Hi... First my question, then I will spend a moment afterward just venting some personal frustration with California roads...

My question is is a 2012 Corvette Grand Sport Convertible windshield any harder for a windshield repair company to replace than any other windshield??? If anyone knows... I see, in addition to the rear view mirror, a black box which I assume is likely OnStar related??? Anyone have experience with windshield replacement???

Now for my frustration rant... California roadways are slowly being reclaimed by nature. They are slowly turning into gravel piles that we drive on. One particular stretch of freeway I drive each day had the same huge potholes for so many years that I learned how to do a certain lane to lane weave to avoid the worst ones... I could have given the potholes names because they were there for so long...

So I've had my new Corvette for exactly one week as of today... And I have intentionally stayed OFF the freeways because 1) I am having a clear bra put on this weekend and wanted to avoid chipping up the front of the car before that goes on and 2) I know it's inevitable that you take rocks in the windshield if you drive on California roads at any speed at all. So I wanted to have a little fun before the depression of a cracked windshield was to be mine...

My fun lasted four driving days... And barely 200 miles... Yesterday I discovered a small but clearly visible rock chip in my windshield on the rider's side... It's small but you can see if from about two miles away... Bummed... On other cars I've taken larger star type cracks to these repair shops where they inject some resin into the wound and I've found that form of repair to be a joke... Maybe it prevents the star from turning into a crack line but cosmetically it does nothing... And yes, in this case, my chip is purely cosmetic...

It's just that the car is brand spanking new and I drove a long and winding route on surface streets to try to avoid exactly this happening for a while...

Sorry for the rant... I'll get over it soon I hope...

So again, anything harder than normal about changing the windshield on a 2012 corvette convertible???

thanks... bob..

 

These windshields are soft and chip real easy, No different to replace than any other car. I had a chip on my wifes vert windshield, later it turned into a crack. Luckily in Florida, insurance companies have to replace windshield for free. So, maybe I helped that chip turn into a crack.

 

I presume you've never had a windshield fixed, as in chip repair. There are small, indie companies that do it, and there are large ones like Safelite. Usually, it will run about $50-$90. They come to your house/biz, or in the case of major companies, you can find retail locations. It works.

Other than the HUD which does require a special windshield, there is no special feature of the C6 windshield other than attachment of all things such as the OnStar black box.

 

Bob, I can well understand your "frustration". Mine is only a base '07 vert and my windshield was damaged enough it needed replacement. Owning a '65 where all the glass and most all parts are date coded and most any replacement parts devalue the vehicle I wanted only an oem glass.

Anyways, I wanted the replacement windshield to have the GM logo, but the Chevy dealers I spoke with all told me the majority of windshields they receive don't have it anymore and glass is a special order and I own it. Why all this explanation? The chip repair will always be visible and the only recourse is a new windshield. I found Safelite carried a Technoglas branded windshield as my oem glass is marked and after several weeks I've accepted it as the only viable alternative.

Nio, the GS glass is no different than any other C6 except for the HUD inner plastic liner. Your insurance will pay to replace less your deductible ONLY if the chip becomes a crack or is too large to inject resin. Somehow that chip has to spread.

They had two techs replace the glass, took about 2 hours while I waited at the shop. Not advisable to have it done mobile. There are a lot of members who will think my concern ridiculous, doesn't bother me at all.

John

 

Oh, I have tried chip repair twice before on other cars and in both of those cases, the injection of resin left the crack every bit as visible as it was before... The first of those attempts was many years ago and when I went in for the second attempt many years later on a different car I remembered thinking that surely the technology has improved over that first totally failed fix (at least cosmetically)... But no, the second attempt years later was every bit as worthless (again, cosmetically) as was the first... And I've watched a few recent repair videos where it appears they do the same technique with the same equipment... So I have very little confidence that cosmetically any repair company could make this small chip less visible... This chip will never spread (at least I think not)... My other, older car, a 2006 Infiniti, as a thousand chips like this one but it's not a one week old Corvette with barely 200 miles on it... As I said in my original post, this is all about the pain of having a chip in a brand new, not exactly inexpensive car... And I just want it cosmetically to go away... But I will try these guys (I will first do a search to try to find the best local glass shop and I certainly won't go where I went before) and see if they can inject resin into this chip and make it look at least somewhat less visible... This little chip is just perfect for catching the light and allowing you to see it from oh about a block away... Well, not really but again, I'm just bummed... I also know that if it's TOO small, and this might be just that, repair shops will say it's too small to even collect resin... I read about one place who does what they call "drill and fill" where they actually use a high speed drill to open the chip up large enough so they can fill it.. That sounds scary but heck, did I mention that it's only a week old with barely 200 miles on it??? Beware California roadways, even the surface streets as I have now discovered... thanks... bob...

 

There's nothing special about the windshield, but they're very expensive to replace.

Chips happen...just have to get over it I guess. My first windshield was obliterated on the freeway by a truck throwing a fist sized rock into it. Now my windshield has another nickle sized chip/crack in it. I drive in Houston and it's going to happen. I'm not going to spend 800 bucks every time I get a crack, lol, so I just live with it.

 

Can you say a bit more about the HUD plastic liner??? Are you saying that in the HUD area of the windshield itself (not the HUD projection cover I can see in the top of the dashboard) there is something special (plastic liner) on the windshield??? And does anyone know how much these windshields might cost??? 100's?? 1000's?? thanks... bob...

 

some, if not most or all, do drill a bit (no pun intended) to make sure the hole is open to the in-betw. layer. then, the fluid can be injected and it will prevent the hole/crack from spreading.

I doubt if any co., large or small, will guarantee or tell you that it will disappear. but you can ask. maybe someone will lie to you.

 

I'd do a chip repair to keep it from cracking further before I'd replace it.

 

I wouldn't expect it to completely disappear but I would like it to be one of those "you have to hunt for it a little bit" rather than this one which I can see from 50 feet away as I approach the car... These other two repairs I had done years ago made it show MORE if anything... And in neither of those repairs did anyone ever do any drilling... It was clean it a little bit, clamp on their injection tool, shoot it some stuff, take money from me and done... Anyone know of a good glass repair shop in Northern California, SF Bay Area??? thanks.. bob...

 

Bob, early versions of the HUD windshields had the plastic liner "tinted" only where the projection showed. This was visible when looking at the glass so they went to having the entire plastic "tinted' so it didn't show. Tinted is not the correct explanation, but the liner is different on the HUD windshield and you don't notice it. The cost difference is slight and anyone replacing the glass should consider paying the difference as the next owner may want to add HUD [selling point]. My replacement was $900.00 and I paid my deductible of $100.00

Glass replacements do not count against your insurance rating.

 

 

My insurance offers free windshield chip repair, up to 3 chips I believe.

California State Automobile Association, AAA.

You pick your shop or use their vendor, either way works.

 

Has anyone actually ever had a "chip repair" done where cosmetically the chip was less visible after the repair than it was before??? As I said above I've had two done before, once I would guess was in around 1996 and then second was done 10 years later in 2006... The first was a joke when it came to cosmetics. The second was no better... That's when I decided chip repairs likely do help prevent chips from turning into full blown cracks but as for cosmetics they were worthless... The chip I just got will never spread (remember I have hundreds of these in my old car, a 2006 Infiniti, so I have quite a database of chip spreading knowledge). Instead, this is all about cosmetics because like I said, the car is brand stinkin new with barely 200 miles on the odometer... Yeah, I know as long as I choose to stay in California with our bankrupt economy and no money for educating kids, let alone fixing infrastructure, I will get more dings... Heck, that's why I took long surface street routes to work, to stay off the freeways so I could enjoy this new car for at least a while... But even that failed...

Sorry for whining and yes, that's just what I'm doing so I will stop... Again, has anyone ever had a chip repair that actually looked cosmetically better after the repair was done??? I'm just looking for a little hope here... thanks... bob...

 

Bob, yes years ago I had a chip in my Jeep GC's windshield repaired when I lived in Alaska and to this day it remains invisible. However last summer while on a 7,000 mile road trip I picked up a chip in my 2009 coupe windshield in IL and had it fixed while staying in Green Bay. As you state cosmetically it did not change a thing to this rock chip. I can spot the ding in the glass from many feet away. Cost was $85.00 for the mobile glass service truck to come to my hotel and took the tech 10 mins to inject the area, scrape it smooth and depart. I was not impressed by this service and the results I received.

George

 

I've had two such 'drill n' fills' done. First on my '03 AE C5, recently on my CTS-4. Both worked as advertised. Are they 100% invisible? No. Can see 'em in the right light & angle; however, I took [that] as a compromise vs complete windshield replacment.

IF the roads are as bad as you say? It's only a question of time before you get hit again, possibly resulting in a crack. Then replacement is the only option. Consider getting your chip drilled & filled for the meantime, knowing eventually what you'll be forced to do sometime down the line.

JMO: methinks you'll find a D&F to be an acceptable, albeit temporary, stop-gap. IF you cannot live with the results after trying the inexpensive route? THEN, have it replaced.

 

Hi... Neither of the two I had done in years past were "drill and fill"... In fact I only heard about the "drill" part last night while reading about current chip repair technology... And this one I have now, even though it is incredibly visible it is also very small.... And I think, again, from what I've read, that any repair place would likely need to make it a little larger if any fill is going to help... If it's too small they just can't get any material to be injected (apparently)... So I will hunt for local repair places that have good reviews and that say they can do a "drill and fill" repair... I appreciate the help... thanks much.... bob...

 

I can easily understand your frustration with this on a brand new car. I have had the w/s repairs many many times. Thats what I would go for again. I have had times where the w/s was completely replaced. Then, there was a problem with the new seal as the w/s leaked. So, I usually try to avoid the full replacement. I suggest you at least try the w/s repair and the sooner the better before it starts to run. Yes, you as the owner will be able to see the slight imperfection but probably no one else will. The last time I had the w/s repaired they told me how they do it today is far better than how they used to do it. I think mine cost $78 and my insurance company paid it and waived the deductible. Good Luck with whatever you decide to do. By the way, you are not the only state with poor roads. We had a pretty mild winter but by looking at the condition of the roads this spring you would never know it. We got 3 inches of rain a few days ago so hopefully that washed most of that crappy brine away...

 

Congratulations on the new car! So sorry you were "rocked" so quickly. The clear bra is a good move, take it from one who lives in highway road rock land (AKA New Mexico). While you have your vette in, you might want to have the door handle "cups" done with the same material too. This application was cheap -$21 for both doors - eliminating finger nail scratches in the area.

I have had several 'star' chips repaired. You know, clean out the chip, add the magic goop, activate the goop, collect your bucks and send you off. I have had anywhere from OK to excellent results with the process. Best results came with the shop doing a mild grind of the star, then proceeding.

Enjoy your new ride!

 

The first week i bought my 350Z i got a chip just big enough to annoy me but not big enough for repair. so in 07 when i bought my c6 it was driven from the dealer to my garage where it sat for a week waiting for my friend to apply a product called clear plex to the windshield, along with the clear bra on the nose, mirrors, rocker panels and a couple of cut custom pieces where i felt the paint needed protection. The clear plex has been on my windshield for 5 years and not one chip. It suppose to be good for only 2 years but i only have 7000 miles on my ride so its not driven alot. I recommend you do a little research and try to find a shop that knows about clearplex and have it done. it will save you alot of stress.