Make sure you get OEM molding. I've had "aftermarket" will-fit molding and the finish is not the same and you can tell its not specific to the car.

 

In Florida, and in several other states, if your windshield is damaged -- chipped or cracked (so long as the crack isn't longer than a dollar bill), your insurance is required to replace it at no cost to you.

 

Let's not try to complain too loud when we pay are insurance premium each month or year, as we just got a $1500 windshield for almost free.
Sometimes people think this a maintenance insurance policy but it's an accident insurance policy.

 

Well just depends on the car the problem witht he Vettes are the mouldings are hard to save properly. The correct way is just replace them and do it the right way..

 

Had my non-HUD windshield replaced (including weather stripping) for ~ $600.00.

 

I have a non-hud and I had it replaced about a year ago. The price the guy was charging the insurance company was just over $500. He came to the house, did a good job as far as I could tell. I'm no expert on changing a windshield but I was with him every step of the way. I haven't had any problems with it.

 

The additional charge of $1/month is to add $0 deductible glass coverage. That is on top of the comp or collision (don't recall which) premium. Money well spent.

I've found that the insurance companies that spend a lot of money with commercials and other advertising have higher rates than solid companies which do not spend money so freely when it comes to adverts.



Sorny

 

Must be the installers in some parts of the country do not know how to save and reuse the original moldings. The guys who did my windshield had no problem doing the job correctly and they reused the moldings. Finished job looks great and the moldings are exactly where they were before (after hearing complaints on the forum I had measured them before the glass replacement). Since there are not a lot of C5s in the area they had only done a couple of C5s but found no specific problems that made replacing a C5 windshield different than any other car.

Bill

 

Of course, those cavemen and lizards get the big bucks!

 

Must be huh I guess when the installers dont choose to replace the moulding they just done have a clue what they are doing. As I said before the correct way is to replace the mouldings with new. You can get by with doing it the cheesy way and the cheaper way using the old mouldings but this is not the proper way. I have been doing autoglass for 15 years and sure I can save the mouldings if your cheap and want used stuff with your w/s install. I just would not do it to my own car , so I dont recommend doing it to my good customers who take pride in their ride.....

 

Same here...no new mouldings and the cost was under $1200 (per my earlier post).

 

Was at a glass repair place today for my daughters car. While I was there, I ask the guy about Corvette windshields. He told me that to replace one on my 04 coupe with a windshield antanna would cost 1200 dollars. 800 for the windshield (hud with antanna) and 400 for the molding if needed. He told me he would try to use the original but if it did not go back on well or did not look good, he would use the new molding.

 

When I had mine replaced 2 months ago the owner installed mine (only he does the vettes) He told me the cost of the windshield molding is one piece and $330 cost. He also said he would never change a vette windshield and use the old molding. He's been installing vette windshields for almost 30 years.

 

lets just say i was cruising at a healthy speed on the highway and a rock hit the windshield and I got a small crack as well. Took it to the shop and they said instead of fixing it, i should check with my insurance to see if i have full glass coverage. luckily i did. so when they went to replace the windshield i had them order one that was for HUD even though my car doesnt have it...figured some day i'll splurge for it so why not get the good windshield while i can... free is a good price... hope you got full glass coverage

 

I'm glad someone has photos of the HUD on non-HUD glass. Just had mine changed-out (the windshield), and the installer got a cheapy import brand of glass the first time. It had severe double HUD vision. Since it was an insurance job, I had them change it out (the glass). OEM (GM) glass is made by AP Tech. Without a doubt, it displays the HUD crystal clear. After market installers can get the AP Tech HUD / Solar glass for less than $1000.

 

He is exactly right....Sounds like he knows what is up.

 

Here is my contribution to the Forum:

I started researching my windshield options on-line and also in this forum. For my C5 1998 Convertible with HUD upgraded.

The first quote on-line came from fixmyglass.safelite.com webpage and quote was for $829.99 + tax + moldings, + disposal fee + “other fees”.

Second Company that I found was GLASSUSA.COM for online quote they demanded e-mail address and phone number. I filled in the information and submitted but the scammers only displayed some random lines of characters and started calling me leaving message to schedule the service. O no, I wanted multiple quotes first. I am not stupid. After several hours or next day they send me the quote that had all the fields with 0s. Five days later they sent me a quote for $307.17.

In the meantime I have already received other quotes. You can imagine waiting 5 days.



In the meantime, next set of quotes was provided by company called Glass.net. It gave quotes from two providers: autoglassguru.com also known as windshieldguru.com and quote was for $280.82 and another provider for $287.65.

I decided to go for Windshield Gurus. The company called me back and asked for credit card number as obviously they need to source the glass. They said that with moldings it is going to cost $333.56 and that is what they charged me for.

The way you can get that service that cheap is because they outsource it to the local installers that just “operate out of the van” and have no overhead costs, office lease, electricity etc.

If you have a “simple car” windshield replacement it is a WIN-WIN situation, however Corvette is not a “simple car”. My installer struggled with molding removal, part of the problem was also that previously moldings that are screw together were also treated with the adhesive. In the process of removing he disfigured the side and top molding. When he was putting things back he only put top and right side molding telling me to buy new (or good used) pieces for the left side. He said if I have a problem putting it myself he can come back and install it. Those parts cost hundreds of $ therefore I decided using tools (wise, pliers etc.) to restore them myself to shape that would fit and look good.

So if you are handy with tools like myself and have time you can still consider this option as saving costs.

The glass had all the same characteristic like my original windshield and HUD was displaying properly only single contours as expected from the good glass (no doubles).

There are a lot of bad reviews from Customers and also from Sub-contractors that used Windshield Gurus. People who did the service for me were not complaining about them that arrangement works for them because they do not need advertising cost and jobs come to them and Windshield Guru gets their cut.

Please note that Windshield Guru have some sloppiness associated to their services. Eg if you try to call them back (after they called you) the number is unknown because they use “+” in front of 8 hundred number as caller ID, you need to replace it with “1”. Also they Customer Service you need to wait long time to pick up the phone and they are even quite confused about year of your car etc. There is a big difference between 1988 and 1998 Corvettes.

Please note that based on other Corvette owners feedback I decided to remove the windshield wipers & arms myself prior to windshield installation to avoid any potential damage by the installers.

Final conclusion:
Yes, you can save money with those “cheaper options” but it is going to cost you your time and your skill & efforts to get things right in the end.
If you do not have time, skills, tools then going to someone who has more experience with the Corvettes makes more sense at the higher cost and lower risks.

I hope my report will be useful to someone.

Good Luck with windshield replacement!

Knowledge is Power.

 

Use a local private owned shop. I called one & was told Florida ins covers it 100%. I insisted on OEM. W/s is not something to skimp on. Safelite makes their own, wasn't interested.

 

Whoa, those quotes have some serious Corvette taxes imbedded in them!

 

11 year old thread