Wipeout

Came out today, nice crack in the windshield. Point of origin appears to be a rock chip right at where the rear view mirror mounts. These things happen.

To summarize...I know that you should stay away from safelite if possible (which sucks, because they're partner vendors with my insurer). Good news, Oregon lets you choose who does the work, glass work included. The bad, I probably have the worst combination - late windshield, antenna, and airbags. I remember the recent 5-page thread about someone's windshield debacle, and had some very pointed questions...

- Is there good glass out there that fits a late car, has the antenna, and is NOT Skeurit?
- Is there a difference between cars with and without airbags and their windshields?
- How bad will insurance try to screw me if I don't use their vendor (law or not)?

spoolinturbo

that was my 5 page debacle!! lol

the ONLY distributer i could find was safelite. but you have to be on them like a HAWK. They do offer good warranties so thats a plus.
there is no difference between airbag or not. The only difference is the antenna, and the one without the antenna will not even come close to fitting a late car
your insurance simply wont pay for it, you may be able to finangle something, if you can get a quote and bring it in to your insurance agent and be somewhat close to what their vendors offer, give a reason stating that you have seen their vendors work and do approve of quality

Wipeout

I know it was your thread, I was trying not to name names.

Good to know about antenna vs. no antenna.
I'd be surprised if insurance cackblocked me that hard, since Oregon law states "I have the right to choose where work is performed." I really don't have the energy to fight another insurance company, but will if I have to! Thanks for the info. Yours was the aftermarket (Chinese) glass, right?

FRporscheman

I went to a local autoglass shop I've used many times before. They got me a new windshield installed for like $220 or $250, something in that range. It was an early car and had no antenna. I think the glass was not sekurit and I don't really care. It has the tinted band at the top, it keeps the wind out of my face, I'm happy.

Incidentally mine was also cracking from the same area. But it wasn't a rock chip - the mirror broke off the glass and took a chunk of glass with it, starting the crack. It wasn't that long of a crack, but then I leaned on the windshiled once by mistake and it ran all the way to the pillar!

Does your signature picture change on every refresh? How do you do that?

Wipeout

Arash, guess that's the only reason I wish I had an early still. Cheaper glass. Hell, I have a PERFECT piece of early glass in my garage! I'd be fine with non-Skeurit, but if it doesn't have the antenna I don't want it. Hmmm. Most of the shops were closed this afternoon when I spotted it, but I have a second car to drive so I'll call around tomorrow and see what's what.

FRporscheman

I want a perfect piece of glass.


Some people buy the cheaper glass with no antenna for late cars (I think this would be 968 coupe windshields), then mount a roof antenna like 968s. I know, you're probably better off just coughing up the dough and avoiding a new hole in your roof. One guy ran the antenna back to the trunk and mounted it in the hole for the wiper!

Wipeout

A-men. Definately misread that the first time I saw it...

CurtP

It doesn't matter who the company is, it all comes down to the installer. I had a great experience with Safelite and my glass is flawless - even though it's the cheap Chinese glass. The glass is what came in my car from the PO and the company he used did a HORRIBLE job (and it was NOT Safelite). The Safelite guy reused the glass that was already in my car.

From the best I can tell with Safelite is that the non-antenna glass is made in China and there are varying degrees of quality of it. You have to inspect the glass carefully looking for defects before you let them install it. The antenna version of the glass is Sekurit. It sounds like they use the universal edging on either one instead of the Porsche specific trim channel. Not that it's an issue, but you should be aware.

As a side note, whoever did the original install of the glass just cut the antenna wire where it met the glass leaving just a piece of wire sticking out from behind the trim piece that covers the connection. This seems to work just fine as long as you have a working antenna booster. I get all the local radio stations without an issue and have no plans on adding a roof antenna. I don't listen to the radio much, so I didn't care if it worked well or not, but it seems fine.

Fluidplay

Don't discard Safelite as inferior, as CurtP states the antenna glass is Sekurit. I just had mine done 2 months agos by Safelite and it was installed perfectly. Paid just over $400 for it! Couldn't be happier...road looks much better through unpitted, uncracked glass.

Smoker324

It has been my experience that when you go outside the network of glass providers that have agreements with your insurer -- you can usually expect the insurer to pay the "reasonable and customary" price for the glass, parts and labor. How this number is defined is difficult to say and whether this number is below or above the actual cost to the glass shop depends on the shop and the agreed contract price. I have found that a truly fair price for the glass and labor is usually in between what the glass shop wants and what the insurer wants to pay. YMMV.

Wipeout

That's kinda what I would expect. They want you to use their provider because it's advantageous (i.e. cheap) for them. Therefore they might not pay for the full amount of another shop if the shop isn't one of their preferred people. I've got a few options right now, so that's good. Sounds like there's only one manufacturer for the antenna glass anyway...

Thanks so far, everyone.

kdjones2000

When I had mine redone ('88 951, with airbags and internal antenna), they had to order it from the Por$che dealer. There is a difference between "Airbag" and "No airbag" windshields.

The "With Airbag" windshield has something called PAAS on it, which is an extra layer of plastic in the glass or something close.

I think that it was something like $600 for the glass, plus $300 for the install. The good thing was that insurance covered the whole thing

Wipeout

Hm. Interesting.

Yabo

FWIW, I got late glass installed with no antenna for 250

Wipeout

Update, will have new glass this Friday. $459 installed - Skeurit late antenna glass. Will cost me my comprehensive deductible.