How to Choose an Auto Glass Replacement Facility Near Me

Your vehicle is built as a form of transport for you and your family, and it is also meant to protect you if you are in a collision. Your windshield is attached to your car’s body using tried and tested auto glass glues that are specially formulated to meet safety standards.

Your windshield provides your vehicle with structural integrity that helps keep you and your passengers safe if you should have an accident or rollover. The windshield also supports the deployment of the passenger-side airbag. Due to it being a large part of your safety while on the road, you need to ensure that the quality and installation of your auto glass replacement is the best it can be. Let’s take a look at why getting your auto glass replaced near you is also important.

There are many repair shops, brands, and adhesives that can be used in a windshield replacement. Your choice of shop should always be determined by the qualifications and certifications of the shop and its technicians. Do not choose a cheaper shop to save money and never replace your auto glass with a sub-standard product.

When you consider how much time you spend in your vehicle and the speeds at which you travel, it is worth the extra money to provide yourself and your loved ones with as much safety as you can.

How to Choose Auto Glass Replacement near Me

When choosing an auto glass replacement center, consider the following:

  • Choose a fully licensed auto glass replacement center within 15 minutes’ drive from your home or work
  • Always use technicians who have been fully trained and properly certified
  • Only use auto glass and adhesives that have met the safety standards approved by safety councils in your area
  • Check which auto glass replacement centers are covered by your vehicle insurance

Final Thoughts

When replacing your windshield, the understanding is that your safety has been compromised due to the crack or chip in your windshield making it less durable. Because of this, you want to look for an auto glass replacement facility near you so that you limit the amount of time spent on the road with a damaged windshield.

Although it may be unlikely that something will happen in the drive between your home and the replacement shop, you want to keep that risk to a minimum by making the trip as short as possible. Choosing an auto glass replacement shop near you also means that you have to take less time off from work to get your windshield replaced, saving you time and money.

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Importance of Auto Glass Repair

Keeping your vehicle looking great is one of most car owners’ top priorities; however, safety outweighs looks when considering your car. While driving their vehicle, most people want to ensure that they are safe, and that the safety of any passengers in their cars is also a priority.

Therefore, it is vital that you take note of any changes that may occur, especially when it comes to your windshield. Cracks and chips in your windshield don’t only look bad, but chipped, cracked, or broken auto glass is unsafe, and you may compromise your safety by driving with it in that condition.

Why Is Your Windshield Important?

Your vehicle’s windshield protects you from road debris that could get into your car and hurt you. Some items that commonly hit a car’s windshield include trash, rocks, stones, cigarette butts, small pieces of wood, and other items that may have fallen or been dropped on the road.

It is essential that you keep your windshield in excellent condition, otherwise it can’t do its job and your safety may be compromised. If your windshield is chipped, cracked, or broken, it cannot protect you. It can also significantly decrease your safety. Having a damaged windshield also makes it easier for road debris to break through your windshield, which could cause injury or an accident.

When driving, you always need to ensure that you have a clear view of the cars, road signs, animals, people, and the road itself. If your windshield is damaged, your visibility is diminished, and since your windshield is used to see ahead of you while driving, you could be endangering your life and the life of your passengers if your vision is obstructed.

Importance of Auto Glass Repair

You should ensure that any windshield repairs get done as soon as possible as it is unsafe to drive with a damaged windshield. The longer you leave your windshield without repairs, the more it can weaken and spread.

As you leave the cracks, they will spread and become larger, making them harder or impossible to repair. The glass around the chips and cracks also weakens over time, and if you wait too long, you will more than likely need to replace your windshield, which is considerably more expensive.

As your windshield is a major safety feature in your vehicle, it must be in excellent condition. If you ever want to trade in or sell your vehicle, you won’t get full value if your windshield is in bad condition.

Who Should Do Your Auto Glass Repair?

As mentioned, your windshield is a vital part of protecting your safety while driving your vehicle. Only let licensed and qualified professionals work on your windshield. Make sure you shop around for a few quotations to find the best quality for a reasonable price. Ask to see the business and the repairer’s licenses and qualifications to ensure you are getting your auto glass repaired safely.

Final Thoughts

Your auto glass repair should always be done by a professional as soon as possible after the crack or chip appears. Be sure to check your windshield regularly for damage, as often you will not notice if you do not look. Your windshield provides you with many safety features and should be taken care of properly to keep it in excellent condition, so auto glass repairs are vital to maintaining a high level of safety.

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Your Windshield is Vulnerable After a Chip

Driving near large trucks can not only be hazardous to you, but also for your windshield. In large trucks, their visibility is limited, so it is not a good idea to drive next to them or closely behind them for long periods of time. Along with this, they can easily kick up large rocks, which bounce off the road and get kicked up, sometimes impacting your windshield. Windshield chips come in all sizes, and really weaken your windshield.

The problem with windshield chips is that they are dangerous in the sense that they form a distraction in your line of sight, and they also weaken your windshield, which is an important structural support to your vehicle. Anything that disrupts your line of sight is considered a distraction. You definitely do not want distractions while driving, and it really increases your chances of getting into an accident. Along with this, your windshield is weakened. Some windshields provide a great deal  of support to the roof of the vehicle in the case of rollovers, and also serve to control the direction of airbags.

With a windshield chip, cracks can easily stem from them. Cracks are the worst damage that can occur to your windshield, since they cannot be repaired. Chips can, but once cracks stem from these chips, than your windshield will need to be completely replaced. Cracks also form distractions, and even simple temperature changes, or windshield cleanings can cause those cracks to spread. Do yourself a favor and get the chip repaired as soon as they happen. Most chips can be repaired, saving your money and giving you extra safety.

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Plastic Windows?

As you know, your auto glass is just that, it’s glass. It can be laminated and treated, but still remains at the basic level, glass. You may have never thought of the use of polycarbonate (plastic) auto glass but this may be a common part of vehicles in the near future. Plastic windows are no a new thing, where polycarbonate has been used in racing car windows for many years now to shed unneeded weight. It makes sense, since polycarbonate windows can weight over half as much as their glass counterparts.

Plastic cannot be used to replace every pane of glass in your vehicle. Door windows and windshields cannot be strictly made of polycarbonate because of safety. Polycarbonate is flexible and impact resistant, so this would make it very difficult for first responders in the event of an accident. Only sunroofs and rear windows see the possibility of polycarbonate replacing the auto glass.

The down side of polycarbonate is that is can haze and scratch. This has been a problem for vehicle headlight housings, but a UV-blocking layer can counteract the hazing, but scratching is a problem. Scratches also make polycarbonate a poor choice in vehicle windshields where visibility is key.

However, you may still see the use of polycarbonate in vehicle sunroofs and rear windows in the next coming years. This can reduce weight, and thus boost the gas mileage of vehicles. The fact still remains that polycarbonate windows will see a place in vehicles of the future.

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Remember to Scrape Windshields in Cold Weather

It is still winter time, which means that in your area, temperatures can still dip below or well-below freezing. This can lead to not only having to wear a few extra layers in the morning, but also having to potentially scrape ice and frost off a windshield in the morning before driving to work or running errands. Take the few extra minutes to either scrape the windshield or defrost it. It is the little extra time spent that will potentially save you money and keep you out of harm’s way.

Recent news articles reveal that people failing to defrost or scrape the ice off their windshields are really risking their safety. There have been a few articles about a few motorists who have gotten into accidents because they failed to scrape their windshields. It is not worth it to drive with a frosted-over windshield. Also, if you fail to defrost or scrape your windshield, you can also be fined. You can be ticketed for obstructed driving, since you do not have a clear line of sight. With that said, be safe this winter, and take that extra time to scrape those windshields.

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The Future of Windshields

Windshields have already come a long way from what they used to be. They started off as a plain and simple pane of glass to something that has built in safety features, among other benefits. Technology is always progressing, and every single thing is getting improved by it in one way or another. Obviously, this applies to your windshield as well. While it is still in development, windshields of the future have been featured in auto shows and technology websites.

Some windshields already feature HUD’s, or head up displays which fall right in your line of sight and show whatever your gauges typically tell you. Currently in development is a windshield with a full HUD, that is interactive and can show information on things you are driving by. You would be able to make reservations to a passing restaurant just by waving your hand, or find information on a landmark. This shows promise for a future in driving but we are still years away from a windshield like this.

The future seems to go wiper-less. There are concepts in using compressed air to remove rain water or grime from your windshield, or even just simple aerodynamics and surface treatments. Imagine a future where there are no more pesky windshield wiper replacements. Sounds good, right? Whatever the future may hold, you are guaranteed that the windshield of the future will be very different from what you look through now.

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Care for Your Windshield in the Summer

The summer season is a time for barbecues and relaxation, as well as pools, beaches, and cool glasses of lemonade. But why is this? Because it’s hot! These few months of summer can get pretty hot, and for this year in 2012, we are seeing some of the highest temperatures on record. What does this mean? Added cooling costs for your home and a higher toll on the things you use outside, like your vehicle. Be sure to properly maintain your vehicle’s windshield in the summer time.

The sweltering heat can do damage to your windshield, especially if chips and cracks are present. The heat can cause cracks to expands and cause cracks to develop from windshield chips. It is also a good idea to park your car in the shade and to not direct cool air from your air conditioning onto the hot glass as it causes a sudden temperature change that can elongate cracks.Keep your windshield in mind during these hot summer months. It can save you money and keep you safe. Stay cool this summer, and take care of that windshield.

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Windshields: How They’re Made

You may not give much thought when you are driving to that simple piece of glass in front of you. Surprisingly enough, that glass serves a great purpose besides just keeping the wind out of your hair and bugs out of your teeth. It serves itself as a structural piece to the car and keeps you safe in an accident.

To begin, a windshield is not your typical piece of glass. when cars were first designed, they used traditional window glass that tended to shatter with impact and injure passengers of the car. After this, they used tougher glass that would shatter into many mostly harmless fragments, but could easily break from a rock chip. It wasn’t until Henry Ford helped introduce lamiated glass to vehicles. This is two panes of glass that sandwiches a layer of plastic between them, keeping the windshield whole when shattered. Modern windshields still hold this.

Windshields are first made by combining and melting the raw materials of glass, including oxides found in substances like sand and limestone. At over 1000 degrees Fahrenheit, it is melted and then fed to a chamber where it is suspended over a pool of molten tin. This allows the glass to flatten and the added temperatures remove the impurities. From here, it is introduced to a furnace which actually cools the glass and then it is allowed to settle to room temperature. A diamond scribe is used to score and break the glass into smaller pieces, where it is reheated to take its proper shape and then hardened. Now it is laminated with another piece of glass and ready to be fitted to your vehicle.

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Auto Glass Chips

We have all had this happen to us, and if you haven’t it might just happen to you! Driving down a road or highway behind a truck, you may see a rock get kicked up and impact your windshield. Sometimes, if you’re lucky, it won’t leave any damage. Other times, you may find a star-shaped chip and crack in your windshield. While this may seem minor, there are some inherent dangers to this.

Your windshield if now designed right into support of your car’s roof. While the pillars in the corners of your car certainly provide support, the strength of the windshield is now crucial in providing support for the roof, especially in the unfortunate case of a rollover. As a whole, the windshield is strong until you get a pesky chip or crack. These ruin the integrity of your windshield and compromise its strength.

Once you get a chip, check it first. Sometimes it can just be a splattered bug that can be easily cleaned off. Other times you may not be so lucky. Check the size of your chip. Small chips are not bad but anything larger than a quarter may have crushed glass in the center, requiring complete windshield replacement.

However, all is not lost. For chips smaller than the size of a quarter, these can actually be repaired. Your local auto glass professional can inject resin directly to the source and fuse the cracks together, returning the windshield back to its structural integrity. This will then be clean and polished to make it look as if it were new again. For any small chips, get them repaired easily and save yourself money.

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We make auto glass repair and replacement easy for your personal or business needs. We take pride in giving you the opportunity to find the best deal on windshield replacement or windshield repair for your automobile. Whether your personal vehicle is in need of auto glass repair or replacement, or a business vehicle is in need of auto glass repair or replacement, we give you the ability to search for and compare the best deals from the leaders in the industry to remedy your auto glass chip, crack, or break.

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When your windshield is in need of repair your insurance company usually picks the replacement offer from a pre-existing list of providers which may or more likely may not offer the best deal on windshield replacement. Our service gives direct access to windshield replacement and windshield repair companies giving you the ability to judge the details of each service provider side by side to ensure you get the right service for your situation. Auto glass repair has never been easier and more user friendly than with Auto Glass Guru / Windshield Guru.