Cracked Windshield on Tacoma

Two windshields on my 2020 in the first year of ownership. Have zero deductible “glass” insurance. No idea what the replacements cost. I think the insurance premium is worth it.

 

I took my 2020 with a gnarly chip/crack in my windshield to get its final Toyota care maintenance. The dealership's glass guy called me and said there was a 1-2 month wait on a Toyota branded windshields. He called me back and said the OEM supplier (pilkington) is actually located local to me and they could replace it the next day. He got my insurance guy on the phone and said it would be $50 for replacement. The glass company comped the $50. I was happily surprised

 

SafeLite did the windshield on my '06 TRD OR - zero issues. Tried to fight for an OEM with my insurance - at first they balked, but then there were no available afternarket windshields so OEM it was. No out of pocket cost for me.

 

I had the exact same thing happen to me. Had a tiny chip, drove it out of the heated garage into 0 deg F and POW. The crack shot across my windshield like lightning. I ended up getting a new windshield through safelight. From what I've been hearing Toyota's glass is nothing special or maybe even a little on the thin side. Anyways I was happy with safelight and progressive had zero out of pocket.

 

I love when people when people think a windeflector is gonna stop a stone.

 

I wouldn't let safelite wash my truck, let alone swap out a windshield. After 3 windshields in my last truck, that all leaked, I traded it in on my Taco, and it still leaked.

 

I mean…that’s how they advertise it. And like I said it came from the side across the windshield not over the front, so I wouldn’t expect it to stop anything.

 

When I lived in Vermont I used to average one new windshield each winter. It was illegal to use salt on the roads so they had this sand and gravel mix they put down, and driving mainly two-lane roads it was only a matter of time. I had a bug/stone deflector, but it was to keep the front of my hood from getting whacked as much. Nothing is going to stop a stone with the right trajectory heading for your windshield at that speed.

 

So I had it replaced with a local glass repair that does the glass work for the Toyota dealer. The guy came out to my house and put the new windshield in. As soon as he left I got in the truck and noticed pretty glaring obvious distortion on both driver and passenger side. Passenger side is worse. So now i have to wait for another replacement.
This windshield is Fuyao which I’m reading bad things about online. The OEM is Pilkington. Now I’m not sure if I just should’ve used safe lite. The repair guy said when I called back there are zero OEM available, not sure how true that is but I don’t want a junk replacement.

 

Had to replace mine early this year when the chipped part finally cracked after five months of winter. Went through Safelite and insurance covered $750 with $50 deductible. Non OEM windshield has worked fine for me without issue, I suspect a lot of it also comes down to quality of the install and that off brands probably have less quality controls on production so the chances of a bad one are higher.

The Safelite place I took mine too had previously replaced the side window in my old Corolla I had before the Taco when someone broke the window on it, so the techs knew me, but also that I'd give them a lot of grief if my new truck wasn't done right since I'd spent a lot of time talking about my plans for it when I was there the first time haha.