I have an 03 WRX Sedan. Had a bad rock strike last week, the crack is over a foot long and growing every day.

I'll have to call my insurance company tomorrow because I have a few days off next week.

My question(s): The windshield is not tinted at the top. That's one of the few things I don't like about my WRX. I won't mind paying more if I can get a black-grey or blue tint on the replacement windshield. I've had some experience with getting this job done with mobile glass jobbers... they did a great job on my last car when I had to get a windshield replaced.

Is there any legal reason why my WRX can't have the upper-edge tint? Any other advise or experience to share? I may want to replace the funky standard rear-view mirror that came with the car, too. It's poorly constructed and doesn't flip back and forth from night to day vision reliably. No kidding, I drive at night at least 5 days a week.

 

If you don't mind me bogarting your topic, I'm also interested to know more about this. I've upgraded so many other parts on my car, I'd like to know how to upgrade the windshield rather than just replace it. How do you make certain that the replacement glass is as good or better than factory? Who makes the best auto glass? Are there "deluxe" or high-quality auto glass, or is it all the same junk?

Obviously proper fit is the most important characteristic, but I'd like something lighter weight and stronger, if I could get it. After three years of Arizona highways (littered with gravel) my windshield looks like the surface of the moon.

 

I just got off of the phone this morning with my insurance co. (State Farm) and the auto glass people here in town.

State Farm replaces a windshield on a "lowest cost" basis which is no big deal. Replacement is the only choice for me, the crack is 17" long now and growing. I called Greenvalley Subaru in Fairfield CA, where I bought the car and the parts dept. there said that there are no special specs. or other conditions to watch for regarding Impreza windshield replacement. For windshields, glass quality is prety much uniform and highly regulated.

As it happens, the "lowest cost" windshield I'll be getting is superior to the stock Subaru windshield in at least one respect: It will include blue sun tint on the top of the windshield.

Now I'd like to get hold of something better than the stock standard rear view mirror before Wednesday. Any recommendations?

re: weight reduced glass... The rumored WRX WR is said to feature weight reduced glass, but I haven't seen this product yet. At any rate, I'm guessing that the WR glass will require different sealing materials from our standard Impreza glass.

 

Might want to check out this site:

http://www.tintdude.com/ptow.html

which gives you tint laws state by state. According to the site, if you're registered in Cali, you don't want that visor tint dropping any further than four inches if you don't want to risk getting a ticket.

 

I just got a new windshield on my 02 WRX yesterday. It has a 6in tint strip on the top of the window. My insurance paid for it and I got OEM glass rather than the cheaper thinner glass.

 

I went to the glass shop this morning at the appointed hour. I have the day off. The glass shop said if I brought the car in at eight I would have it back by noon. Ha! They wanted the entire day to do the job and contrary to what they said, my glass was not in the shop so that I could inspect it.

This was a deal done with my State Farm insurance and their auto glass replacement service called "Links (or Lynx, who knows?) who told me the new windshield would be "lowest cost" replacement. I did look at all of the aftermarket windshields that the shop had ready to install today as it was stacked up on glass racks. It was all aftermarket glass from China. No problem there (but, I am bothered when I have to buy something rom the biggest military dictatorship on the planet). But all of the aftermarket stuff was too green in color to match the windshield and other factory glass on my WRX. The aftermarket glass did have the blue visor tint on the top edge that my Subaru glass is missing.

So I told the shop the deal was off. The shop said I could get OEM glass, but had to call "Lynx" and tell them I wanted OEM glass.

I called "Lynx" and told them that the aftermarket "lowest cost" glass wasn't going to cut it. Too bad "Lynx" didn't tell me that I had the option to ask for OEM glass in the first place.

So, it looks like I will be getting the OEM (Subaru) windshield for a replacement. I'm waiting for the glass shop to call back with the new appointment. The OEM glass will not have the visor tint like I wanted, but at least it will match the car.

 

How much does OEM windshield cost?
Safeguard quoted me around $210,don't know if i't OEM or aftermarket though

TIA

 

Don't know if you're jsut talking about WRX's, but I just had my windshield replaced on 05 STI, I didn't want to go throught my insurance so I checked out prices.

Stock STI windshield has the black shading right above the rearview mirror. guess how much?... 680$ for the OEM windshield.. haha right I'm going to pay for that...

So I opted for generic. As for thickness it's not gonna be any different then OEM. Safety regulation makes sure of that.. Only thing i'm missing is the shade at the top of the windshield.. nothing a nice 100$ pair of polarized sun shades won't fix.

 

My windshield replacement saga came to a successful conclusion today. State-Farm-Lynx Services paid for an OEM replacement (minus my deductible). Speedy Glass in Davis did the install, which was a first-class job. I inspected the windshield right out of the Subaru box. Identical glass and all the right markings on the lower driver's-side corner. From my work order: '03WRX Sedan OEM replacement windshield: $628.94. OEM black moulding: $63.32. Cost of other materials and labor brought the total to $775.21. Sheesh... Glad I had insurance.

 

Wow that's expensive. They probably cranked up the bill because your insurance was paying.
I had the windshield on my 02 replaced out-of-pocket for $250 installed. Not OEM glass, but that would not account for the huge difference in cost. Reports from others who have had theirs done put the average cost in this range, give or take.

 

It is amazing. I overheard the guys in the shop when they were putting the work order together...they said those are the list prices, but that's what goes onto the insurance work orders. The price difference didn't matter to me because my deductible was the same whether I chose aftermarket or OEM glass. So why not the OEM? The thing that mattered to me was the color. All of the aftermarket glass had a slight green tint and the Subie glass was slightly gray. There was an obvious difference when I looked at the edges of the glass.