To Repair or Replace Your Windshield?

It's a very common occurance, you're riding down the road when the auto just before you kicks up some debris, which falls on your auto's windshield while you are driving at a high speed. The event can result in a chip or crack, varying in size from a bearly visible chip, tinier than a pea, to a crater with a diameter greater than a .half dollar, or a crack several inches or longer.

In the majority of jurisdictions, driving a car with a chipped or cracked front windshield is illegal, and you run the risk of being stopped by a traffic cop ,who will issue you a repair order. But even if you aren't caught, or if driving with a windshield, subject to the vibrations of driving and weather, will tend to expand. So that a tiny chip or crack, can after a while become a major chip or crack.

Consequently, when you get to your destination, you should contact a nearby auto glass repair shop. Now the big question is whether the windshield should be repaired or entirely replaced. With current technology, a lot of damaged windshields that would have required replacement a few years ago, can be repaired instead, at a significant savings to the car owner. Whether the windshield can be repaired depends on if it meets insurance guidelines.

Usually, if the crack is within the driver's line of vision, which is most often considered to be 8 1/2 by 12 inches, the windshield needs to be replaced. Even the best chip repair can leave a small area that reflects light more than the remainder of the windshield. The brightly reflected light might impair the driver's concentration and is therefore an imperilment to safe driving. Insurance companies also recommend replacing the window if the diameter of the chip is larger than a 50 cent piece. Even though cracks as large as 5 inches have been repaired by auto glass shops, the results are not uniformly acceptable to all car owners.

There are are some further limitations on which windows can be fixed, for example heated windows need to be replaced and not repaired.

Auto glass repair shops select resin that matches the appearance auto glass, so that when the crack or chip repair is completed, the window looks as good as new. The entire repair takes only hours, and can be completed in a shop or at the auto's location, by a mobile auto glass repair team.