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My new to me 2015 CD rewarded me with a low center rock chip windshield hit about four days into my ownership. Pretty small, with no cracking around the perimeter. Safelite came to attempt repair, and the vacuum pump caused the chip to crack, so we converted the claim to a replacement. I politely asked the tech, who called in the replacement order in front of me, to tell his boss that I wanted OEM glass. He referred to this as "manufacturer glass", and confirmed that's what I would get.
Shortly thereafter, an appointment was scheduled, and a technician the size of Fezzik in the the Princess Bride movie showed up on time in a Safelite van. And a gentle giant he was. Really took his time removing the trim, and admitted he had only done one Porsche before: a Boxster. His only issue was in dropping the overhead console to get at the mirror plug. Just as I had printed out a few pages form an RL Forum post to give to him, he figured out it was mostly a friction fit, and eased it out with no trouble.
Fezziik assured me that the windshield was delivered to Safelite in Porsche packaging, and that it was OEM glass. I think it is, too. The label matches what was on the truck. He had the job done in 1.5 hours in my garage, and did superb work overall.
My comprehensive coverage is zero deductible for glass, and glass claims do not count against my insurance risk profile, which is a good thing. Pics......
Did he bring along anything for coupling the rain-sensor to the interior of the glass? The 955/957 used a gel pad that transmitted the light to the sensor without it passing through air. If that pad wasn't replaced with the windshield - the rain sensor usually didn't work right. I'm not certain what the 958 uses..
I took my Cayenne to the dealer to replace the windshield and they used Safelite. The Porsche dealer provided the windshield but Safelite did the install at the dealer.
hate to break the bad news to you, but looks just like my $300 aftermarket windshield, or close enough that the cheap one is good enough.
I guess you missed this part in the OP's post..... " My comprehensive coverage is zero deductible for glass, and glass claims do not count against my insurance risk profile, which is a good thing. "
So sounds like you paid $300 for aftermarket, OP paid nothing out of pocket for OEM. The things that make you go "Hmmmm"
I don't follow your criticism at all. Safelite, which is owned by Allstate, is the largest auto glass specialist company in the U.S. Given their volume of work and being tied to the insurer, I was concerned that a Safelite aftermarket windshield might not be as nice as a Porsche oem windshield. (In this regard, I have read some unpleasant tales about BMW owners getting aftermarket insurance replacement glass in E9x M3s that they were unhappy with.) When the Safelite tech. told me my replacement came in Porsche wrapping, and when the code on the old, seemingly original windshield, exactly matched the replacement glass, I was pretty confident it is OEM.
Before calling my claim into Safelite, I called a respected local glass shop for a quote. They told me that they cannot come anywhere close to Safelite pricing, and also told me that their windshield replacement work has precipitously declined since Safelite got big. No surprise.
In any case, the purpose of my post was to report back to RLers that Safelite worked great for me, and I ended up with a great, almost certainly oem Porsche replacement windshield, professionally installed in my garage, with no cash out of my pocket or time spent with the truck parked at a glass shop. It may be a good solution for others.
not really criticizing, just pointing out my aftermarket windshield is the same manufacturer. If you are paying out of pocket, its a waste of money to buy OEM, since its the same manufacturer either way. I'm pretty sure they don't use lower standards, but just print a different catalog number on the glass.
Because of my insurance, and being in MA where the cost of the "free" windshield/glass is most certainly baked into the cost of our insurance/comprehensive/full coverage, I have had Safelite replace the glass, sometimes more than once, in my last 4 vehicles, all with impeccable results.
In my last Touareg TDI, they had installed a heated windshield and when I sat in and looked out for the first time, and it looked like I was driving a sceen door, I had them remove the windshield and replace it with a non-heated windshield as I was certainly not taking the crap they were trying to make me take. Otherwise, all the glass they have replaced has been equal to what came out of the vehicle and my last two vehicles had the sound-deadening glass that has that same "ear with the musical note" on it. Acoustic glass or whatever BS has been peddled on us.
The windshield on my 2016 is pitted pretty good already so it will be time, soon, to get a new windscreen, as soon as a rock gets kicked up and hits the glass making a big spiderweb or a crack bigger than a $1 bill. It happens to me all the time or at least every few years.
I took a rock to the windshield on my 2015 when I'd only owned it a week or two.
Had the dealer do the glass. Not sure who they used but it was not cheap. Insurance covered it, 0 deductible, but the bill was over $1800. Apparently because mine has the "auto high beams", it has a camera behind the mirror that needs to be calibrated whenever the windshield is removed. To calibrate the camera, the car needs to be put on the alignment rack.
Lot of charges added up quickly. I'm certain had I just taken it to a glass place, they'd have just swapped the glass in and been done with it. It was mere luck I'd opted to use the dealer - the car had to go in for a "WE OWE" and while it was there, I asked them to look into the windshield.
Hacked 987. That was a close call! $1800 out of pocket for galss is no bueno.
Hacked 987,
On a related note, when I bought my 2015 CD, I traded a Volvo XC70 Polestar on the Porsche. One week before the Porsche pick up date I was removing the EZ-Pass toll token from the rearview mirror surround, and somehow pulled on it just wrong enough so that a 3 foot long crack erupted in the windshield of my about to be traded on a Porsche Volvo. Then the mirror fell off in my hand.
Safelite came and replaced the Volvo windshield with aftermarket glass which looked just fine. The Safelite customer service team told me that because my Volvo had collision avoidance (active braking at slow speeds), I "should", but did not have to have the active braking camera configured for the new windshield at the dealer. (Safelite said they would pay for that.) I didn't bother as the car ran fine, stopped fine, etc.
my 2014 CD just got a nice rock on the freeway in my windshield glass, right at eye level
my insurance has an OEM rider, pretty sure $0 deductible on glass but not sure yet. it might be a California thing as well
i took it into my shop, which is listed in the Porsche Collision Center (for whats that worth) & they took one look & said yep this will be replaced
my insurance called me & asked they usually have Safelite do this but it's California the I have a choice to take it anywhere I want
after reading this thread seems like there is a lot of little things that need to be considered when doing this (hopefully the shop will account for)
I know they replace the windshield based on VIN but after its done, what should I check?
I might get a 3M Crystaline film on my new one... any thoughts on these? how much did you pay etc?
08-05-2018, 11:42 AM
Safelite Repaired, Safelite Replaced
