a bit too minor to take it to a window specialist to fix, but will do so if I have to. Any thoughts and suggestions are appreciated. Thanks!

 

if they are in your line of sight from the drivers seat then there is nothing that any shop can do about it (at least in CA) if not, take it to a glass shop and have them sand the chips down, thats the easiest thing you can do.

 

No. Do not have them "sand" them down. If the chips are small enough and not in your line of sight, it may be best to do nothing. If they start to crack, you might be able to take it to a glass shop and have it repaired. Some insurance companies will replace a windshield at no charge because of the safety issue. Check with yours to find out.
I think you may be thinking they can be polished out. But if you can actually feel the chip, it is probably too deep to polish out without causing distortion. That would be worse than having a chip. And I'm not sure a windshield can or should be polished because of the safety issue here.
Talk to your insurance company first, then talk to a reputable glass shop.
Good luck.

 

check your insurance policy on autoglass. i just had my windshield replaced from a similar situation. from what i understand cars like the TL use a very soft material that absords wind noise and is light for the overall weight of car, but it's more delicate, and scratches/cracks easier... i had a rock fired from a weedwacker chip my windshield, by the next day i had a crack going across entire glass. it cost me $730 to have replaced through the dealership. there are some places that can repair microscratches like windshield wiper scrapes, but if you can feel it with your fingernail, chances are you're stuck with it. also...

dont forget to shut off your wipers! i made that mistake, turned on car a few days later, and some grit was on the blade apparently.. it left a very fine scratch on windshield.. just one of those things i learned the hard way.

see what your insurance says, they wanted $500 deductible for mine so i just paid out of pocket.. most quotes for the new glass were from 450-600.. dealer gave me loaner for the day, the service i received was well worth the extra $100 or so.

 

Get it repaired if it's not in your line of sight <<<<replaced if it is. Windshields are laminated glass, basically 2 pieces of plate glass w/ a laminate of somesort sandwiched between it. If that small chip allows any air or water to the lami it will crack...and usually pretty fast. If its just a pit then I wouldnt sweat it.

I would also check insurance as others have said, alot of states will replace it for free... waiving your deductable.

 

I'm surprised that no one has mentioned having the chip repaired. About 10 - 15 years ago I had two chips in my windsheild fixed. If I remember correctly, it cost about $60 and was covered by insurance. The repair involved drilling out the chip and using a syringe of some sort to inject a repair polymer that made the chip nearly impossible to find and prevented the chip/crack from running to the point where the entire windsheild needed to ge replaced.

 

Just take your car into a windshield repair shop and see if it can be fixed. If it can, fix it. Do not ignore it. I ignored a chip for about a week, then one morning, there was a long crack originating from the chip.

 

Same here, I was driving listening to my music and all of a sudden I heard what appeared to be static coming from the right speaker.... ...so I thought, once a got home and walked around the car I noticed a chip on the "shaded" area on the passenger side. The insurance sent this mobile windshield repair guy at work where he filled it recommending that if it spreads the insurance Co. will replace it but being the car only a few months old it was not a good idea
(something to do with the integrity of the car)...anyway this has been almost 4 months ago and nothing has changed....good luck

 

In my area there are shops that fix chips by filling them with plastic. It's almost perfect and usually can't be noticed afterwards. Get it fixed fast before the chip turns into a crack. The price is usually in the $25-$50 range depending on the size of the chip and is covered by most insurance companies. They'd rather pay for the repair and forget the deductable rather than pay for a new windshield even with deductable. My insurance company will pay 100% for repairs and forgo the deductable.

 

If they are in your line of sight get the windshield replaced because CA law will not allow any shop to repair the glass. You can probably buy something to inject into the crack yourself. If you have free windshield replacement with your insurance just use that. And "sand" was the wrong word...they actually drill into the windshield.