Replacement windshields

[cobram at juno.com]

Pat Korach <tm2 at zipcon.net> writes:

>  The good ones  meet  OEM specs and are slightly thicker than the 
> cheap one which only the federal standards.  When a rock hits the OEM
ones they tend 
> to survive better then the thinner ones..  I've seen the cheapies on
sale for a $150 
> which did not include installation and the trim.  The OEM ones are over

> twice that price and list somewhere around $700.

Excellent point, which cannot be stressed (pun intended) enough.  The
Windshield on the type 44 is an integral part of the unibody, this can be
confirmed by many a crashed type 44 where even the roof line has buckled
and the windscreen remains pretty intact.  This may also help to explain
why non OEM glass (ppg etc.) has a high tendency to crack, and that
window installers hate doing Audi's because it's a PITA, and non-OEM
glass may mean a stress crack that they'll have to fix under warranty. 
Personal experience with shotgun sounding unknown projectiles hitting the
windscreen at speed, and then finding no damage confirm the higher
standard to which the OEM Sigla glass is held than the minimum standard
NAGS (after market) glass.  
In my state insurance picks up the full tab for auto glass, and I never
let them put in anything but the OEM Sigla.  Personal experience is that
the factory glass is good for 7-10 years of New England (blowing sand,
salt and freezing rain) driving before the sandblasting effect becomes a
nuisance, especially with the low sunsets/sunrises in the Autumn and
Spring.

Costs have come way down on auto glass lately, last I heard about $650
for Sigla if insurance pays, or $500 cash to the installer if no
insurance involved. 

BCNU,
Cobram at Juno.Com
http://www.geocities.com/cobramsri/index.html

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