# Replace a windshield yet?



## Patman (May 7, 2011)

Anyone here replace a windshield yet? Mine is not cracked yet but I do notice what looks like a bunch of little divots and I know there was one chip I had fixed by Safe lite that is right in front of my line of sight. The little divots are driving me crazy. When I wash my car, the wax from the car wash stays in the divots and creates a bunch of little dots. I wonder if insurance would replace since it is not cracked? :$#angry:


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## Smurfenstein (Nov 16, 2011)

I doubt that insurance will replace your windshield since its not cracked, and still serving its function properly. I will say however that I know what you're talking about, two weeks after getting my Cruze I got a chip the size of a paint fleck and everytime I notice it it starts to drive me crazy.


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## Starks8 (Jul 20, 2011)

Whats up with this weak windshield on the Cruze?


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## NYCruze2012 (Jan 16, 2012)

Nothing a hammer and good glass insurance couldn't handle!

Sent from my DROID3


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## leeclark (Mar 25, 2012)

NYCruze2012 said:


> Nothing a hammer and good glass insurance couldn't handle!
> 
> Sent from my DROID3


lol


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## Tallboy (Jul 5, 2011)

NYCruze2012 said:


> Nothing a hammer and good glass insurance couldn't handle!
> 
> Sent from my DROID3


Your advice is to commit insurance fraud?


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## NYCruze2012 (Jan 16, 2012)

Tallboy said:


> Your advice is to commit insurance fraud?


I do not condone any such action nor endorse it but it was just a fleeting thought that popped into my head besides rocks fly up out of tires and off the highways regularly.

Sent from my DROID3


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## Tallboy (Jul 5, 2011)

NYCruze2012 said:


> I do not condone any such action nor endorse it but it was just a fleeting thought that popped into my head besides rocks fly up out of tires and off the highways regularly.
> 
> Sent from my DROID3


Lots of hammers in the roadway in your neck of the woods?


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## NYCruze2012 (Jan 16, 2012)

Tallboy said:


> Lots of hammers in the roadway in your neck of the woods?


Well who knows. We do have a lot of home builders in the area. 

Sent from my DROID3


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## Blue Angel (Feb 18, 2011)

Tallboy said:


> Lots of hammers in the roadway in your neck of the woods?


Yes. There are lots of people around here who have hammer-like IQ levels when it comes to driving.


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## iKermit (Dec 13, 2010)

Just say you were driving hammered. 

;-)


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## Cavere (Sep 11, 2011)

I got a rock chip behind the plastic holding onto the rear view mirror. Went to a carwash and had a crack all the way down my windshield. So yes I replaced mine already.


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## obermd (Mar 3, 2012)

Patman said:


> Anyone here replace a windshield yet? Mine is not cracked yet but I do notice what looks like a bunch of little divots and I know there was one chip I had fixed by Safe lite that is right in front of my line of sight. The little divots are driving me crazy. When I wash my car, the wax from the car wash stays in the divots and creates a bunch of little dots. I wonder if insurance would replace since it is not cracked? :$#angry:


I'm surprised Safelite was willing to fix a divot directly in your line of sight. USAA won't pay for this type of repair and I suspect other insurance companies are the same way. If the divot isn't in you line of sight it's considered safe to repair.


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## obermd (Mar 3, 2012)

I hammer won't shatter a windshield. I had some idiot go ballistic on my car once and hit my windshield with a hammer. It left a nice round hole in my windshield. The guy had the gall to tell the police I tried to run him down. Fortunately there was windblown snow stuck to my hood that obviously didn't have a body print on it. The police actually arrested him as it turned out he was on probation for going ballistic on someone else.


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## Blue Angel (Feb 18, 2011)

^Wow... it takes all kinds!


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## Starks8 (Jul 20, 2011)

I wanted to bring this issue back to life and ask if any current 2013 or 2012 Cruze owners are finding themselves having issues with their Cruze's front windshield getting easily cracked and/or pitted?

There have been a handful or so threads related to Cruze owners having to deal with fixing or replacing their front windshields (sometimes more then once) due seemingly to the cruze's windshield being thin and possibly really weak and not be able to stand up to rocks and road debris like a good windshield should. 

What are you guys experiencing with your windshields as of late?


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## Lightz39 (May 14, 2012)

I dont know how american insurance works but here in canada you lose your discount if you use insurance. Best to spend the $500 or whatever it is. Also these windshields SUCK. My old beater car I had before this could take a canon shot and be good to go. I have a perfect line of chips along the passenger side. The mirror is practically unpainted as well. Obviously rocks go up and right at me.


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## Patman (May 7, 2011)

obermd said:


> I'm surprised Safelite was willing to fix a divot directly in your line of sight. USAA won't pay for this type of repair and I suspect other insurance companies are the same way. If the divot isn't in you line of sight it's considered safe to repair.


They tried to fix it by putting a filler in the divot which eventually came outand it was in my line of sight which made it more annoying! I know I got an extra $75 for the price of a windshield when they totaled my car. Huh!?!? Insurance already took my car! for 13300 + 75 for a windshield. Went for the price of nice new 2012 Eco. Can't complain!


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## obermd (Mar 3, 2012)

I actually had some fool use a hammer on my windshield once. The police arrested him. It leaves a nice round hole in the windshield.


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## Blue Angel (Feb 18, 2011)

Starks8 said:


> I wanted to bring this issue back to life and ask if any current 2013 or 2012 Cruze owners are finding themselves having issues with their Cruze's front windshield getting easily cracked and/or pitted?


Im extremely disapointed with the quality of the Cruze windshield. My car lives an absolutely pampered life compared to most people's cars... I use a windshield cover in the winter to avoid scraping frost and snow, I drive s-l-o-w during my commute and never have road spray from other cars blasting my car, I park indoors at work, and I have had very few high speed (+60 MPH) highway trips.

I have driven over 800,000 km (500,000 mi) in my lifetime in only five vehicles, the Cruze is the only one of them I have bought new and is still almost new at only 16k kms. I can count on ONE HAND the number of times I've had to scrape ANY amount of frost or ice off the windshield and it is covered in tiny faint scratches that are apparent at certain angles in sunlight and disrupt water flowing down the windshield when it's raining (not kidding, water wil stop and run sideways, then proceed downward in a different place).

I've also had to get a stone chip repaired, a first for me! A truck threw a small stone up and it chipped the windshield just below my line of sight. My '96 Saturn endured some of the worst commuting of any car I've owned, routinely travelling 50-60 MPH on two lane roads shared with heavy gravel truck traffic. Large stones, the kind you see coming before they hit, blasted that car's windshield on a regular basis for 1-1/2 years on that commute and never did one of them cause any damage that required repair.

As well as the big chip and all the scratches, the windshield is already starting to show pitting! This is the fine micro-chips that happen when road spray contacts the glass, kind of a sand-blasting effect. My daily commute never sees me get over 50 MPH!

The Cruze has glass manufactured by Fuyao Glass, an Asian company. The scratches/pitting tell me their glass is softer and the chip tells me the Cruze windshield is not as strong (maybe thinner?) than what I've had on previous cars.

I come into this discussion having worked in Automotive Glass manufacturing; I worked as a Production Engineer (title only, I'm a Mechanical Technologist) at PPG Auto Glass in Oshawa, Ontario, and was there when the plant was shut down. PPG sold their auto glass division and it was re-named PGW (Pittsburgh Glass Works), and in doing so closed three of their seven plants including Oshawa and Hawkesbury, both in Ontario. Competition from imported glass was among the largest reasons for the company losing market share and lowering plant capacity. Oshawa made tempered side and back lites, and Hawkesbury made windshields. I spent a few days at the Hawkesbury plant seeing their process since it is very different from tempered glass production.

I don't know much about the composition of the glass itself, but I can tell you that making raw glass sheets is a very involved process. We only turned raw glass into car products, we didn't actually make the glass.

I'm wondering if GM has lowered their glass performance standards to accomodate this imported glass, or if the domestic sourced glass in my previous cars (all GM) simply exceeded their specs by a large margin? I'm thinking the former, not the latter. *Either way, the Cruze windshield is garbage compared to what I've had on previous GM cars.* I can't imagine how poorly it would fare if I actually treated this car as most people do!

I don't know how the glass on other cars is fairing, but I can tell you that the glass on my GF's 2011 BMW 3 Series is in better shape than the glass on my Cruze, and she has over three times the mileage on her car AND most of her driving is done on the highway at 70-80 MPH!


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## Blue Angel (Feb 18, 2011)

Lightz39 said:


> ...here in canada you lose your discount if you use insurance. Best to spend the $500 or whatever it is.


I used to think that too, until I got my chip fixed. They told me to call my insurance company to verify (because I didn't believe them when they told me), but my insurance covered the chip repair with no deductible and no claim. Apparently this is common, so you may want to check this out. Yes, I'm in Canada too.



Lightz39 said:


> Also these windshields SUCK. My old beater car I had before this could take a canon shot and be good to go.


See my other post above... agree 100%.


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## Blue Angel (Feb 18, 2011)

obermd said:


> I actually had some fool use a hammer on my windshield once. The police arrested him. It leaves a nice round hole in the windshield.


Wow... deja-vu!


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## IROCZILLA (Jun 29, 2012)

I drive the freeway a lot! I put 24,000 miles in the 9 months I have had the car. My windshield is completely pitted and I know I'll have to replace soon. My question is, once I replace it is it going to be as weak as it was before or will the new glass they install have a better life expectancy? Really hate the windshield...


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## DMC (Oct 22, 2012)

I have a small chip in mine, just in my line of sight. Only 14,000 miles. My previous van had over 165,000, I got 1 small chip in it over its lifetime. It is a little annoying, when it comes time to replace I would be interested to see if there is a higher quality replacement for the OEM glass.


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## Blue Angel (Feb 18, 2011)

IROCZILLA said:


> My question is, once I replace it is it going to be as weak as it was before or will the new glass they install have a better life expectancy?





DMC said:


> ...when it comes time to replace I would be interested to see if there is a higher quality replacement for the OEM glass.


I hate to be a downer, but I really doubt you'll be getting a higher quality windshield in the aftermarket. It will most likely be imported and maybe even made by the same company, but if anything I would guess the quality will be worse... OEM supplied parts are inspected at the plant, but aftermarket parts are not. The suppliers know this and adjust their QC accordingly.


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## CruzeEcoBlueTopaz (Jan 5, 2012)

@ 108k miles I am on my 3rd windshield. Obviously the first was OEM the second windshield I asked Safelite to replace it with another OEM windshield and my third and current windshield I asked Safelite just to pit in any windshield they had in stock for my cruze. I noticed the OEM windshields were much thicker and heavier then my current windshield which almost looks like a thin peice of plastic. Anyways its a windshield and regardless of the quality its surving its purpose and so im not going to be to picky about it but given a choice any other future windshields I will always ask for OEM replacement. 

Im very happy with my insurance company I pay $ 35.00 a month for full coverage with State Farm and they have replaced my windshield everytime free of charge. They say I can get away with about 1 windshield a year without having to worry about paying a deductable for it any more and they might ask me to chip in.


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## JstCruzn (Mar 19, 2013)

I wonder if replacing a windshield is an easy DIY project??


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## kfr291 (Aug 11, 2012)

this may be out dated, but i do not think that the cruze windshield is weak. i have taken several stones from 18wheelers directly to the windshield and not cracks..maybe a chip.... ( my hood is a testmant to the idiots who love to ride in the dirt:$#angry:, it is a mine field of paint missing, really need a paint touch up) but again my windshield has taken direct hits from trucks and still smiles and works. it has its marks though


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## rb343 (Mar 18, 2013)

I haven't had a windshield on my previous vehicles (99 Alero, 07 Impala) that wasn't completely sandblasted after a year. Michigan roads are **** on glass. The only one I had replaced was on the Alero after a deer decided to bounce off it at 50 mph after rolling over the hood. We'll see how the Cruze holds up. 


Sent from AutoGuide.com Free App


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## CW_ (Jan 31, 2013)

I'm honestly kind of surprised that glass manufacturers are having trouble with competition from overseas, and that GM would bother importing window glass for the Cruze (Looks like all of Fuyao's plants are in mainland China: http://www.fuyaogroup.com/en/about/base.html). Most other GM cars built in the US use glass from Pilkington, who bought L-O-F (GM's other longtime glass supplier besides PPG) and still does a lot of production in the US and Canada (Source Pilkington - First in Glass. Heavy, breakable, low-value things are typically not good targets for shipping from the other side of the planet.


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## Blue Angel (Feb 18, 2011)

CW_ said:


> Heavy, breakable, low-value things are typically not good targets for shipping from the other side of the planet.


I think if you compare the cost of a windshield (GM's cost, that is) to the cost of most other parts in a car, you will see that it is more of a medium cost part, not a low one. Packing density is also fairly good for glass products since they can be packed fairly tight together, making the cost of overseas container shipment feasible.

My comments above regarding glass being imported are based on presentations we had at PPG when they were justifying the tough times the company had gone through. I don't remember the exact numbers now (and they may not still be accurate five years later), but it was significant. It doesn't take much of a capacity reduction these days to render a manufacturing plant un-profitable.

Also consider there is a tooling and development cost associated with producing a part at a new supplier. GM owns all of the tooling and pays for it up front. Not a huge cost in the grand scheme of things, but a cost none the less. When GM was launching the Cruze they were under pretty intense financial pressure. With production already singing along at Fuyao (other markets launched the Cruze in 2008) I guess it made more business sense just to import it from them.

Having said all that, the quality of the glass is sub-par compared to ther GM cars I've owned. I would love to see how it compares to glass in other vehicles as far as scratch/impact resistance goes.


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## PsyKynetix (Nov 26, 2012)

A guy i work with had his winshield replaced in his 2012 cruze. He said the noise from the new windshield was loud. His brother works for GM and said the cruze factory winshield is different somehow. It reduces noise. He had them replace it with a second new one, something about laminated sound deadening. ?


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## Blue Angel (Feb 18, 2011)

The plastic film in the middle of the glass "sandwich" probably has noise absorbing qualities. Good info... never thought about aftermarket windshields increasing noise.


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## CruzeTech (Mar 23, 2012)

The factory Cruze windshield is acoustic, sound deadening. All windshields have a plastic layer between them. It's called safety glass which has been mandatory on automobile windshields since the dawn of time. I'm not having too many problems with my windshield and I have had 2 rocks that would have undoubtedly cracked the living daylights out of my windshield, however, I have the windshield tinted and for some reason, this obviously acts as an anti shock mechanism, because those 2 rocks the size of a jaw breaker slammed against my windshield at 70mph and glanced off. One left a scratch, the other left some rock dust that wiped off.


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## CW_ (Jan 31, 2013)

Blue Angel said:


> I think if you compare the cost of a windshield (GM's cost, that is) to the cost of most other parts in a car, you will see that it is more of a medium cost part, not a low one. Packing density is also fairly good for glass products since they can be packed fairly tight together, making the cost of overseas container shipment feasible.
> 
> My comments above regarding glass being imported are based on presentations we had at PPG when they were justifying the tough times the company had gone through. I don't remember the exact numbers now (and they may not still be accurate five years later), but it was significant. It doesn't take much of a capacity reduction these days to render a manufacturing plant un-profitable.
> 
> ...


Thanks for the great explanation. It's cool to have someone who actually knows the glass industry here. That's the great thing about the internet, you can learn something new every day (as long as you don't spend all day looking at pictures of cats instead).

So far I've only had to replace glass in one of my vehicles twice: Once when a stray bullet shot a side window out of my old car (this was out in the sticks - hunters, not drive-by shooting), and once when a truck hauling salt/gravel mix for dumping on the road cut me off.


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## Blue Angel (Feb 18, 2011)

CruzeTech said:


> The factory Cruze windshield is acoustic, sound deadening. All windshields have a plastic layer between them. It's called safety glass which has been mandatory on automobile windshields since the dawn of time.


All true, however, many companies have been touting the acoustic properties of their glass lately. It is possible that they are using a different/thicker middle membrane and/or thicker glass than other types of glass for better acoustic properties. It is also possible that there are no differences at all and it's mostly just marketing hype.

Some cars are using "acoustic laminated glass" on the front doors now as well; the Verano is one of them. As far as I know, this is simply glass that uses the same construction as windshield glass. Whether or not the acoustic properties are enhanced by a special membrane is anyone's guess. I'd bet that the standard membrane construction of windshield glass is far more acoustically "dead" than standard single pane glass and that improvement is enough on its own... throw in a little marketing magic and "voila", a high tech quiet car interior.

Funny you should mention window tint strengthening your glass. Several companies make a security film that applies like tint but, according to the company, increases the breaking strength of the glass substantially. Check this out:

LLumar biztonsági Fólia (Security Film) Kavics - YouTube

I have no idea if regular tint on the inside of a laminated window would have any similar effect or not?


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## Blue Angel (Feb 18, 2011)

CW_ said:


> Thanks for the great explanation. It's cool to have someone who actually knows the glass industry here. That's the great thing about the internet, you can learn something new every day...


Just remember not to believe everything you read and you'll be OK.


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## bduffey723 (Apr 30, 2012)

rb343 said:


> I haven't had a windshield on my previous vehicles (99 Alero, 07 Impala) that wasn't completely sandblasted after a year. Michigan roads are **** on glass. The only one I had replaced was on the Alero after a deer decided to bounce off it at 50 mph after rolling over the hood. We'll see how the Cruze holds up.


I know exactly how u feel about the roads. Northwest Indiana and Southwest Michigan both are the same and are the worst I have ever driven on. On 94 just near exit 2 is where i received my chip in the windshield. Did not see nor hear the debris that caused it just somewhat appeared.


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## WhiteAndBright (Mar 4, 2013)

I drive 90% highway and yes I have the same "pits" that everyone here is describing.. One main factor is that here in Oklahoma when someone even jokes about it snowing the sand trucks are out laying it down and it takes them MONTHS to sweep it up.. I bet they throw half of the Gulf Coast in sand on our roads, in my previous vehicle (Ford Lightning) that thing could take a cannon ball to the windshield and no have a scratch..


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## atikovi (Dec 27, 2011)

JstCruzn said:


> I wonder if replacing a windshield is an easy DIY project??


I'll find out pretty soon on mine.










The only problem is the cost of the replacement glass. The car is too new for the Chinese knockoffs to come out yet so a glass warehouse wants $175 for it, but if it was a 10 year old Mercedes it would only cost $75. Still looking for a used one.


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## Blue Angel (Feb 18, 2011)

WTH? I think the windshield cost is not your main concern... why isn't that an insurance claim?


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## EcoDave (Mar 7, 2013)

I just got my Cruze last March. Within a couple of months, the windshield cracked on the right side due to a small rock on the highway. 
Replaced it with SafeLite through USAA.
In the beginning of August , a huge rock from the other side of the highway made its way onto my windshield and left a nice mark. 
The crack is still no longer than half of a dollar bill so I am still waiting for it to get larger before getting it replaced though USAA.
Bad Luck, or weak windshield?
I had my 2000 Pontiac Grand Prix for 8 years and never a single problem with any of the glass.

On another note, the paint is pretty weak too. An acorn could fall on the Cruze and put a deep chip in it.


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## Blue Angel (Feb 18, 2011)

EcoDave said:


> ...weak windshield?
> 
> ...the paint is pretty weak too.


Yes and yes...


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