I searched around and on found interesting results on several forums. of which I am not a member, interesting comments about the way to approach your car insurance company to get factory glass replacement. Otherwise, the insurance company will attempt to give you aftermarket glass which is not as good.
When I signed up for my windshield coverage, the car insurance company told me that since it had factory glass now, if the windshield breaks, they would replace with factory glass, however I can’t take the word of the customer service rep as gospel and want to ensure I submit the proper claim.
Are you in a state that allows 1 party recording of phone conversations?
ETA: I personally would be ok with trusting the word of the rep. I’d try to get a local insurance agent for whomever your company is. Mine has an email address and I can email these types of questions for the record.
Pretty straightforward. Obviously the work would be left to a local glass shop. You tell them your insurance rep told you they authorized a factory replacement and you want the shop to put it in writing that is what they will be installing. If they balk, then you know they’re trying to slide one past you.
No experience with this, but can’t you just take your car to the dealership and have them install - that way you can probably be pretty confident it’ll be a factory replacement. Does insurance have a set amount they’ll reimburse? Or will they only reimburse if you go to the place they tell you to go to?
FWIW I remember a case where an insurance rep represented that a particular item would be covered when the claim was filed, but the insurance company denied the claim and won in court (even with the insurance rep on the record stating that it didn’t fall under the exclusions), so YMMV based on what the rep says. OTOH, I have no idea when this case was or what state it was in (and the state probably governs a lot of this).
How old is the car? If it’s less than 3 years old you have a better argument to keep the car all original compared to a 10 year old car. Aftermarket glass is pretty good these days and can cost a quarter of what a dealer charges. I’d be more concerned that they use factory moldings instead of a universal type that won’t look as good.
Definitely find a local glass guy, I find that easier than dealing with a Safelite type company. It might be find-able on the internet, or not. But the glass guy should know who made your windshield for the manufacturer and should be able to get one made by the OE supplier covered. I did that on my Honda.
From what I hear, most insurance company won’t buy branded glass unless it is special circumstances, very new, no other replacements etc.
From what I understand made in the USA counts on glass products for quality of the glass material as well as consistency in manufacturing.
The car is over 10 years old but I specifically asked the insurance rep about that before increasing my comprehensive coverage last year. I said - even though it’s very old, will you replace with factory glass, and the rep said that as long as the car still had it’s factory glass, it would get factory glass replacement.
The windshield actually got chipped a few months ago, but I put some patch on it and it hasn’t gotten worse. It’s still visible, more than 1 inch in a cross, but is stable. I’ve been hesitant to get it replaced because it’s on the original glass and I wonder if I’m not better off keeping the original glass, with original seals, even with a small nick in the windshield, rather than getting brand new glass with suboptimal non-factory seals.
Then again, possible if done correctly, the glues and seals used in 2017 may be superior to 10 year old degraded factory glue.
The question you should ask is what is their warranty on repairs. If there’s a problem with a seal that’s something the glass won’t make much of a difference. Some places do lifetime repair warranty.
I just requested factory glass from a local glass shop and my insurer paid it. I would go with either factory glass or Pilkington (They make a lot of factory glass)
One thing to consider if you are replacing any windshield glass is that on some vehicles, there could be some rust under the glass. The shop will need to deal with that before replacing the glass, and that part of the repair won’t be covered under your glass warranty. Ask both your insurance and the glass shop before you break that factory seal, and get it in writing!