Windshield replacement recommendations

If its anything like the Gen 4, it's gonna need hours to recalibrate the camera. I'd be more worried with parts availability at this point though.

 

Long and circular at the same time is confusing... How long is the crack? You might try the product sold at auto stores to minimize the visibility of the crack?

 

I had ours done at safelite. The camera recal took about 30 minutes using their equipment. I'm happy with the service. The only issue I have is that the trim under the wipers and hood is about an inch lower than OEM and leaves now stick easier to the lower windshields rubber seal and of course about and inch more of that seal is visible which would normally be under the trim piece. If you use safelite ask them if they can get the lower windshield trim reinstalled to cover the the lower seal.

Price the dealer windshield replacement than ask safelite for an estimate, if you're planning a full replacement.
I have no clue what either estimate will look like this year.

If only 40cm near the top I might ask if it can be repaired first, or study up on how the pros do those types of repairs and try it yourself.

 

I'm going to add a bit to this, but take it with a grain of salt.

There is a real difference between the quality of the original Toyota glass and the glass you get through the aftermarket channels. Some are better than others, but I don't know if any come completely to the level of the original.

The problem with the OEM glass is that it's so darn expensive. (It's not cheap to ship it across the Pacific.) Because of the massive price difference, I don't think many(any?) insurance companies will pay for OEM.

An option to consider would be glass from a salvaged car. Most of the time the windshield shatters, but sometimes it doesn't(environmental damage, rear ending, etc). I am currently seeing one each of the rain sensor(XLE, LTD, XSE, XSE+) and non-rain sensor(LE, SE) windshields on CarPart right now. Might be worth considering if the price with shipping is reasonably close to new aftermarket.

SM-S901U ?

 

There was discussion about Gen 4 windshield glass thickness and lots of us had to have the windshields replaced for cracks. Mine got bricked the early morning after the day brexit passed in the UK, go figure, right?

Normally, I'd have had a dealer replace the windshield, but not after reading here how many others needed a replacement, all things considered.

Can't say anything about Gen 5 and I agree OEM is usually the best bet. I'd rank safelite second best if not equal or ( maybe even a bit better for Gen 4 ).

 

Wow... That's really big...

 

Safelite

 

Any evidence of rock chip? If not, would this be warrantied by Toyota?

 

A lot of insurance companies will replace windshields for "free", meaning that they will ignore your normal deductible, so there is no "out of pocket" cost to you.

Sounds good, but beware.

Someone who took advantage of this once told me that it ended up costing them a lot more than paying for it themselves. At the time of replacement the insurance company told them that it did not count as a claim and their rates did not increase. But some time later they were in an accident and filed a claim.

It turns out that the insurance company then informed them that, since their accident claim was within a certain time frame after the windshield was replaced (I don't know which company or the time frame details) that the windshield replacement was retroactively counted as a claim. Since they now had 2 claims within a certain time frame, the insurance company raised their rates. If they had paid for the windshield themselves, the accident alone would not have triggered a rate increase.

So, while this might be worth looking into, be sure to ask your insurance company for details. It's possible that some companies might not be so devious.

 

I know a guy who bought an old Prius with cracked windshield and when he got insurance there was a $45 fee for windshield replacement, which he paid and then immediately filed a claim, so it only cost him $45 to get it fixed.

 

I must have been thinking 40mm instead of 40cm / 16 in. when I mentioned repair. opps

 

It's way easier to show than try to explain Looks more like 1/2 inch / 1cm instead of 3 cm like I posted above. It's definitely noticeable after looking at another Gen 4 Prime.


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Hope yours gets VIP treatment ....

 

For a brand-new car, I would go to the dealer.

 

I'm a price and convenience sort of shopper and I've replaced three in the last several years. I local wholesaler has a retail shop that ends up costing about half as much as Safelight, but I've used the dealer where the car was going in for other problems.

In my state, the police can ticket for driving with a cracked windscreen. I thought this was a lot of nonsense until I had a crack migrate up into the middle of the windscreen. I think of them as pretty robust things, but the amount of flex it showed with the crack was eye opening. I've had road debris (a piece of tire with steel bands) almost puncture the glass. If the screen had been cracked I'm confident something like that would have come right through to me.

TL;DR - I thought these were a trivial annoyance, but they matter more than I thought.

 

In some states, like Florida, insurance companies are required to pay for cracked windshields. Check to see if your state has this first.