Windshield Deep Scratch

[dsoc4s]

Hello Friends,

I have a 2010 C4S with 1800 miles. Just washed the car today and noticed a deep scratch on the windshield along the arc of the wiper blade. I live in the Northeast - had a harsh winter. It looks like it was from a sharp piece of stone on the wiper blade. It is deep enough to just catch my fingernail. Any ideas for repair. I'd hate to have to change the entire windshield.

[therock88]

Hello Friends,

I have a 2010 C4S with 1800 miles. Just washed the car today and noticed a deep scratch on the windshield along the arc of the wiper blade. I live in the Northeast - had a harsh winter. It looks like it was from a sharp piece of stone on the wiper blade. It is deep enough to just catch my fingernail. Any ideas for repair. I'd hate to have to change the entire windshield.

Man.....That really sucks! I am sure that did not make you too happy. Unfortunately I am not aware of any repairs that can be done to windshield glass in that fashion. Also, if it is on the driver's side, glass repairers cannot even fix chips if they are in the sweep of the wiper (driver's view). At least they are not supposed to.

It appears that you will have to live with it or change it....Unless you can find a glass installer that may be able to polish the glass somehow to reduce the affect?....Worth asking I suppose. Try Safelite, Harmon or one of

the other big national vendors.

Good luck!

DC

Edited April 5, 2010 by therock88

[johnm]

sadly, there is not much you can do. The rule of thumb is that if you can feel it with a fingernail, it cannot be polished. You may be able to minimize the scratch by professional polishing, but this can leave a haze or even distort the glass. Porsche has the unfortunate trait of putting some very, very soft glass on their cars. By the time you have 3,000 miles, the windshield will be so pitted and cratered, that you may not mind the scratch! I just factor in a new windshield every two years into the service costs of the car. (I am also in the northeast, and there is plenty of gravel and stones to do the damage!)

I got quite a bit of good info at the Autopia detailer forums. Cruise on over and do a search for your problem.

[MWS]

Be very careful who you let replace the windshield on your car.

I used an installer referred to me by my insurance company. It was a nightmare.

The job ended up costing the insurance company over $3,000 on a Lexus 430-SC I had before my C4S. It took three weeks to complete. The replacement windshield had to be replaced after the the installer made I mess of things. I had to have one of the windshield pillars replaced and painted. All the seals around the windshield had to be replace, The rear view mirror mounting bracket had to be replaced. For awhile the dome lights and garage door opener wouldn't work. The driver's side door seal had to be replaced. The sun visors were installed incorrectly so that if you wanted to look at yourself in the vanity mirror you had to crawl up on the hood of the car and look at yourself through the windshield. The installer got glue on the roof of the car. He allowed his red rolling toolbox to bang into my front fender which left red paint on the fender. The white leather interior had greasy hand prints left on it.

This was a job that was supposed to only take a couple of hours and was to be done in the parking lot of the building where I was working.

[johnm]

Be very careful who you let replace the windshield on your car.

I used an installer referred to me by my insurance company. It was a nightmare.

The job ended up costing the insurance company over $3,000 on a Lexus 430-SC I had before my C4S. It took three weeks to complete. The replacement windshield had to be replaced after the the installer made I mess of things. I had to have one of the windshield pillars replaced and painted. All the seals around the windshield had to be replace, The rear view mirror mounting bracket had to be replaced. For awhile the dome lights and garage door opener wouldn't work. The driver's side door seal had to be replaced. The sun visors were installed incorrectly so that if you wanted to look at yourself in the vanity mirror you had to crawl up on the hood of the car and look at yourself through the windshield. The installer got glue on the roof of the car. He allowed his red rolling toolbox to bang into my front fender which left red paint on the fender. The white leather interior had greasy hand prints left on it.

This was a job that was supposed to only take a couple of hours and was to be done in the parking lot of the building where I was working.

Yeah, some of these guys just pull up in a truck and try to fit the windshield in 45 minutes or less! I watched them do a car once and they looked like a pit-crew at Indy. Not a good thing. One small slip and your A-pillar will need a full repaint.

I go to the dealer to have it done and pay the 200 buck surcharge. The same truck pulls up, the pit crew comes out, and the service manager threatens the living hell out of them. Now, the dealer is on the hook and you don't want to ***** them off! I think it runs 1100 bucks at the dealer in the northeast. (My cousins S5 just got delivered with a huge gouge in the windshield and the dealer 'swears' that they can buff it out! If they are successful, I will post the results and the technique)

If only porsche would spec the same glass as everyone else, this would be less common of an occurrence. There must be some benefit to the soft glass, but no one seems to know what it is!

[Bostonduce]

Eastwood company sells glass polish along with a 'abrasive' puck that attaches to a drill to polish it.

If you gently polish the sharp edge along the scratch, you will tone down the reflections and it will be less visible.

BD