Windshield Replacement 2021

C

cognus

New member
I need your advice.
My ultra bulletproof 2007 OEM (AFAIK) windshield was finally done in by the record cold/snow/ice here. Just suddenly went bang and cracked vertical and horizontal from a 3 year old “star”.

First, how DO I know whether this was the original windshield? Any tiny little codes or graphics on original?

Secondly, this was an awesome windshield.. noiseless, hit innumerable times by frightening rocks etc over 211k miles with a good bit of high speed interstate and only the one real star in all that driving. I don’t want to goof on replacement. It’s an SR5, with electronics to the rear view mirror, excellent graduated tent, excellent moulding.

The local Toyota shop has a terrible reputation in the community. Safelite-brand shop has a mediocre rep. Glass Doctor has excellent rep.

How do I get at LEAST that good of a product, installed correctly? I assume if moulding cracks I’m going to have to pay extra for Toyota parts for that...right.?

thanks
 
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My windshield cracked all the way across the width a couple weeks ago from the cold we were having. Called my insurance company and they sent Safelite out to replace it. The insurance paid most of it & my share was $369.00.

The guy from Safelite said that the old windshield wasn't the original one so I asked him how he could tell. He pointed to some small lettering on the lower corner on the passenger side of the windshield and told me that was a stamp from Safelite, not Toyota as one would expect if it were the origional one.
I bought the 4runner used so it must have been the previous owner who had it replaced.
 
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I had a windshield replaced at Safelite. My insurance doesn't cover glass replacement, but I think the total cost was only around $369. They put in a Fuyao brand windshield, and within a month it got a rock chip at the edge. They tried to repair it, but within a few months it turned into a crack that spread all the way across. So now I need a new windshield again.

The windshield I had replaced was a Pilkington that was poorly installed, so it leaked when it rained. The weather stripping wasn't installed right, so it made a lot of wind noise. And it was so badly pitted that it was getting difficult to drive at night. Based on the pitting, the previous owner must have had that one in for a long time. I kept waiting for it to chip and crack, but it never did, and I decided to go ahead and get it replaced anyway. But apparently I replaced it about a month too soon.

In my limited experience with other cars, it does seem like there's something better about OEM glass.
 
cognus said:
I need your advice.
My ultra bulletproof 2007 OEM (AFAIK) windshield was finally done in by the record cold/snow/ice here. Just suddenly went bang and cracked vertical and horizontal from a 3 year old “star”.

First, how DO I know whether this was the original windshield? Any tiny little codes or graphics on original?

Secondly, this was an awesome windshield.. noiseless, hit innumerable times by frightening rocks etc over 211k miles with a good bit of high speed interstate and only the one real star in all that driving. I don’t want to goof on replacement. It’s an SR5, with electronics to the rear view mirror, excellent graduated tent, excellent moulding.

The local Toyota shop has a terrible reputation in the community. Safelite-brand shop has a mediocre rep. Glass Doctor has excellent rep.

How do I get at LEAST that good of a product, installed correctly? I assume if moulding cracks I’m going to have to pay extra for Toyota parts for that...right.?

thanks
Click to expand...

I replaced my windshield here in Canada, back in 2020 when i got a crack in there. Generally OEM will have a Toyota labeling on the bottom corners. If you get windshield aftermarket stick with PPG or Pilkington. I got mine replaced with PGW which is now what PPG is called for $250 Canadian
 
Thanks all.
What about the rubber molding exterior? At 14 years old is it going to break when the old is removed, and should it be replaced with oem, independent of what glass is used?
 
I may be having my windshield replaced due to recent damage. I did the Safelite online quote using pay out of pocket (as opposed to insurance) and it came up $309. The page presented an option to use OEM glass and I was curious so I clicked it. Just $919! :-O
 
The price for the OEM glass, from Toyotapartsdeal.com is $540.
'Dam' strips are around 11 bucks.

Made by Pilkington?

My label
 

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Around here, I have to replace windshield every few years due mostly to pitting from all the ice slicer colorado uses. I just call my insurance company and they have Safelite swap out windshield in my driveway. Seems to good quality too.
 
Came out a few weeks ago and found a long crack in my windshield - no shatter anywhere just like a stress fracture in it. As far as I know it was the oem

Tried to find the best value and did some reading on safelite. A few people had mentioned some dents when the technician installed the new windshield

Anyhow if you start a quote and don’t book they’ll give you coupons - at first $35 off then $80 off.

Ultimately I took into their shop to install so they had all the equipment. It’s a little crooked and the weather stripping and adhesives on the side look funny, but a few weeks out and no issues. It would be nice if they gave you a hazard warranty for rock chips for like a year or so. I went with their standard windshield
 
This reminds me of something that happened to my Camry about a year ago. My wife was driving it on the interstate and she said she heard a really loud boom. She thought someone had dropped something off of an overpass onto the car. She stopped and got out and the sunroof glass had exploded. You could tell by looking that it was blown outward. I researched it and found out this is a real thing. And according to the article, Japanese cars, and Toyotas in particular are more prone to this than other makes. Who knew?
 
Did the job: now what?

So, after over-thinking this I got the repair shop with the best rep in my area to do mine. It is a GlassDoctor franchise. I'm not sure they are healthy in hindsight but here's the net:
The owner said that Pilkington's quality fell off [maybe after acquisition?] and that OEM's do not use their glass. Their reco was/is PGW [PPG], which is used by some OEM's. [there's a brief PGW note here: ]Page not found | Windshield Surgeons Auto Glass

I think it is tight - I don't hear any noise I didn't hear before - as our beloved 4th Gen's are a bit air-noisy anyway. The optics are very good. What isn't good is the color. They either didn't think to even check the codes and explanations of tint/shade or it isn't available.

SOOOOO.... the question: how do I know what color/tint I actually have all around, and whether they goofed, or it is simply impossible to match here 14 years later? Supposedly the Color is encoded in the M___ code, which in this case is M848. The labels on my other glass, in this case the rear hatch, it Toyota Temperlite and code M2L3. Appearance-wise, as you would expect the new front shield looks 'clear' in indirect, and dull daylight, and changes in really bright sunlight - sort of greenish, but is at least a couple of shades lighter than the sides/rear which are notably tinted but not as much as our '13 Lexus RX.

Help me if you can.
 

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just doing some simple web searches including many on this forum, i am assuming i need to pay a visit to the dealer nearby which also has its own body shop to get the right answers. People who own 4runners and other toyota vehicles are posting wildly conflicting info on what the "factory tint" or shade or color or gradient is, with no reference to any published material from Toyota or their distribution points in the USA.
The only thing I'm getting a sense of as being "probably true" for 2021 is that the glass aftermarket is dealing with 3 'colors', independent of tint/shade - like Green vs. Bronze...
If you have already "been there, done that", Puh-Leeeze post what you found out.
 
I recently had my 06 scion tc windshield replaced by local glass guy at his shop...$160 cash OTD... they used Fuyao glass... Safelite online quote was around $230 and later one they send $35 coupon... Betting they also use Fuyao glass which is china stuff.. I asked for pilkington glass which they didn't have and dealer glass was $$$...

back in 2012 or so, my 05 seinna had original Toyota glass replaced by same shop... was I think around $100 or so... and it was pilkington glass too....lol
so far still good to now...leak proof and holding out great, no noise either like factory...

Actually Glass repair is really cheap..lots of competition shops and really don't know how much profit they make...
 
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