We own two vehicles...Sherman the motorhome, and the little blue car. And they both have windshield problems! Not bad, but enough to be annoying. The motorhome windshield is two pieces...there is a left side and a right side. The left side has two small stone chips, and one large one. The right side has a crack about a foot and a half long
So yesterday I made some phone calls.
And when Ruth got home from doing groceries, I had some good news, and some bad news.
Of course whenever anybody says that they have good news and bad news, they have to ask you which you want to hear first.
Ruth chose the bad news first.
Well the bad news is that Sherman's new windshields would cost $619 USD ($800 CAD) per side! And that's just to buy them. That does not include installation, or shipping, or possible taxes.
And the good news? Well the good news is that they are still available. I kind of thought they might be obsolete, but that's not the case.
Edit: I just had a quote back from a guy in Elkhart, Indiana (the RV manufacturing capitol of the world) who will supply the glass for $498 USD each side. That's a little better!
We don't carry glass insurance on either one of the vehicles. Here in Saskatchewan they will only cover your vehicle for glass if you also purchase collision and comprehensive coverage on top of your basic coverage. Then, there is a $700 deductible unless you increase your premium to lower your deductible. In the case of Sherman's windshield, we would have been better off to pay all of those extra premiums.
However it's a different story with the little blue car.
I can get a new windshield supplied and installed here in Canada for a total of $300. That's about what I figured.
But, we still think we just won't get anything done on either vehicle for the time being. We only use the little blue car to drive into town and back once a week. And we'll soon be parking it for the winter. Possibly we'll get the windshield changed when we pick him up next May, but we'll decide then.
With the motorhome, by the time all is said and done it will be a $2,000 job to change both windshields. That's pretty hard to justify. If it's a matter of priorities, we'd rather spend $2,000 flying to Fiji. Plus, we aren't really going to be using him much over the next year. We'll revisit this expenditure again next year at this time depending on what kind of travel we have planned for the following winter season.
So for the time being, we will live with the windshields as they are. Oh, except that I will buy one of those chip repair kits to improve the one on Sherman's drivers side. It won't be anywhere near perfect, but it should make it better than the big bullseye that it is!
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We have always done the chip repair thing. We have a small crack right at the top of our truck windshield and we used the chip repair kit to stop it from spreading and it worked for the time being (over a year now). The only thing you might face on the big crack is if it is right in your line of vision you could get a fine. Other than that it is purely for looks.
ReplyDeleteThe crack is on the passenger side so it isn't an issue. In fact that happened over a year ago and it was passed in our vehicle inspection and never grew in the whole year after that, even after having gone on some bad Mexican roads. The chips are on the drivers side. The two smaller ones have been there for a few years now and we have never had a problem with them. The bigger one is more of an issue and needs to be repaired before it becomes a crack.
DeleteI was about to add that you should check the legality of not doing it. As Cheapchick says you can be fined if your visibility is affected.
ReplyDeleteMaybe, but doubtful. I'm not concerned about the possibility.
DeleteOMG!!! Can't believe it's that much. Have had them replaced in our Tiffin and about 1/2 that. Again, ask folks around in those forums. Can't believe that's the best there is.
ReplyDeleteRe the Chevy.....the entire windshield is probably about half the size of one side of the coach, right? Lol. Little blue car = little clear windshield!
I just had a quote from a guy in Elkhart...$498 USD per side.
DeleteYes, the little blue car has a little windshield!
Glad we have the glass coverage for our coach with $100 deductible had the drivers side replaced twice. And only $200 deductible for our $3,200. awning installed. Good luck with the decision.
ReplyDeleteRight. But don't forget to include the fact that you've also paid the premiums over the last 10 years...
DeleteCould it be cheaper in the US, assuming you're going that way b/4 long.
ReplyDeleteThe pricing Kevin was quoted is from the States and is in US dollars.
DeleteI would buy the glass in the States and have them installed in Mexico.
ReplyDeleteNow there's a guy who's thinking!
DeleteIn 17 years of RVing I have yet to need new glass, not looking forward to it.
ReplyDeleteWow, you are doing well! :-) We were until this past year and that includes some pretty rough roads in Mexico. We feel pretty good that we had gone this long without and windshield issue.
DeleteYou know we just went through this. Ours was supposedly easy peasy to locate both halves of our motorhome windshield. And our motorhome is 20 years old and not a very popular brand. It actually took two and a half months to locate them and even then the ones they shipped were wrong the first time. That was RV Solutions through Safelite here in Wisconsin. The total repair job was $3,000. $800 of it was Labor. Fortunately we did have the glass coverage with our insurance and only had to pay $500. The scary part is what the large windshields is that they can break during installation and then you have to wait again for another one to get shipped to the place and in the meantime you can't go anywhere without a windshield! Wishing you good luck on what you choose to do.
ReplyDeleteYikes! Good thing you had the glass coverage on your insurance but still what a hassle you had to go through to get the correct glass and get it installed. Hopefully when we get ours done we won't have similar issues.
DeleteKeep in mind that ALL RVs go somewhere to die. Check out the yellow pages for salvage yards that have wrecked and/or burned out RVs.
ReplyDeleteYes but trying to find one with the same sized windshield without any cracks or chips in it will be more like trying to find a needle in a haystack but it is something that we had thought about.
DeleteFixing stone chips quickly is important because water somehow accelerates crack propagation in glass. A commenter recently recommended scotch tape as a temporary fix, that would help keep the water out until you can do the epoxy thing.
ReplyDeleteThanks Creigh, Kevin will be fixing it shortly! :-)
DeleteYes severe winter weather could make it worse but we won't be driving either vehicle in severe winter weather! ;-)
ReplyDeleteThat is why we figure we won't get it done until next fall. I think Sherman will only be driven for about a month total before then.
Here if they are very bad they won't pass yearly inspection. Where we are moving there is no inspections. Yes standard car windshields are really reasonable. Had one replaced in the minivan and it was cheaper having a guy cone to the house than the deductible would have been. #185 total I think glass and labor..
ReplyDeleteWe don't have yearly inspections here, just the once when we changed provinces and had the license changed over to Saskatchewan. We had the crack then and it hasn't changed in size and it was passed, I think that is because it is on the passenger side. The Little Blue Car might be different though because it is on the drivers side of the windshield but not really in the line of sight but close to it. We will most likely change that one in the spring upon our return.
DeleteWhy don't you just buy the glass in Mexico and let the Mexicans change it
ReplyDeleteBecause you wouldn't be able to buy the glass in Mexico.
DeleteHere is our bad news/good news story. A rock hit our jeep in Boise Idaho and cracked the windshield. We had it replace. Less than 30 hours later a truck passing by kicked up another rock and cracked the windshield AGAIN. Now for the good news. The glass place took pity on us and fixed the crack and didn't charge us anything. Wow! Now that was totally unexpected.
ReplyDeleteThat is exactly why we hesitate to have it fixed! Saskatchewan roads are bad and I bet there are a pile of cars out there with cracks on them because if they change them, they may have another one in a week's time. I think they wait until they get bad enough that it is worth changing them.
DeleteYou were very lucky to have such a sympathetic glass repair shop! :-)
Too much Yakking up there for me to go thru it....Check out Dyer's RV...AZ...I lost my mirror on a skinny bridge in WA. "Lucy" is a 1988..Hope she doesn't mind I told you her age..I received new mirrors in 4 days after ordering. I live in Washington..the state..
ReplyDeleteThe 1st search was almost $400...Try them out for anything you need..Fair price..more than fair!..The same with shipping...They sent them for $200....
Just thought I'd share a vendor who treats the folks with older rigs just as if we had zillion$$ rigs...
Upriverdavid
Thanks David! We won't be in that area this winter but it is something to think about on our way south the following winter or even the possibility of having something shipped here.
Delete