Chinese windshield glass

So, a little ticked off. Called a place the other day to get my windshield glass replaced. I asked what brand of glass they'd be putting in and they said Carlite. Great I though, that should be good OEM quality glass.

Get it back today and they put in XYG (Chinese Xinyi Glass)

The good: Optically I think it's OK. I've been reading stories about wavy XYG, but I think mine is fine in that aspect. Quality install job as far as I can tell.

The bad: I've been reading that they're bad in the rain, and that they fog up easily. Neither one of those will be easy for me to verify any time soon...

So, what to do? I called the place, and they said they'd work with me if I'm unhappy. See if I can get a guarantee in writing for a year or so? Have them put in a name brand piece of glass?

If you're not happy just have them put in what they said they would put in.

...especially if you specifically asked what they would be putting in.

That's like going to a paint shop, asking them if they're painting your car red, they say yes, and then two days later you pick up a purple car.

FWIW, I got Pilkington last time I replaced mine. It's supposed to be (and seems to be) OEM quality.

...especially if you specifically asked what they would be putting in.

 

That's like going to a paint shop, asking them if they're painting your car red, they say yes, and then two days later you pick up a purple car.

 

FWIW, I got Pilkington last time I replaced mine. It's supposed to be (and seems to be) OEM quality.

I can vouch for Pilkington having good quality, we see a lot of their glass where I work and never an issue.

Well, I called them again today and they're going to work with me.

Either I keep the glass and they do a partial refund, or wait a couple weeks for the urethane to cure and they'll replace it with another piece of glass.

I was on the fence but I'm probably going to get it replaced - and honestly the deciding factor was that it has a green sunshade which doesn't exactly look good on ABP...

I had my glass vendor put a cheapo windshield in my car. It has less distortion than the OE glass had.

Wait a couple of weeks for the urethane to cure? Sounds like BS to me, they are dragging thier feet.

They replaced the glass on my last Prius with XYG and it was terrible. The window had a few wavy distortions in it and that was for both the first one they installed and the replacement one.

In hindsight, I should have championed to have them replace it with OEM glass since my insurance was paying for it. I didn't know about the different manufs of glass and the quality that goes along with them.

I had my glass vendor put a cheapo windshield in my car. It has less distortion than the OE glass had.

 

Wait a couple of weeks for the urethane to cure? Sounds like BS to me, they are dragging thier feet.

+1, I had my windshield replaced the next day.

I had my glass vendor put a cheapo windshield in my car. It has less distortion than the OE glass had.

Yeah, optically it's fine. Said that in the first post. It's just all the other stuff I read about in reviews. Especially fogging in the winter - no way for me to verify that anytime soon...

Wait a couple of weeks for the urethane to cure? Sounds like BS to me, they are dragging thier feet.

Could be, but I can live with it for that long. That will get me through drag racing on the 27th and 28th - the reason I had it changed in the first place.

I've had mine replaced a couple of times. OEM glass is Carlex (Not to be confused with Carlite).

The first Chinese windshield was a little rippled, the tint strip was really pale and the moulding didn't fit right. Another rock took that one out and it was replaced with OEM Carlex glass.

Along came another rock and I requested that it be replaced with OEM glass. Insurance doesn't pay for OEM glass so I said I'd pay the difference. They stuck cheap Chinese glass in again. A week later I had them take it out (it broke, too bad for them for not listening to my original request) and in went the Carlex.

I find the cheap aftermarket glass imported from China to be of questionable quality. Both pieces were badly rippled, the tint strips were really pale and the moulding didn't fit properly. I'm going to assume that it's likely thinner and less structurally rigid than OEM glass too.

What did they install? Pilkington?

I found the flaw with mine.......the tiniest stone will cause a rather large star crack. Two so far.

I had a PGW windshield put in my '05. Didn't specifically request it, that's just what the vendor used. Low bidder. . . $250 installed for heated glass. Should have known.

It's wavy. I'll just live with it.

I don't notice the distortion in mine unless I'm looking through that area (in front of the passenger) and the background is something blurry, like tall grass. . . and the car is moving. Like I said, I'll just live with it.

Windshields really are a wear item. . . I'll just wait until this one gets sandblasted and put in a Carlex or Pilkington.

Had the same brand (PGW) put in my 2000 OBW and it's perfect.

I install PGW glass everyday and hardly ever seen a distortion. Its basically the same company/quality/fitment as PPG just sold under a different name. Don't give up on the brand just because of 1 windshield.

If a customer receives a piece of glass that isn't to his/her liking, who is responsible for the cost replacing it again?