Front Windshield Glass replacement ?
 

ok, my front windshield has so many chips, I don' think I wanna repair it.

I don't trust 3rd party glass so I checked with Mazda, it seems that the front Glass is NLA ... so I guess 3rd party glass is my only option? like Safelite ?

I checked with Safelite they don't even have a quote for it and wants me to call ...

so ... any of u guys had experience with any 3rd party glass ?

I used them about five years ago. They claimed I got the last one on the east coast. I didn't believe them. But it did have the antenna in the glass so either it was factory or a decent copy. I haven't had any issues with it at all since it was installed. No colour chages or delams.

I did their quote for my 'vert and it said $220 web only price.

A few cars in the family have them and they still look great
Plus the service here was pretty fast and professional.

Last I checked their glass passes DOT standards, what do you not trust about it?

I had new glass put in the FC two summers ago.
Had to call several shops to find one who wasn't absurdly priced.

Most of the big chains (like Safelite) are set up to deal primarily with insurance companies and that means that the whole pricing structure has been gamed to benefit everyone but the consumer.
Beyond that, anything over ten years old is just too much trouble for them to deal with...potential rust issues and weirdness with rubber trim just slow them down, why fix one RX when you can do three Saturns in the same amount of time?

Look for a smaller, independent shop...they all get their glass from the same warehouses but the smaller guys are much more reasonable (since they don't have the guaranteed money tit of insurance to suckle) and likely to accept your weird car as a job.

They might be right ... cuz I can't seem to find them anymore.

Vert, yes, Quote for me (10013) cost 274 excluding tax and moldings.

Try Coupe, they will ask you to call.

Reason why I don't trust 3rd party glass is that I heard too many horrible stories about it. Just because it pass DOT standard doesn't mean they're good. OE glass's standard is always higher than DOT. for DOT u just have to make sure that when the glass breaks, it will not turn into 30 sharp pieces that flies towards you.

I mean the glass is not leaking, just so many tiny little crack/chip. annoys the hell outa me + I don't feel too safe driving it like this.

Gonna try to see if I can get a local shop to get me a quote ... :)

Is there any other companies like Safelite? Just wondering.

i did this for peepers, its an 82. for that there are two questions, the FC there is a 3rd one

look in the phone book under auto glass and start calling

1. how much

2. do they have it

3. does it have the antenna?

the OEM windshield was about $500 just for the glass, so its twice as much

Got mine with all new trim for $140. Last I checked the trim itself was more than that. Still looks great after a year.

^awesome price. My brother in law (mechanic) was able to call his glass guy and do it at $185 for me, but no new trim.

Done it 3 times @$200 each, last time was at least 5 years ago so $220 sounds right

I have pretty shit luck with Windshield, I always get weird rock chips or unknown cracks.

My now sold Honda FIT, for unknown reasons, had this large crack that's almost twice the length of the dollar bill out of no where ... my car wasn't even moving, it just crack when I was about to wash it. Insurance took cared of that, brand new OE glass cuz car was so new (at that time) that no aftermarket glass was even available.

For Glass I always go for OE, some of my friends experience with aftermarket glass is that it has this "haze" that just won't go away, and after 3 replacements they finally gave him OE glass for free.

I just had my RX-8's front windshield replaced like 2 months ago, and I paid for it outa my pocket. 750 bux including all tax and brand new OE moldings. it had like 20 rock chips so I just replaced it.

Does the Antenna really matters? not like we need it anymore ? it designed for old in-car cell phone or something right ? (thats what I was told a long time ago)

I don't mind to pay for the OE, the problem is that Mazda no longer has them. well it's been 20 something years. understandable. They still have moldings tho. but one of spacer only got a few pieces left.

I'm gonna call around tomorrow and see if I can find anybody ...

u need to tell me where u got it from

well, I like OE glass better, but 140 including new trim ? ... that sounds like a steal :nod:

the antenna was the radio. You had the normal post antenna and then the front windshield one. Not really needed anymore. Only if you want to keep the "stock" look.

you don't need the antenna in the glass anyways. who here still uses the factory deck? how many aftermarket stereos have an auxiliary second antenna input?

Is it? mmm, then I guess it's not important then.

The car came with some aftermarket radio that's so shitty it's not even funny.

I got an old stock deck a while ago for free, thinking to restore it back to the "stock" for a while, get the stock feeling, then I will move on to some "better" aftermarket radio. Maybe a In-Dash Nav Unit with aftermarket Amp.

Factory radio used/compared signals from both antennae and used whichever worked better dep. on location iirc ...ya have the stock one cuz im that much of a purist lol...one can always hide a new deck if you got the same issues as i

AAG Auto glass in Tucson, but maybe they have other shops? Mention the coupon in yellow pages. That price is delivered installed out the door.

Lol yall crack me up with the stories...

Take a guess what kind of work I do...

http://i41.tinypic.com/2q8wv3r.jpg

me! the antenna was broken on the vert, so i took it out, and i'm ONLY using the one in the glass, and its mostly fine

well, if it came down to searching for hours and paying hundreds extra for the window antenna i would ditch it and fix the rear antenna.

my S5 GXL also needs a new windshield so i'm curious about prices and availability on windshields also. in fact my TII has also had a crack since i got it 10 years ago, eventually i should probably replace it.. i didn't when i lived in cali because on my commutes i was always getting rocks kicked onto the windshield.

The w/s is still being made aftermarket by reputable companies. PGW LOF.

yeah that's true, the window antenna isn't worth $100 more for the glass.

call around, you'll get prices all over the map, but then ask question #2, do you have it....

yeah i know, i was hoping to find a good one in the wrecking yards but FCs are getting tough to find in the yards. finding one with intact windshield even less likely so might have to bite the bullet and buy the 2.

Finding an FC in a junkyard is hard enough, but trying to remove the dry brittle trim across the top without cracking or chipping the windshield is another story. When I removed that hard as a rock trim I chipped the glass in one location and started a crack in another.

They dont have a store near nyc ...

I just made a few calls and left my number at safelite to get some quotes, should hear somethingback within an hour

Maybe u can hook a buddy up with the replacement? :-)

Im going to get the mouldings myself from mazda to avoid getting rip off, if u can get me a glass, i can probably have someone to install it for cheap?