[Closed] So...... Windscreen chips, is it worth fixing them?

Look on the autoglass website to see if the chip will pass the mot

1. It depends where the chip is. In certain positions, it's an MOT failure and can be distracting when you're driving.

2. You may be able to get it done via your insurance policy - Direct Line offer this and it's quick and easy to get done.

3. It may weaken your windscreen and the chip, apparently can spread, though it's never happened to me.

I drove around with three chips in the windscreen of my Mk2 Golf for ages and I didn't die, so on that basis not 'imperative', but it makes a certain amount of sense and works best when the chip is fresh and clean.

It is outside line of vision and less than 40mm, so I wont have to bother then? XD

It's only £25 at halfords (and loads of other places).

Seems to be a lie that Autoglass is 'free', all my insurers have always applied an excess.

It is outside line of vision and less than 40mm, so I wont have to bother then? XD

40mm? That's a hole not a chip!

Yea I think 40mm would be outside of anyones ability to fix 🙂

Windscreen chips? Mmmmm, windscreen chips. A new hipster serving suggestion.

i repaired a chip on the van once earlier this year.

3 days later a stone hit my screen in an entirely different place and wrote off the windscreen.

have never replaced a window in 15 years of driving and ive replaced 2 this bloody year alone !

Yep, I’ve had 2 crack this year too. Possibly a reflection of the state of the roads?

aye that splash and dash gravel shit can get to **** for a start. unfortunantly i cant blame that - a stone came off the back of a lorry traveling in the other direction - who promptly ****ed off quickly.

Yes before the frost gets in and cracks the whole screen.

I had a chip in my windscreen for about 6 years and it never spread, only replaced when I got another crack somewhere else

I also was in the alps for 3 weeks during winter and the chip was fine

have never replaced a window in 15 years of driving and ive replaced 2 this bloody year alone !

I've just had a real karma kick in the spuds.

on motorway in 4 mth old van, flashed a lorry out to overtake which threw a stone at my screen and took a big lump out of it. £95+VAT excess to replace and I hadn't even washed the original one for the 1st time yet!

Direct Line the excess is a tenner (used to be free but apparently chips are so common now they’ve now introduced an excess) vs. about 50 quid to replace the screen, so worth it I guess to de-risk the chip growing into a crack. Though i’ve Had 2 in the past 6 months. My concern is not necessarily that it might grow into a crack, but the windscreen is an integral part of the crash structure of the car so in the event of a crash could mean a weaker structure to protect you.

It’s amazing that a 1-2cm chip is an mot fail but sticking an iPhone 8 Plus directly in the field of drivers vision and then doing FaceTime video calls whilst driving is completely ok - judging by the driver behaviour in this part of London.

and yes - have even submitted camera footage of this to the rozzers who did precisely nothing even though the footage showed vehicle in motion, full clear view of the driver and the number plate.

I've had a chip/crack in my screen for 4 years and it hasn't got bigger. However I saw that you can get diy kits on eBay for 3 quid from a UK seller. Wasn't that hard to do and it surprisingly effective for a first time effort with cheapo kit!

Chips are one thing, small ones, <10mm outside the drivers central area of vision, are likely to be ok, but over the last three years or so I’ve been seeing more and more screens that are actually cracked, often across a significant portion of the screen, and frequently from just one impact from a high-velocity object, like a 15mm long bolt, like the one which I saw coming towards me, it hit the edge of the screen in the black edge halfway up the ‘A’ post, and put a 3” crack into the screen. The dealer I dropped the car of at wasn’t best pleased!

I took a Qashqai to Autowindscreens at Cribbs Causeway on Tuesday for a new screen, which took two hours to fit. The screen was cracked ⅔ of the way across, from high up on the n/s ‘A’-post down to the bottom of the screen in front of the driver. Not a job for a mobile screen fitter, there is a camera in the r/v mirror assembly that is for the lane deviation and speed sign warning system, so after the screen is taken out, that unit has to be very carefully removed, put back onto the new screen, then after the screen is put back onto the car, it then has to go through a calibration process using a large fixed screen. In this instance, it wouldn’t calibrate, so the car had to be, in effect, rebooted!

Now imagine the cost if that screen had been a heated one, which some Qashqai have fitted, pretty much all Fords have, and Vauxhall Corsas, as well as Volvo and Range Rover/Land Rover.

I’m convinced that screens are thinner, Autowindscreens are a regular visitor at work replacing screens on cars that are usually no more than two-three years old.

You can buy windscreen chip repair kits on eBay for less than a fiver.

i have fixed two little chips in my screen, and the results were surprisingly good ... unless you know exactly where the chip was you’d never know.

very easy to do yourself.

You can buy windscreen chip repair kits on eBay for less than a fiver.

i have fixed two little chips in my screen, and the results were surprisingly good … unless you know exactly where the chip was you’d never know.

very easy to do yourself.

Making the chips invisible is not necessarily fixing fixing the chips. My two chips are not invisible. I doubt those ebay kits are doing the same thing as the kit the auto glass guys are using.

if you’re insured with a decent insurance company it’s a tenner to get fixed. They’ll come to you and at your place of work so convenient. Why wouldn’t you get them fixed if they are fixable?

I used one of the Ebay kits on my old Porsche. It was very effective - you couldn't tell it had ever been there. It's a resin, and very strong. I'd trust it again.

It's quite a process to do it - it takes about half an hour and the way they're designed means you leave a syringe on there compressing the resin for a long time to really fill the hole.

MY mate had a crack in his screen about 3 inches long across one corner, another stone hit it and it failed in the pissing rain and we got covered in glass. It was funny for stoned teens but would be less so under other circumstances. I assume you are not a stoned teen. If so, crack on, for the bantz like.

Now imagine the cost if that screen had been a heated one, which some Qashqai have fitted, pretty much all Fords have, and Vauxhall Corsas, as well as Volvo and Range Rover/Land Rover.

Around a grand.  Hence why I quite liked it when Direct Line only charged me 70 quid excess to replace mine on a previous car.

Yea my screen is one of those heated ones, sounds like they are pretty pricey, I was hoping the extra strength provided by the wires would stop it cracking further?

I’m convinced that screens are thinner, Autowindscreens are a regular visitor at work replacing screens on cars that are usually no more than two-three years old.

Yes, they are. I had a long chat with the Autoglass fitter who replaced the screen on my Mk2 GTi - he reckons that it's twice the thickness of the screens in more modern cars and a lot easier to replace too compared to a bonded-in modern unit that's an integral part of the structure of the car.

<div class="bbp-reply-author">wobbliscott
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Making the chips invisible is not necessarily fixing fixing the chips. My two chips are not invisible. I doubt those ebay kits are doing the same thing as the kit the auto glass guys are using.

if you’re insured with a decent insurance company it’s a tenner to get fixed. They’ll come to you and at your place of work so convenient. Why wouldn’t you get them fixed if they are fixable?

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The resin will be the same - the process will be the same too. Doubt basically means uncertainty .. so sometimes you gotta try things to actually know.

Getting it fixed for a tenner is an easy option for sure. Although you have to declare making the claim when you shop around for new insurance .. ok, if you stay with same company it may not go up; but if you shop around it most likely will .. I doubt that makes it such a good deal then.

Getting it fixed for a tenner is an easy option for sure. Although you have to declare making the claim when you shop around for new insurance ..

Seriously? You've been asked to declare a windscreen chip repair?