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Auto Glass Repair – Not the Nightmare Many Believe It to Be
Let’s face it, just like 99% of drivers, you more than likely get in your vehicle every day without ever giving your windshield a second thought. After all, it’s hardy a piece of art, at least not until it crack or shatters. With cars designed the way they are nowadays, it really does take a significant collision to shatter a car’s windshield, but cracks are a different kettle of fish altogether.
All it takes is one small pebble to strike your windshield while you’re driving, and you could be faced with a crack. For the vast many drivers, the temptation to ignore a small crack is just too great, and yet that is the last thing you should do. Obviously if your insurance policy doesn’t cover auto glass repair, you’ll inevitably be concerned about the costs involved. Ironically however, many people who choose to ignore a crack in their windshields are people who actually have fully comprehensive insurance. Even more ironic is the fact that most fully comprehensive insurance policies don’t feature any deductable when it comes to repairs concerning auto glass. In other words, you, the vehicle owner, won’t be expected to pay anything out of your own pocket should your windshield need replacing.
Naturally, if you drive a relatively old vehicle, the value of your vehicle may not justify the cost of fully comprehensive cover, in which case you’ll have to foot the bill for auto glass repair yourself. If that is indeed the case, you’ll obviously want to get the best possible deal, but you need to bear in mind that there’s a very fine line between affordable auto glass repairs, and cheap auto glass repairs, and the cheap need to be avoided at all costs. Remember, your windshield is more than just a pretty feature designed to keep you dry and out of the wind. It’s in fact an integral part of your vehicles structural integrity, and therefore it could one day mean difference between life and death.
Ideally, if your windshield is cracked, no matter how small the crack, it should be replaced. Unfortunately however, replacing a windshield is by no means cheap, and many drivers simply don’t have that amount of spare cash lying about. If money is tight, and the crack in your windshield is only an inch or two in length, auto glass repair centers will be able to repair the crack successfully. However, auto glass with a crack that is longer than about three inches really does need to be replaced. So many people choose to ignore a small one inch or two inch crack, and then by the time a few months have passed, that small crack will have spread to such an extent that the glass needs to be replaced, when in fact it could simply have been repaired, had the owner acted on it sooner.
Like many things in life, auto glass repair or replacement can be a nightmare, or it can be a total breeze. At the end of the day, it’s going to depend on which company you choose to use. If you want to avoid trouble and disappointment, simply stick to using the services of a reputable company, even if they do charge a little more than the next man.