How would y'all remove annoying fine scratches caused by wipers and the occasional ice scraper, from an otherwise good windshield (no cracks or significant chips)? This would be on a 1998 Ford truck that does not have comp insurance. Recommendations?
Thanks!
If you can catch your nail on it, it won't come out.
Glass polish and a buffer works well. Tape the weatherstripping off prior to buffing.
My 270k mile Saturn Vue had such a hard to see out of glass, from just the wear of 270k hard miles, that I was considering replacing the windshield. This was years ago and the Saturn Vue was still a popular vehicle. I remember it being relatively cheap to get it replaced with a new, reproduction glass.
For your '98 F-150, I just went to Safelight's website and it said $219, installed and I could have an appointment this week taking it to their shop just 3 miles from my house. For $35 more, they would come to me. If you plan to keep the truck, $250 seems like a reasonable investment.
The site was very clear to ask me if I would be self paying or insurance paying. Like medical, windshield seems to be one of those services that have different rates if the insurance company is involved. Prices seem higher if they have to wait for the insurance co to actually pay them.
In reply to John Welsh :
My solution to this problem in the past has been the Safelite route as well. There's no guarantee they won't give you an absolute garbage aftermarket windshield, though. I got an XYG that was so wavy, I just couldn't live with it. I called them up and complained and they came back and replaced it with an OEM one, which I was happy about, but it was still a hassle. So, if it works well enough, I can see the value in polishing a good quality OEM windshield rather than replacing it with a mystery aftermarket part.
In reply to obsolete :
Interesting. I had not considered that. My Saturn mechanically failed before I actually went through with changing the windshield so I just offloaded the whole car.
In Florida you can get a free windshield replacement. I used Safelite and it was a diaster. Installer damaged the car getting the old windshield out, the new one leaked, the second install had tons of goop squished out from the edge, the third install was a decent job. I'm sure it depends on the local installer. Not to knock Safelite.
Thanks for the suggestions, everyone. The scratches are pretty light. I'll try the cleaning and polishing first, and see how it comes out.
Bon ami or bar keepers best friend and 0000 steel wheels.
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