Repair or Replace? Determining the Best Course of Action for Auto Glass
Auto glass repair
Deciding whether you need to repair or replace auto glass can be difficult. Repairing versus replacing depends on many factors, including your budget, what your insurance covers, and what type of damage needs repairing. Most vehicle owners aren’t familiar with what types of damage are irreparable. Use these four signs to determine if your crack or chip needs auto glass repair or replacement.
Location of the Crack
Damage to any part of your windshield can potentially spread to the driver’s side and is worth getting fixed. However, if your windshield is cracked on the driver’s side to begin with, you need to get it replaced sooner rather than later. Making repairs to your windshield often leaves behind glass discoloration or fogginess where the crack used to be. For driver’s side windshield damage, it’s safer to have the windshield completely replaced with new, clear glass.
Size of the Crack or Chip
If the crack is longer than about one foot, it isn’t worth the money to have it repaired. Replacing the glass altogether will be cheaper and look better than having a large crack replaced. If there is a smaller chip or “starburst” crack, you can most likely have it repaired instead of replaced. Call a mobile auto glass repair company to come to your location and gauge the reparability of the crack. Even if it’s a small chip, you need to have it repaired before it grows larger and impedes your vision.
Number of Cracks and Chips
If multiple auto glass cracks need to be repaired, it’s probably cheaper to have the piece of glass replaced instead. Sealing multiple cracks can add up and leave you with a piece of glass that’s foggy or discolored where the chips used to be. While this isn’t a big deal with one chip, many chips throughout your glass can leave more of it foggy than clear – which isn’t safe to drive with chips. Instead of paying for several cracks, save time and money and replace the glass.
Type of Glass
In general, your vehicle’s windshield is made of laminated glass – glass made from two sheets of glass joined together with polyvinyl butyral (PVB). Due to the structure of laminated glass, when it chips or cracks, it can be repaired. Therefore, if your windshield has a small crack or chip, odds are an auto glass repair company can fix it without having to replace the entire windshield.
Tempered glass is used on most vehicles’ side and rear windows. Unlike laminated glass, it is not possible to repair chips or cracks to tempered glass. Its single-ply structure does not enable auto glass repair. Therefore, if your vehicle’s tempered windows are damaged, you need to have them completely replaced.
Auto Glass Repair You Can Trust
When you want a local auto glass repair shop with extensive knowledge about the types of cracks and chips that result in replacement instead of repair, trust Glass Works Auto Glass in Tulsa. Our technicians will come to your location on your schedule and perform a mobile auto glass repair quickly and efficiently. Contact us today for a free price quote on your repair.
