Possible to just buy an oem 2nd gen windshield?

I had a damaged windshield replaced last year by a local glass shop. I requested oem toyota part, after reading of issues with Safelight glass. Cost was around $300 more than non-oem.

The new glass is definitely oem. The shop told me my old glass was not oem, and showed me the differences. I bought truck used at 175k, so glass was replaced by PO


I damaged the glass after needing a tow in a snowstorm. I had used a trekking pole (more handy than my shovel at the time) to remove snow from the glass. As I started to do that, my towing friend said "No don't, you'll scratch the glass!". Lesson learned. It really did leave some bad noticeable scratches, so I decided to repair.

 

Funny I had a disagreement with my insurance company over this exact thing. I wanted OEM and not the poor Safelite glass they tried to give me. The lady actually said the glass I want is easily 3x's the cost of what she was giving me and that they won't give me the quality glass.
At that time I had never had an insurance claim on my home, properties or vehicles. I let her know that I was now shopping for a quality windshield and an insurance company. I hung up and started looking. Under 10 min later she called back with an appointment time and the proper windshield.

 

My work truck windshields take a beating, the existing one has about 9 rock strikes. Since it’s not mine, it goes to safelite. I’ve gone a few times and they did good work, no issues.

Op, I understand you want an oem piece. But consider a few things. I’m thinking financially you might be better off using aftermarket if you’re intending to mess it up again off-roading. But if you’re like me, I don’t care about saving a buck, I just want good quality stuff and done right the first time, then stick with oem.

I had to replace one on a pov, left a screwdriver near the wipers and closed the hood. The installer I used offered oem or aftermarket, recommending oem which is what I chose.

 

Funny how we can all have different experiences with the same vendors. I've had Safelite replace windshields in several different vehicles over the years, and never, not once, has there been an issue. I always asked for OEM (manufacturers) replacements and was assured that's what I got. Could I verify that without a doubt? No, but as I said, never an issue.

 

Cheap aftermarket windshields (on my experience) often have vertical lines that can be seen when wearing polarized glasses. I assume these lines are due to the shaping (curve) of the glass.

 

Insurance companies will always recommend aftermarket glass. Why? Because it costs them less. Why does aftermarket glass cost less? Generally speaking, the quality level just isn't up to OEM standards. Oh, they'll tell you that they use "CAPA Certified" stuff and that's true. But CAPA Certified just means that it meets insurance company standards. And we all know that the insurance companies are looking out for our best interests right? Nope, I'll always take nothing but OEM parts for our Toyotas.

As a side note, I work for a Toyota dealership delivering wholesale parts. (That means they're all OEM Toyota parts.) I can tell you war stories about the collision shops I deliver to and their experiences with aftermarket - even CAPA certified parts. I was at one shop last Friday for my last delivery of the day. When I walked in (with OEM parts), one of the Technicians shouted "It's about time we got something that's going to actually fit!" He then showed me a Keystone CAPA Certified front fender he was working on. "I'll only have a couple of hours of extra work to get this one to actually fit. And the best part is that this is the best one out of three that they've sent me." And windshield glass is exactly the same way.

 

Yes it does.

 

yep, only about the past few decades have taught us that OEM stuff is best. the difference in money is nothing compared to the difference in annoyance..