Looking for a windshield shop/guy in OC, CA
 

I am thinking of replacing 2005 windshield, it's pretty pittied with nice sized rock chip & crack.

Thanks for the help

I saw some people recommending Safelite on Rennlist. Someone said you could get OEM Porsche windshield glass from safelite installed at a good price.

I decided to contact safelite (toll free#) and asked the first person I spoke with about OEM glass, she didn't know what I was talking about and then started arguing with me saying safelite only installs their own manufactured windshields. She insisted I was wrong so I let it go and decided to call them back the next day.

The next day I spoke to a guy at safelite (toll free#)who said I could order OEM glass and gave me a price quote and then set an appointment for me the following week. He said the windshield would take a while to get it shipped to their install location in Irvine so my appointment was for the following week. He also told me I need to go to their locations because Porsches windshields could be tricky and then contacted the Irvine manager who insisted I bring it in.

So... I have to drive 10 miles in traffic which takes about 30 minutes at 1:30PM (in the middle of my work day). When I get there they seem to be expecting me but then say “the glass is still not there” and “it shows in route”. I wait around a bit and then a gentleman named Jesse offers to help. He tells me it was not ordered and needed to be ordered from Porsche. I told him” that’s what the guy who set the appoint said he did and that they should have called me earlier before I drove all they way down there” . I purposefully did not set any business appointments for the rest of the day because I was told to schedule 3 hours for the job. Jesse also says that I might as well go home and he would call me to let me know about when the windshield might come in and how much it would cost.
It seems to me nobody at safelite know what is going on and they are constantly contradicting each other. Jesse did call me 2 hours later and said he could order the glass. Again I though that is what they did the first time.
I am going to go with an indepent Porsche shop and pay about 20% more, but they are going to get the windshield by the next day and I am confident they will do it the job right.
Just another example of trying to save a buck and end up spending twice as much time and energy . I guess you get what you pay for. Safelite total wasted about 3 hours of my life which is worth allot more than the $300 I would have saved. I wish they would have had the courtesy to call me and let me know that the windshield was not there.
Totally unprofessional!!!!

I use safelite for chip repair with no problem but have not used them for replacement. I had a windshield replaced in my old 928 and used indy Porsche shop with good results. If my 996tt needed a windshield I would use dealer or someone they suggested. Hope it works out and sorry to see they wasted your day.

Bbi autosport can do it. Use porsche glass and parts.

I had a Boxster back in '00 and on the first group run, took a piece of gravel to the windshield, leaving a 'bullseye' crack. My insurance sent me to Safelite, which - under instructions of the insurance co - did the clear epoxy repair. It looked better, but the crack would catch light and it was distracting, so I told the insurance company thanks but no thanks and had the glass replaced with a non-OE windshield. they came and did it on site at work. Minimal interruption to my day, and their replacement glass was fine. IIRC, it was $75 out of pocket.

YMMV

I chipped mine at the track recently and used a $10 Permatex window repair kit to fix it. It was well worth the hour of work instead of paying someone or using insurance.

Best advice I've heard is to use the common local glass shop that does hundreds of these every week. The import thing is the install, doesn't really matter about the glass used. I replaced mine recently for less then 500 cdn. Didn't use OEM glass and I am loving the new windshield much better then my old sand blasted one.

Most ins offer free chip repair. Call and find out what can be repaired for free.

I was just talking to a friend about this last weekend. He had his M3 windshield replaced with OE glass from safelite. They came out to him and replaced it for the cost of the deductible on his insurance (IIRC ~$50). I saw it and it had the BMW logo on it, so I know they can do OE glass replacement.

I guess YMMV, as the OP found out.

My Porsche dealer uses an independent windshield installer who actually travels around to many of the higher end car dealers doing installations for them too.

I needed to replace the windshield on my 996 Turbo a couple of years ago and took the car to my dealer; the independent installer installed OEM glass. No issues.

safelite wouldn't do mine?! each store though is indie operated i think?! i still have a nasty chip front/center. whatever. lol