Windshield vs Insurance
July 11, 2011 2:20 PM Subscribe
How can I convince my auto insurance company to pay for an OEM windshield?
Big ol' crack in the windshield. I've had non-OEM windshields before and I've seen some strange distortions.
My current auto insurance co (California) says that they will not cover OEM ones at all.
At all?? $0.00?
Can they do that? Can I convince them to cover at least to the amount that they would cover for a non-OEM one?
Big ol' crack in the windshield. I've had non-OEM windshields before and I've seen some strange distortions.
My current auto insurance co (California) says that they will not cover OEM ones at all.
At all?? $0.00?
Can they do that? Can I convince them to cover at least to the amount that they would cover for a non-OEM one?
For what it's worth, insurance companies don't pay for OEM windshields for their insureds[1] because OEM glass is crazy expensive. Less expensive ones have to be "harvested" from salvage yards and large panes like windshields and rear windows are difficult to find unbroken, while straight from the manufacturer is holy-crap expensive because there's not much in the way of slack inventory. On my 2007 Silverado, an OEM salvage windshield is about $325, OEM from the dealer is $500. Safelite says they'll replace it for $209+tax.
If you go with a national company, a warranty will come with the glass. You can ask to inspect the glass before it's installed and even if you see distortions after the fact the warranty will often cover it.
posted by fireoyster at 5:43 PM on July 11, 2011
If you go with a national company, a warranty will come with the glass. You can ask to inspect the glass before it's installed and even if you see distortions after the fact the warranty will often cover it.
posted by fireoyster at 5:43 PM on July 11, 2011
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It's a lot like prescription drugs...As long as there's only the brand version available (the OEM, if you will), insurance will pay for it. But, as soon as generics become available, insurance stops paying for the brand version.
Honestly, though, I've had to replace four or five windshields over the years, and none of them were ever OEM units. They were all done by Safelite, and I never saw any distortions or had any other problems.
posted by Thorzdad at 4:21 PM on July 11, 2011