Busted Windshield Question

[NViejeP]

Well my friend was going through a hard time and long story short, he accidently made a pretty big crack in my windshield. The rays extend to as long as like 8 inches.

I need to get it replaced ASAP. He's paying for it so far, but at the same time I don't want to just get the most expensive wind shield so he's left with a huge bill.

My questions are:
How much is it approximately to get it replaced from a glass shop and to get it replaced by a dealer for the OEM glass?

If I get it from a glass shop, will there be any difference in quality?

I've had one of my side windows replaced by a glass shop and although you can feel the difference with the OEM window on the other side, i've had no problems with it so far.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Uneek]

NViejeP,

No offense, your friends are hazardous to your truck. Didn't one of them do something to your truck before?

Anyhow, it doesn't really matter if you goto the dealer or a glass shop. Taking it to the dealer will just mean you're paying the dealer to take your truck to the glass shop or have them come to the dealer and replace it. Almost all dealers have the work subcontracted out to a glass shop.

You can have aftermarket glass or OEM glass installed by the glass shop. The dealer will probably only offer OEM glass only. When I had my windsheild replaced, it was $600 through Safe-Lite for OEM Toyota glass. Various dealers wanted $750+. Aftermarket glass will be about $100-200 cheaper.

There shouldn't be any difference between an aftermarket and OEM glass, other than 'Toyota' stamped somewhere in the corner. For my windshield, aftermarket glass didn't have the auto dimming mirror version--the mask (painted black area) around and above the rearview mirror to hide the autodimming mirror guts and wiring.

I've used Safe-Lite twice and I recommend them if you're going to skip dealer (which you should) to replace the windshield.

 

[NViejeP]

Really? Thats strange because when I went to http://www.safelite.com/ and type in what I needed for a quick quote. It was only like $225 + tax. Is there something I'm missing here or something?

Oh and by the way, this is kind of different, kind of hard to explain, but it doens't matter, hes paying for every last penny of it.

 

[Uneek]

Don't know then... the rear window Safe-Lite did on my dad's Chevy van was $220. The Toyota windshield they charged something like $600. Both were replaced with OEM glass. Maybe they charged more because insurance was paying for the replacements.

I just ran through a quote without going through insurance for my other Toyota and there's some special with 53% off of $458, making it about $213. It didn't state it was OEM glass, I would assume it's aftermarket. Factoring in OEM and sans the discount, it would be right about $600. They also replaced the moulding trim on my Toyota windshield, which is another $41 according to their quote.

Call them and ask about OEM glass if you want it. Doesn't appear to me that you're missing anything.

Don't worry about explaining your friend's situation. At least they pay for the damage they cause.

 

[dcampen]

A few weeks ago I had Safelite replace the windshield in my 2004 4Runner. The price in Pasadena, CA was $185. I didn't have the auto-dimming mirror. I didn't ask for Toyota glass but I noticed that the box the glass came from said "Genuine Toyota Parts".

 

[NViejeP]

Oh I see. Yah I think I might just go get the Safe-Lite glass. According to the person on the phone, its aftermarket glass that thye make, and it has a lifetime guarantee. They gave me a price of $210.

What do you guys think, is it safe to go get the aftermarket safelite glass or should I stick with OEM?

 

[Uneek]

Oh I see. Yah I think I might just go get the Safe-Lite glass. According to the person on the phone, its aftermarket glass that thye make, and it has a lifetime guarantee. They gave me a price of $210.

What do you guys think, is it safe to go get the aftermarket safelite glass or should I stick with OEM?

Aftermarket is fine, unless you want Toyota stamped on the glass. No matter who makes the glass, it has to meet DOT and federal safety standards for crash and effective operation of the airbags.

 

[pat161]

I found you have to be more carefull about the rubber molding they use. On my 97 Tacoma it came with the nice all weather package that had a raised edge around the windsheild which really helped channel water from the roof around the windsheild. When it was replaced they just used a flat piece of rubber strip and I was never happy with it. After that I always specifically requested the OEM strip.