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).