Rear Window Replacement

[twa318]

Hey All,

Long story short, a construction truck was driving past my 4runner on thanksgiving, lost its load, and crushed in the entire passenger side of my truck while it was parked in front of my house. While the passenger side body was destroyed, somehow only the rear window covering the cargo area (not the lift gate) was busted out.

The insurance company totaled out the truck and let me buy it back for $1000. Mechanically its in amazing shape with only 150k, so I'm planning on just fixing the window and driving it until the wheels fall off.

I called a few glass shops in town, and the best quote I received was $425. That sounded quite steep to me. Is this a typical price to pay for the rear quarter window?

Any advice is appreciated. Pics to follow

 

[twa318]

Pics:

 

[pattycakes77]

Sounds expensive but probably right. I don't know if they make those aftermarket so OEM is probably the only option, hence the cost. I tried to price just the molding around the rear quarter window and they would only sell the whole window which I remember being expensive. Maybe check a junk yard, see if they'll cut the glass out (without damage) for you and pay the glass company or a body shop to install it for you. If yo break out the rest of the broken glass off and cut the old urethane off the quarter, and clean the glass up yourself it might be less labor and cheaper for you.

Sucks about the damage. Sad that someone else's carelessness can really screw things up bad for innocent bystanders. Hope they got fined for not securing things properly.

 

[infamousRNR]

You should definitely check a scrap yard or dismantler or classifieds for that window... Even though shipping might be a lot you still should be under $400...

 

[TheDurk]

Car-Part.com--Used Auto Parts Market

They don't have a category for rear quarter glass. I suggest you search on windshield or door glass for 1996-2002 and find the recyclers near you who carry 4Runner glass. Then climb on the phone. Expect to pay around $100 or less. You will have to choose gray or green and with or without diversity antenna. You will never know the difference from new.

If you want to DIY, see this post of mine:

http://www.toyota-4runner.org/3rd-gen-t4rs/179017-well-crap-what-my-options-rear-side-cargo-glass-replacement.html#post1810676

 

[92Pony]

I see you're in SC. I don't know how handy you are, but there's a PullAPart in Columbia. They currently have a '99 and a '00 on the lot. I know one of them (the '99, I think) has already had that particular window removed - was gone when I was there last week. Their prices are ridiculously cheap. From their site (www.pullapart.com), 1/4 glass from a car is $19.95, from a station wagon is $24.95, from a rear hatch is $29.95. I didn't see a 1/4 glass from an SUV listed, but you get the idea. Might be worth a trip (from where ever in SC you are).

 

[twa318]

Sounds expensive but probably right. I don't know if they make those aftermarket so OEM is probably the only option, hence the cost. I tried to price just the molding around the rear quarter window and they would only sell the whole window which I remember being expensive. Maybe check a junk yard, see if they'll cut the glass out (without damage) for you and pay the glass company or a body shop to install it for you. If yo break out the rest of the broken glass off and cut the old urethane off the quarter, and clean the glass up yourself it might be less labor and cheaper for you.

Sucks about the damage. Sad that someone else's carelessness can really screw things up bad for innocent bystanders. Hope they got fined for not securing things properly.

As you can see from the photo, they used a SINGLE lashing strap to secure the entire load.

Not only did the driver not get cited improperly securing the load, the police didn't even want to classify it as an auto accident. They were going to cite the driver for simple vandalism until my neighbor came out and insisted the cop call his supervisor (I was out of state when this all happened). If my neighbor wasn't there to see all this go down I would have been screwed.

Gotta love South Carolina!

Car-Part.com--Used Auto Parts Market

They don't have a category for rear quarter glass. I suggest you search on windshield or door glass for 1996-2002 and find the recyclers near you who carry 4Runner glass. Then climb on the phone. Expect to pay around $100 or less. You will have to choose gray or green and with or without diversity antenna. You will never know the difference from new.

If you want to DIY, see this post of mine:

http://www.toyota-4runner.org/3rd-gen-t4rs/179017-well-crap-what-my-options-rear-side-cargo-glass-replacement.html#post1810676

Durk, thank you for providing this info, it is very helpful. Sadly I'm in a bit of a time crunch and was able to negotiate the price down to $390, its being installed as I type.

For anyone searching in the future, the list price before discount on the invoice I was provided for window was $590.80. I never would have expected this piece of glass to be so expensive, but that's how it goes.

 

[twa318]

I see you're in SC. I don't know how handy you are, but there's a PullAPart in Columbia. They currently have a '99 and a '00 on the lot. I know one of them (the '99, I think) has already had that particular window removed - was gone when I was there last week. Their prices are ridiculously cheap. From their site, 1/4 glass from a car is $19.95, from a station wagon is $24.95, from a rear hatch is $29.95. I didn't see a 1/4 glass from an SUV listed, but you get the idea. Might be worth a trip (from where ever in SC you are).

Hey, thanks for the info friend. I will keep this in mind for future reference.

Do you happen to recall the color of those two vehicles?? I'm in need of a set of black passenger doors. I'm about 90 minutes from Cola, not a bad drive at all.

 

[Doc2012]

Grow some balls and weld in a piece of steel. Like I did:

You can call SafeLite, and they'll repair them for 400+. That's the reason I went with the diamond plate. Plus, I don't want someone to see all the stuff I have in the back.

 

[Doc2012]

Wow. I'm a little late.... Oh well.



And just kidding on the growing some balls thing. Just to make sure. Can't tell over the Internet when someone's joking or not. *shrug*

 

[twa318]

Grow some balls and weld in a piece of steel. Like I did:

You can call SafeLite, and they'll repair them for 400+. That's the reason I went with the diamond plate. Plus, I don't want someone to see all the stuff I have in the back.

Hey brother, I dig the umbrella corp look!

As I said in the first post, I appreciate any feedback, especially straight to the point candid input.

I picked up the truck from the collision center today with the 1/4 panel window already replaced. I spent the rest of the the afternoon polishing the surface scratches and sanding the major paint abrasions with 600 grit paper. I bought a can of color match paint from Pep Boys, tomorrow I plan on masking the major spots off and hitting the truck with color match paint. While it wont look great, it will certainly pass the first look test by the time I'm finished.

I'll keep this post updated.

 

[T4R2014]

I think you could swap out some better doors from a wrecker. Black doors shouldn't be hard to source. The really costly part would be the quarter panel and rocker.

 

[92Pony]

Hey, thanks for the info friend. I will keep this in mind for future reference.

Do you happen to recall the color of those two vehicles?? I'm in need of a set of black passenger doors. I'm about 90 minutes from Cola, not a bad drive at all.

Sorry, but no black. The '99 was green, and the '00 was silver I believe.