Windshield Replacement Cost LOL

My state does not offer "free windshield replacement" on auto insurance, and my deductible is $500 so I bought mine out of pocket.

I did, however, talk to my agent to see if I had any supplemental coverage (the answer was No). She did mention that, had I filed a claim, I could then pick any installer in the "LYNX" network which is glass shops that opt in to do insurance work.


As for getting OEM glass - If it were cheap enough, I'd have gone that route (like if it was an extra $100 for a Toyota branded windshield), but the price difference is so massive, that it didn't make sense given my factory windshield cracked at 30K miles of babied driving. I saw no reason to pay a premium if all my options are going to be thin and prone to cracking.

I mentioned that my new Fuyao glass is 95% as good as OEM because the other 5% is noticeable distortion where the glass has to curve towards the sides. It's a bit irritating, but it's still better than the XYG DOT563 junk that the hack shop put in. If the situation is true that the glass spec for the Tacoma is so thin that I can expect multiple replacements down the road, then I'll take what's reasonable cost and just hope my next windshield is perfect clarity.

And on a related note, I was talking to the shop owner when I got the Fuyao put in, and he said the glass industry seems to be ditching the Chinese model due to the tariffs, so we might see a return to better quality glass sourced in North America in the coming years. Basically, the Chinese glass now can't compete with domestically sourced stuff, and due to the lower quality customer complaints, it just makes more sense to avoid it. Pilkington/NSG supposedly is going to restart some of their factories in the US/Mex and ditch the TriVal brand they attempted to use for private labeling XYG junk.

When you think about it, the windshield is the one thing on your car you spend 99% of your time looking at. More than anything else on the car including the dash, steering wheel, center console, hood, etc. The idea that low quality distorted glass is just the "norm" is absurd.