Windshield woes
Thread Starter
Racer
Joined: Sep 2018
Posts: 287
Likes: 207
Windshield woes
Greetings gents.
Thought I'd pose a question to the forum. I just cleaned my car for the first time (as I've only put about 300kms on it thus far), and noticed about a six inch scratch that follows the path of the drivers side wiper blade. Deep enough to catch a finger nail. I did have the car ceramic coated and I'm pretty sure that included the windshield.
Question is, can ceramic coating be buffed out? If it's to the glass, can that be buffed out?
What are the chances it came from the dealer like that? Extremely hard to notice but now I see it and it will haunt my dreams 🤔.
Anyways appreciate some thoughts from savy folks.
Many thx in advance.
Thought I'd pose a question to the forum. I just cleaned my car for the first time (as I've only put about 300kms on it thus far), and noticed about a six inch scratch that follows the path of the drivers side wiper blade. Deep enough to catch a finger nail. I did have the car ceramic coated and I'm pretty sure that included the windshield.
Question is, can ceramic coating be buffed out? If it's to the glass, can that be buffed out?
What are the chances it came from the dealer like that? Extremely hard to notice but now I see it and it will haunt my dreams 🤔.
Anyways appreciate some thoughts from savy folks.
Many thx in advance.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 2,648
Likes: 2,933
From: NW Indiana
St. Jude Donor '05 thru '24
If the glass is scratched deep enough to feel it with a fingernail, I doubt you could buff it out. I had a similar issue with side windows in a Challenger I owned. Took it to a glass shop and the guy said it would cost more time and labor to get the scratch out than it would to buy two new windows.
It could have been delivered like that, but it would be hard to prove that with the dealership.
It could have been delivered like that, but it would be hard to prove that with the dealership.
Last edited by golddog; May 6, 2020 at 07:01 PM.
Burning Brakes
Joined: May 1999
Posts: 1,084
Likes: 158
From: New Bedford MA
It could be a scratch in just te ceramic coating. Although the coatings are very thin they are very hard once it cures. It is possible that you put the wipers on before it cured which takes takes several days. I did paint correction and ceramic coating on my 2015 C7. It took a few days for the coating to cure and see the gloss get even deeper. It still looked great 5 years later when I sold it. When (or if) my ZBM comes in I will do paint correction and coat it with 22ple Insanity Ceramic Coating.
Drifting
Joined: Nov 2002
Posts: 1,688
Likes: 201
From: Loveland, CO
I noticed a scratch in my C7 windshield a couple of days after delivery. It was snowy and the shipping cover was covered in grime and sand. I suspect someone turned on the wipers during delivery, but I could not prove.it. My dealer tried to buff it out, but no luck. Eventually GM covered the replacement. I was impressed.
Thread Starter
Racer
Joined: Sep 2018
Posts: 287
Likes: 207
Thx for the responses gents.
I've reached out to both the shop who did the ceramic as well as the dealer. Let's see if any of those irons get hot. If not, I suppose I'll see if a window service shop can sort it out. Upon further examination, it seems the scratch is actually far longer than previously noticed. I'd say almost the full length of wiper travel. Hard to see but again, I know it's there....🙄
I've reached out to both the shop who did the ceramic as well as the dealer. Let's see if any of those irons get hot. If not, I suppose I'll see if a window service shop can sort it out. Upon further examination, it seems the scratch is actually far longer than previously noticed. I'd say almost the full length of wiper travel. Hard to see but again, I know it's there....🙄
Last edited by midengine; May 6, 2020 at 09:05 PM.
Race Director
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 19,948
Likes: 6,752
From: Bonneville Salt Flats
If you can feel a scratch in glass with a finger-nail, it CANNOT be polished without severely distorting the image through it. 
And, I can tell you now, no one is going to fess up. It was the "other guy." Indeed, you've no proof it didn't come from GM that way. Far goofier things have happened.
And, I can tell you now, no one is going to fess up. It was the "other guy." Indeed, you've no proof it didn't come from GM that way. Far goofier things have happened.
Last edited by Avanti; May 6, 2020 at 09:22 PM.
Race Director
Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 16,644
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From: NJ
Clearplex in the future. Not the absolute answer for everyone but it works for me.
Imo Well worth the investment if you like clear glass. I'm just mad I didn't learn about it 4yrs ago on my first new Corvette. I did it on my next one and you can't tell it's there and if something happens (or it gets road rashed like the last car at 8K miles) it can be peeled off and replaced.
Replacing windshields on newer cars is very invasive and unforgiving. Not sure if C8 is different (you would hope they learned from C7) but removing the A pillar trim sometimes resulted in water leaks because of the way they clipped in.
OP. You can polish till your hearts content. It may smooth the edges of that scratch a half a micron but may lessen the distraction. But that scratch will not be removed without way more labor to keep the optical clarity throughout a new windshield bought and installed would be.
Imo Well worth the investment if you like clear glass. I'm just mad I didn't learn about it 4yrs ago on my first new Corvette. I did it on my next one and you can't tell it's there and if something happens (or it gets road rashed like the last car at 8K miles) it can be peeled off and replaced.
Replacing windshields on newer cars is very invasive and unforgiving. Not sure if C8 is different (you would hope they learned from C7) but removing the A pillar trim sometimes resulted in water leaks because of the way they clipped in.
OP. You can polish till your hearts content. It may smooth the edges of that scratch a half a micron but may lessen the distraction. But that scratch will not be removed without way more labor to keep the optical clarity throughout a new windshield bought and installed would be.
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Ceramic can be removed. It's a fair bit of work, but can be done. But a ceramic coating is really VERY thin. If the scratch is deep enough to catch a fingernail, it's probably in the glass.
I had that happen to me, and it was low enough on the windshield I decided to live with it. But after a couple of weeks, the glass started to crack from the end of the scratch, so I had to have the windshield replaced. Luckily, my insurance coverage has a zero deductible for glass.
If it's not too deep, it might be possible to fill the crack with the same kind of resin glass shops use to repair small star pattern chips. I'd find a good glass shop and let them inspect it, and see if they think it's repairable or would need to be replaced. No one here is really a glass expert, and we can't see or touch the scratch, so all we can do is guess.
I had that happen to me, and it was low enough on the windshield I decided to live with it. But after a couple of weeks, the glass started to crack from the end of the scratch, so I had to have the windshield replaced. Luckily, my insurance coverage has a zero deductible for glass.
If it's not too deep, it might be possible to fill the crack with the same kind of resin glass shops use to repair small star pattern chips. I'd find a good glass shop and let them inspect it, and see if they think it's repairable or would need to be replaced. No one here is really a glass expert, and we can't see or touch the scratch, so all we can do is guess.
Race Director
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