Windscreen chip

[Frenchie]

Picked up a tiny windscreen chip this evening. It's in my line of sight, but tiny,maybe 1mm. Could leave it,but it will keep annoying me. Can i repair myself our what would windscreen repairers charge. It really is tiny,but visible,so annoying.

[Hongkongfooi]

arent chips free to fix on your insurance?

[Ferd]

If it's a scratch/scrape you can leave it for as long as you can stand seeing it If it's a chip/crack then my advice, get it repaired/replaced as soon as possible, in the cold weather it's even more important if there's a possibility of ice as that can expand it and make things worse.

In Luxembourg like the UK it's covered for free by my insurance, and when I got my second impact not long after getting the STi it was a chip on the passenger side and repairable. Carglass (Autoglass in UK) repaired it and they also treated the older scrape to almost getting rid of it - very clever.

If the worst happens and they have to replace the screen due to it's location, but also should be covered, then make absolutely sure they get you an original Subaru screen. When they needed to replace the screen on my old WRX they tried two 3rd party screens before eventually getting an original, as they stood proud of the car at the roof and made a lot of wind noise.

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[BIG"E"]

Originally Posted by Frenchie

Picked up a tiny windscreen chip this evening. It's in my line of sight, but tiny,maybe 1mm. Could leave it,but it will keep annoying me. Can i repair myself our what would windscreen repairers charge. It really is tiny,but visible,so annoying.

Its always a bummer when the inevitable happens stone chips are next.

Sometimes if its only a very small chip you're better off leaving it along, but get it looked at by a pro..

[Frenchie]

Thanks everyone, yes have checked and it's covered by my insurance. It's so small I'm almost too embarrassed to take it in.

[Ferd]

Originally Posted by Frenchie

It's so small I'm almost too embarrassed to take it in.

That's what's she said

Seriously, take it in for an inspection - the "small" chip I got on my old WRX I got just before the control technique one year, and in the few days I had to wait for my appointment it went to a full crack from passenger edge of the screen curving down to the lower edge. Very scary.

[Frenchie]

Very good Fernando and yes your right. Will call in Carglass tomorrow and get them to take a look.

[XRS]

Next month it will be 46 years since I passed my driving test. In that time I have had two stone chips on my windscreens. The first was in November 2016 whilst driving my son's C220 (we had swapped cars for a week). I investigated getting it done by Autoglass and paying for it myself rather than bothering with his insurance which had a £25 excess. They wanted £130 to repair a 1cm bullseye! Anyway, I went to my local garage and they recommended JP Windshields in Hailsham so I booked it in and had it done while I waited for £30.
The second stone chip was on my wife's C250 last week. What are the chances? Nearly 46 years chip-free and then two in a few weeks. Must be these iffy Mercedes windscreens!
Anyway, I can recommend JP Windscreens. Although I can still see some scratches I've already stopped noticing it when I'm driving.

[Frenchie]

Thanks.but Hailshams is a tad far for me. Insurance here doesn't carry any excess so may just get it done at Carglass.

[WRC MAN]

Hi Frenchie
This is the line of work I am in, my advice is to get somebody to take a look or take a photo so I can see it.In short if it's a small crack or chip as most people call them get it repaired as it will crack off sooner or later with either sudden change in temp,being hot or cold.Also vibrations from driving or wind pressure will all affect any kind of glass damage,there are exceptions to the rule where people have had stone damage in glass for months or even years and it's never deteriorated,but do you want to risk it??

If you go ahead and get it repaired the repairers should warn you that they could make it worse during the repair process and you could need a total replacement,but once repaired it will be fine.If the damage is bigger than 10mm it cannot be repaired in zone A, which is the drivers wiper sweep area.
Hope this info helps.


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[Frenchie]

Many thanks for the information. Drove the car yesterday and struggled to see it, but agree I need to get it looked at, have an appointment for tomorrow. Had a slightly larger one in my old WRX and was told it would never be a problem, which proved to be the case. It's about this size *

[Ferd]

Yeah my old WRX had a small chip dead centre of the whole windscreen for over ten years and never changed, then I got one closer to the passenger side which was not much larger and not repairable and on taking for the appointment to get it fixed, it cracked and grew out to two edges of the screen.

When I got the one on the STI I didn't hesitate to take it.

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[Frenchie]

That's about exactly my "chip" history. Will let you know what the specialist says tomorrow. Would have brought it to you WRX man, but a tad too far for me.

[WRC MAN]

Originally Posted by Frenchie

That's about exactly my "chip" history. Will let you know what the specialist says tomorrow. Would have brought it to you WRX man, but a tad too far for me.

No problem, best of luck .


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[Frenchie]

So took the car to Carglass and the guy said too small to repair, but won't cause any further problems. Must admit I do have to look for it and hopefully get used to it. May give WRX man a call when we are next in the UK.

[WRC MAN]

Sometimes to repair a small chip you actually have to make it larger to repair it!!
That's the reason the guy said to leave it,carglass use the glass medic kit and sometimes the results are not great.It also depends on your expectations of the final repair as you will still see some of the damage,it will never be optically perfect.


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[Frenchie]

Thanks for that, is it worth you having a look when I'm next in the UK? Could email you some pics if it helps.