Well after two years of driving various High Speed Touring events, I took a rock in the center of my 94 coupe windshield and she has a long crack. I've inquired about replacement - dealer wanted $1,200 for the favor of an OEM replacement. The local aftermarket glass and windshield shops around $500. My question is this - do our cars have tinted OEM windshields? When looking at / through mine it appears to have a slight green tint....but since the car is Polo Green, I might be seeing the reflection from the body color. I've held a piece of white paper behind the windshield to try and determine if it was tinted but I'm not sure...I'm thinking of having one of the aftermarket shops handle the replacement but want the windshield as close to the original color as possible.....any assistance is greatly appreciated.

 

AFAIK they were not tinted

Also, I think 500 is a bit steep... that better include the gasket

 

Thanks - and yes according to the shop the price includes new windshield, gasket and molding (I have no idea what the molding part / piece is but they said it would be ruined after the removal of the existing windshield.)

 

That sounds about right and close to what I paid a few years ago to have a new OEM windshield & seal installed at the local auto glass shop.

I made sure that their windshield had the same logo as my OEM unit as it looks like it has a slight dark tint, not the slight green tint of the windshield in my IROC.

 

That's what insurance is for.

 

Lets talk windshields????

I just learned "Bee" and now its "windshields"

 

Your windshied has UV protection, which is somewhat like a tint, and you should have an actual dark tint strip across the top of it.

 

My windsheild cost $650 with weather stripping and all. One thing to look out for is distortion. The first windshield was so distorted that objects on the sides appeared to be moving faster than in the center of the windshield. The glass shop agreed. I asked them to have two guys hold up the next replacement windshield at the installed angle and I moved my head up and down and left to right. Sure enough this windshield was very distorted ( I think it was LOF glass) but the third windshield was fine. Put some blankets or pillows on the seats not only to keep glass chips off but when the installer put one knee deep into the seat cushion he ripped the seat where it was stiched.

 

The stock glass has a slight tint...stock glass should say Soft-Ray or Solar-Ray or Cool-Ray or some such thing.

My new windshield ran about $450, including new side and top weatherstrip (it is glued to the metal hardware and must be cut off).

After hearing skeet's testimonial, I think I'd pull the seats completely out of the car before having the windshield replaced again ....unless I got the same guy as before (he was very conscientious and I was right there every second)

Larry
code5coupe

 

Thanks all for the great info (this forum is tops)....I'll be right there watching the install and you can bet I'll be pulling the seats out of the car. Good to see the Soft-Ray, Solar-Ray, Cool-Ray listing and the great info about the distortion (guess we get what we pay for when using aftermarket glass...eh?). I'll let everyone know how it all goes together and my impressions after the install (tomorrow morning). Thanks again.