No one wants buy a new windshield, but if yours is badly damaged, you have to in order to make sure your car is safe to drive. Driving down the road with a large crack in your view is not safe. If you only have small chips and cracks you can usually get a repair instead of replacing your entire windshield for a fraction of the price. Unfortunately, if the damage is bad enough, that’s not always an option. If you need a windshield repair, call the team over at Wizard Auto Glass. We offer service in Toronto and around the GTA for competitive prices. Keep reading to determine if you can get away with a repair for your windshield, or if you need to call it quits and get a replacement.
To Replace or Not To Replace
More often than not, your windshield can be repaired rather than replaced. If you can get it repaired, it’s recommended as repairs are less expensive and take less time. But sometimes your windshield will be damaged beyond repair, and you’re just going to have to bring out the big bucks and pay for a replacement. But how do you know if you need to replace or not?
An auto glass repair shop technician will be the best person to answer this for you. But generally if you have a crack that is longer than one foot, or a chip larger than two inches than your windshield is beyond saving.
Other damage that cannot be repaired include:
- Damage that is on both layers of the glass
- Multiple cracks
- Damage over the driver’s viewing area
- Cracks and chips along the edge of the windshield
- Damage on the inside of the windshield
- Cracks that are over 18 inches long
Types of Cracks and Chips:
The size and type of the crack or chip also has an impact on whether or not you have to replace your windshield.
Repairable:
- Star break (short cracks coming out from a central point resembling a star)
- Crack
- Pit (small piece of the glass has come off)
- Bullseye (circular chip)
- Half moon (similar to bullseye, but damage is not a full circle)
Not repairable:
- Spider webs (multiple cracks spreading out from a central point)
- Large crack or chips
- Multiple cracks or chips
How to Avoid a Replacement
Sometimes things that are completely out of your control happen, aka accidents, and you still end up paying for it. When this happens, unfortunately, there’s not much you can do other than get good insurance. But often windshield replacements can be avoided, if you get your windshield repaired as soon as you notice damage. A small chip or crack is easy enough to fix, and cheap enough, but people think, “it’s so small, I can just leave it for awhile.”
Well, that small chip can easily become a big hole if you leave it long enough. Putting off a windshield repair or replacement is not only a danger to you, but to your passengers as well. You wouldn’t ignore a check engine light or a flat tire, so don’t ignore your windshield either. So if a stone cracks your windshield on your daily travels, don’t leave it, fix it.