I Scratched My Windshield Bad!!!!

[sollybro]

Hello Everybody,

I need your help.

I tried to use a kitchen sponge (green scrub side) to get rid of water spots on my windshield, and I scrubbed as hard as i could with a little glass cleaner, and I scratched the windshield really bad right where I can see it when driving. :eek:

How much does it cost to replace the windshield?

Most importantly, is the car exactly the same after the windshield is replaced?

Any advice would be much appreciated!

~Solly:

[Black Pearl]

Sollybro, good grief, what the hell are you doing to your V? I have no experience with this but I have been told that you can get stone chips repaired before they turn into cracks. They fill the chip and then buff it down and you can't see the chip any longer. My point being if they can buff down the glass for a stone chip, one would think they could probably buff out scratches. Try an auto glass repair place and see if it can be repaired rather than replaced.

[Larry n]

As crazy as this sounds try using tooth paste and rub it very hard into the glass(there's a mild abrasive in it) wipe it off. Look at the results and repeat. I scratched my windshield once and I was told to do this. It worked.

[jeprox]

give clay bar a try and see if it would get rid of the scratches.

as for the water spots, all you need is vinegar and old newspaper. pour some vinegar on your newspaper and wipe.
clay bar also gets rid of water spots.

bottom line, treat your glass windows like how you would treat the paint on your car's body. they both scratch easily.

[Radar24]

If the toothpaste trick is too slow Gradually progress from barely stronger abrasives working progressively to the mildest available.

It might not be a bad idea to try a test area on a glass bottle or better yet plate glass with the different abrasives.

In any event you may end up with optical distortion as annoying as the scratch is. That is what our local glass place told me about removing light windshield wiper scratches with abrasives. My daughter neglected to fix a refill that was moving out of place while living about 40 miles away!. A good lesson she learned as she now checks wiper blades occasionally on her new car. I ended up selling the car as is scratches and all when she bought the new one.

Have lots of patience and Good Luck! Mild abrasives work slow. It might be best to use a polishing pad from 3M for instance to avoid making grooves with your finger tips by distributing the pressure evenly? Grooves only optically visible.

Isn't the abrasive used to polish your teeth really gritty? I wonder how strong the different toothpastes are?

Let us know about what type toothpaste you use. :)

-RG

[sollybro]

$499 is the cheapest quote I got in Hawaii. This is with the new moulding, and PPG glass winshield, along with of course installation and tax.

So, total $499 out of pocket, or go through insurance with $250 deductible, and risk premium going up for my next insurancve renewal.

Does that sound right, $499?

BTW, the scratches are too deep to buff out. My nail catches the scratches, and the scratches are all over.

Thanks,

~Solly :confused:

[kgf3076]

$499 is the cheapest quote I got in Hawaii. This is with the new moulding, and PPG glass winshield, along with of course installation and tax.Go to Google and look up windshield replacement and check the results you get. There are many different glass companies and there are many different brands of windshield glass and they have to meet standards to be sold in the US. (and I'm really having a hard time believing anybody would really do such a strange thing, but that's just me)

[michigan_driver]

Ever consider contacting a glass or windshield company to see if they could get out the scratches?

[Black Pearl]

Sollybro, maybe your waterspots were not waterspots. Here is an article from the September 2008 Honda Service News regarding glass damage from hydroflouric acid:

Window Glass Damage From
Hydrofluoric Acid
Glass is pretty tough stuff and resists most forms of
chemical damage, but it’s no match for hydrofluoric
acid. This powerful solution—commonly used for
industrial purposes (glass etching, metal cleaning,
electronics manufacturing) and often found in many
brands of wheel cleaners and chrome cleaners—can
cause some serious damage to glass with enough
contact.
Brushless car washes like using hydrofluoric acid
because it makes short work of loosening stubborn
dirt deposits. Some car washes use it as a prewash
then quickly follow up with a soap neutralizer. But if
that prewash solution isn’t mixed just right, or it isn’t
neutralized quickly enough, it can attack the glass.
It’s also known to attack the calcium in a car wash’s
concrete walls and floors.
Hydrofluoric acid is not just nasty to glass and
concrete, it’s hazardous to your health, too. In a
strong solution, it can cause death in just a matter of
hours. And even a weak solution—although it won’t
burn on contact—will penetrate your skin and attack
the calcium in your bones.
If you get a vehicle in your shop for a window
distortion complaint, check first for hydrofluoric acid
damage. Images seen through window glass that’s
been damaged by hydrofluoric acid appear wavy or
distorted and the surface reflection looks fuzzy and
out of focus. The surface of the glass that’s under the
weatherstrip, though, appears undamaged and really
smooth.
If you find this to be the case, keep in mind any
distortion in the glass surface isn’t covered by
warranty. To fix this problem, you’ve got to replace
the affected glass. Polishing out the distortion just
won’t work. It’s almost impossible to keep both glass
surfaces parallel as you polish, so you’ll just wind up
with further distortion.


Sorry there is no solution to your problem in this article, but it may describe what you were trying to clean off. Good luck with your windshield.

[sollybro]

Black Pearl,

Sounds exactly like my issue, however, I wonder how it got on the windshield considering I dont go through commercial car washes, and dont use acid based cleaners on the car.

BUT, the description is on the money!!!

Thanks, I now don't feel too bad considering I'd have to replace the glass anyway regardless of whether I scratched it or not.

~Solly