Windshield Replacement

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I need to have the windshield in my 2016 Honda Pilot replaced. Is anyone familiar with Auto Glass Now? Their price is significantly lower than Safelite. I need to call them back and find out what brands of glass they quoted. If OEM is possible, that is what I want but what are glass brands to stay away from?
 
Originally Posted by iontrap
I need to have the windshield in my 2016 Honda Pilot replaced. Is anyone familiar with Auto Glass Now? Their price is significantly lower than Safelite. I need to call them back and find out what brands of glass they quoted. If OEM is possible, that is what I want but what are glass brands to stay away from?


Very often non OEM are cheapened out, make sure that you have the same number of layers as in the OEM, I ran into situations where the OEM were triple glazed and the replacement only double or sometime single glazed.
 
Pilkington is a big brand for auto glass and I've had bad luck over and over with them. Very soft windshields that pit easily.
 
OP, if you've got LKAS, stick with OEM glass. A lot of people on the Pilot forums said they had issues with the camera not working correctly with aftermarket glass.

Originally Posted by Nick1994
Pilkington is a big brand for auto glass and I've had bad luck over and over with them. Very soft windshields that pit easily.

I am surprised at how tough my 10 yr old Pilkington windshield is. It's taken countless pebble hits (especially in the winter) and besides a few chips, it still looks great.
 
XYG aka XInyi is no good.

FYG aka Fuyao is very good
smile.gif


FYG, PGW (formerly PPG), and Pilkington are OEM suppliers. They make good stuff. The OEM windshield you will have installed is identical to your original windshield in every way except it won't have the Honda logo.

Safelite no longer makes their own windshields. Now, they mostly install FYG/Fuyao
 
Had a FYG put in the RAV4 a year ago and it stinks. Terrible distortion at the bottom and top edges, very annoying. Wasn't happy with the installer so have to live with it until next replacement. Had a Pilkington put in the Silverado a couple of months ago after the crappy FYG and it's okay but not as distortion free as the original glass. Next windshield will be OEM branded . Have a feeling some people aren't sensitive to distortions and my background in optics makes me super sensitive to poor quality.

You get what you pay for. The cheapest will not be as good as OEM but might be good enough.
 
Safelite is typically junk, cheaper than safelite would be a red flag to me without knowing the brand of glass they are going to use.

Also are the moldings reusable (if it has them - been a while since I looked a pilot.).
 
Originally Posted by slacktide_bitog


FYG, PGW (formerly PPG), and Pilkington are OEM suppliers. They make good stuff. The OEM windshield you will have installed is identical to your original windshield in every way except it won't have the Honda logo.

XYG is also making a fair bit of PGW glass - check the DOT numbers. 904 = good, 563 = bad.
 
This is one thing you really don't want to go cheap if you plan on keeping the car. I hired the cheapest guy around and gave him two chances and he still couldn't get the trim to stay on so rather than let him try again I took it to a different place which was double what the first guy charged but they got it right. So it ended up costing me half again as much, lesson learned.
 
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Originally Posted by DuckRyder
Safelite is typically junk, cheaper than safelite would be a red flag to me without knowing the brand of glass they are going to use.

Also are the moldings reusable (if it has them - been a while since I looked a pilot.).




Most cars do not have moldings these days.
 
Go OEM if possible.

All non-OEM windshields will generally be lower quality (e.g., bad color such as pink tint at high angles, color change with viewing angle change, sound insulation, electronics malfunctions, letting in more heat, etc.).

If Asahi/Aptech was OEM, any non-OEM will be a severe dropoff. St. Gobain and Pilkington also make very good windshields and are OEMs for mid to higher end vehicles.
 
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PPG is a very good brand and equivalent to OEM. Safelite is mostly Chinese and not that great. You tend to get a lot of distortion and chromatic aberrations with cheap windshields. You will have to see what your insurance will cover, but your car is new enough that they might pay for OEM.
 
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Originally Posted by DuckRyder
Originally Posted by PimTac
Originally Posted by DuckRyder
Safelite is typically junk, cheaper than safelite would be a red flag to me without knowing the brand of glass they are going to use.

Also are the moldings reusable (if it has them - been a while since I looked a pilot.).




Most cars do not have moldings these days.


Really?

https://www.hondapartsnow.com/parts-list/2016-honda-pilot-5dr_ex_2wd-ka-6at/front-windshield.html




You found one. Good. Most cars just glue their windshields in and no molding.
 
Originally Posted by PimTac
Originally Posted by DuckRyder
Originally Posted by PimTac
Originally Posted by DuckRyder
Safelite is typically junk, cheaper than safelite would be a red flag to me without knowing the brand of glass they are going to use.

Also are the moldings reusable (if it has them - been a while since I looked a pilot.).




Most cars do not have moldings these days.


Really?

https://www.hondapartsnow.com/parts-list/2016-honda-pilot-5dr_ex_2wd-ka-6at/front-windshield.html




You found one. Good. Most cars just glue their windshields in and no molding.


Coincidentally it is the one we are talking about.
28.gif
 
Originally Posted by nthach
Originally Posted by slacktide_bitog


FYG, PGW (formerly PPG), and Pilkington are OEM suppliers. They make good stuff. The OEM windshield you will have installed is identical to your original windshield in every way except it won't have the Honda logo.

XYG is also making a fair bit of PGW glass - check the DOT numbers. 904 = good, 563 = bad.


DOT 459 is also good
thumbsup2.gif
 
Originally Posted by slacktide_bitog
Originally Posted by nthach
Originally Posted by slacktide_bitog


FYG, PGW (formerly PPG), and Pilkington are OEM suppliers. They make good stuff. The OEM windshield you will have installed is identical to your original windshield in every way except it won't have the Honda logo.

XYG is also making a fair bit of PGW glass - check the DOT numbers. 904 = good, 563 = bad.


DOT 459 is also good
thumbsup2.gif



459 - Chinese coating technology ain't good.
 
From experience, I can say that the windshield replacement biz has turned upside down in just the last few (3) years.

- As stated, Safelight has dropped their own manufacturing, so they are now on a level playing field with other installers - they source their wares from others. My experience with them was that they bid higher than everyone else, and if you don't bite, they drop their prices (via email offers) to eventually match the surrounding market. They were held in low esteem on the professional windshield biz forums a few years ago. Not sure of their current status.
- In my opinion, Chinese glass quality has jumped leaps and bounds. The Chinese windshield giant Fuyao has invested billions into new U.S. manufacturing plants (now online) and is expects to hire thousands more U.S. employees in the next year or two. Chinese XYG glass has north American headquarters in Ontario.
- In my perusal of pro windshield installer forums, they imply that buying name brand no longer guarantees country of origin since many are now outsourcing.
- Some car models can have a dozen or more windshield variations from the factory. If there are sensors mounted in or behind the windshield, they might require a special calibration procedure. The independent windshield shops are/were complaining that it was difficult for them to keep up with the technology and/or that the calibration was somewhat proprietary for each brand.
- In my area, the remaining family owned auto glass shops have been bought by chain type stores, either national or regional.

Regarding windshield manufacturing, nothing is the same as it was just a few years ago. My recent Chinese replacement glass seems to be much better than the OEM (Japanese) replacement I had installed 5 years ago.

And as always, the results are only as good as the guy doing the work. It is very difficult to judge the quality of one shop vs. another. I visited several and tried to get a "feel" when collecting some estimates and viewing their work area and employees. The shop that I loved 5 years ago now seemed trashy. I'm also of the opinion that you have a better chance of good installation at a shop vs. a mobile unit (just my bias).
 
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