Anything not covered here is worth a phone call. The questions people apologise for asking are usually the ones most worth asking.
Common questions
Can my chip be repaired?
Usually if it is smaller than a quarter, outside the driver's direct line of sight, not touching the edge of the glass, and only through the outer layer. Fail any of those and replacement is the honest answer. Send a photo and you get a straight call before anyone drives out.
Does Michigan law give me a free windshield?
No. Florida, Kentucky and South Carolina require insurers to cover glass with no deductible. Michigan does not. With comprehensive coverage your glass is covered subject to your comprehensive deductible, unless your policy carries a separate glass endorsement. MCL 257.708 is about windshield condition, not coverage.
Will a glass claim raise my rates?
In Michigan a glass claim is usually treated as not-at-fault, and carriers generally handle it differently from a collision claim. Generally is not always, and it varies by carrier. Ask your agent what a glass claim does to your specific policy before you decide.
How long before I can drive it?
It depends on the adhesive and the conditions, and cold or damp weather extends it. You get a specific time for your job. Before that time the windshield is not yet doing its structural job, which in a rollover is holding the roof up and backing the passenger airbag.
Is aftermarket glass worse than OEM?
Often not, and some of it comes off the same production lines. Where it genuinely matters is vehicles with a camera, a heads-up display, an acoustic interlayer or a heated wiper park, where the wrong part stops something working properly. Ask which is going in and why.
My car has lane assist. Does the windshield change that?
Yes. The camera driving lane keeping and automatic braking looks through the glass, and once the glass moves the camera has to be recalibrated. It is the second half of the job, not an add-on.
Can you work in winter?
Chip repairs usually, with the glass warmed first. Replacements need a dry bonding surface and a workable temperature, so weather does postpone them. A garage, parking structure or loading bay at work solves nearly all of it — worth mentioning if you have access to one.
There is glass all through the inside of my car.
Expected with a door or back window — tempered glass goes to granules rather than cracking. Clearing it out of the door cavity, seat rails and carpet is part of the job, not an extra. Left behind, it works its way out for months.
Do you need my car for the whole day?
No. Reckon on an hour to ninety minutes for a windshield and under half an hour for a chip, plus cure time during which the car sits where it is. Most people have this done at work without taking time off.
Can you give me a price over the phone?
With your year, make, model and trim, yes. Without the trim it is a guess, because what is mounted behind the glass — camera, HUD, acoustic layer, heated wiper park — drives the price more than the windshield does. Two identical-looking sedans can differ by hundreds of dollars.
What if it leaks afterwards?
Tell us and it gets looked at. Worth asking any shop this before the work rather than after, along with whether you get an invoice — the answer tells you what recourse you have.
Do you have a shop I can come to?
This is a mobile service; the work comes to your car. We do not claim shop addresses in cities we do not operate in, which in this market is worth saying out loud.