Windshield replacement
 

My windshield was full of small scratches. Last Saturday I managed to brake it.
Unfortunatelly, I did not have this included in my insurance policy, so I would have to pay for the replacement.

I called several companies and I have two best offers.
One is at $695 for the OEM windshield.
The second is $450 for an aftermarket one, from a different glass shop.

Does the quality of the OEM or any other reason justify this big difference in $$$?

Has anyone here replaced his windshield?

Thanks!

George

Does the aftermarket one have the integrated AM/FM antenna, or is it just glass?

If not, that would probably account for the difference.

Does the stock windshield have an integrated antenna? I've never heard of that before. :cheers:

Yes, the aftermarket has the integrated antenna. It is the first thing they ask you (if you have the antenna in the windshield) when you call for a quote.

My windshield needed replacement about a year ago
It's covered in my warranty so I insisted that it will be fixed at Porsche.
When I picked up the car after the work was done, the Porsche service adviser all but admitted that they "outsource" windshield replacement to the same companies where you get your non-OEM windshield repair.

So save yourself a few bucks here...

I don't know how things work with Porsche, but I went through this with my Mazda. The dealer said they outsource installation, but provide the OEM glass.

I ended up going through Safelite, and they installed an aftermarket windshield. I immediately noticed optical distortion around the edges of the windshield, and more road noise. Plus they used their own rubber seals, so the windshield surround doesn't look factory.

I'd go 100% OEM on the Porsche.

-james

Could someone explain this antenna to me? Is there an antenna in the windshield?

look closely and you see two very small parallel (vertical) lines in the middle of the windshield. That's the antenna, and I guess that also explains why the antenna, well sucks :D

I am assuming I have an aftermarket glass in my '98. It is a Pilkington windshield with the antenna.
I don't know who does the OEM for Porsche.

Its a windshield and it looks fine.

Thanks for the information.
I've been thinking about this and figured if this ever happened to me I would go OEM. But I just called my insurance and they don't cover glass. I think I would go aftermarket to save some money but make sure they aren't using bad seals and bad glass like yimmy149's replacement.

When I asked the shop offering the aftermarket if the windshield is aftermarket or original they answered

"of course it's an aftermarket, do you think Porsche makes windshield glass?"

and I have to agree with that. I called about 10 shops. Most of them have me the same quote ~$700, one of them for the original the rest for the aftermarket. One gave me a price of $500 for the aftermarket and $1200 for the OEM (!!!). One gave me 450$ for the aftermarket and then I stopped searching.

I guess everyone is charging whatever they think they should. In these quotes labor and trasportation to my house is included and Boston never was a labor-friendly city :-(.

There is one other concern also; with an aftermarket windshield it is difficult to sell the car. Don't really care though, I don;t think I'll ever sell my first Porsche. I'd prefer to have it until it becomes an antique. Besides, I need about a month to de-mod it :=)

For me, around $800 last Feb. at Porsche dealer in Wichita KS. They admitted to outsourcing it also.

sean

I broke mine last fall changing the wiper blades. Replaced it with aftermarket. $350 without labor (friend of mine does auto glass). He said the only difference is it doesn't say "Porsche" on it. Works fine unless you're going to show it or something.

Just had mine replaced a couple of wks ago. $950 for factory glass done by a local windshield replace co. Used factory glass b/c the aftermarket was basically the same price. Luckily I have a $0 deductible, so it didn't cost me anything. Had been thinking of raising it to $100 since I'd gone yrs w/o getting a chip. Guess it was a sign....

buy new seals!! it is about 50$ and only get it from the dealer. I am suprised that the installer did not tell you this. Mine did. Maybe that means they dont do many porsches.
I got mine from safelite. @ 500$ installed.

Agreed. We re-used mine, but like I said, I had a friend do mine, so he was VERY careful not to damage it. He told me he normally wouldn't be so careful and just replace it with their generic moulding.

Thank you all for the tips (especially the seal thing).

I was away last week with no time for P-issues...

Apparently, in MA the two dealerships I called do not do the replacement so they directed me to some glass shops they are collaborating with.
Of course prices of the Porsche "recommended" shops were at the high end.

I called all the shops I could find. And the solution is simple.

www.glass.net gives you a list of best estimates for what you need.

Then I called a company named GlassOne (based in Washington DC, but apparently located everywhere) and they will do the whole thing with OEM windshield and seal and all for $591.78. The price almost beats the best aftermarket quote I had!....

They are doing it tomorrow in my garage so I would have to wait and see if I will be a happy customer.

So, thank you all and I guess the moral of the story is "just get as many quotes as you can" :-)

George

When your windshield is in need of repair your minnesota auto glass usually picks the replacement offer from a preexisting list of providers which may or more likely may not offer the best deal on windshield replacement.

The Boxster/Cayman sources its windshield that has the word "Sekurit" on it, from a company called Saint-Gobain.

http://nuke.carchitectures.com/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=T8AziQW4Swg%3D&tabid=58& mid=399

And here's a thread that shows pics of the OEM Sekurit glass, and the aftermarket Pilkington and PPG versions:

http://www.renntech.org/forums/index.php?/topic/10360-windshield-part-number-2004-986s-is-this-right/page__p__52263__hl__sekurit__fromsearch__1&#entry5 2263

I have a Pilkington aftermarket with the built-in antenna and it's just as good as the factory's brand.

I only paid $400 installed though. I called four or five on-site glass companies and they did the work in my office parking lot.