Recent (2023) windshield replacement experience

JustAnotherPoorDriver

JustAnotherPoorDriver

Active Member
Picked up a nice rock chip yesterday and have a crack across my windshield, so I expect I'll need to replace it in the next month or so.

Wondering what people's experience has been lately in replacing the windshield, and whether there are particular brands or providers to avoid (e.g., Safelite). Starting a new thread since these kind of things change because, with a limited car like the Clarity, there may only be one or two manufacturers of windshields at this time. Also wondering if the third party providers have finally figured out how to align the camera. Happy that I have glass coverage.
 
JustAnotherPoorDriver said:
Picked up a nice rock chip yesterday and have a crack across my windshield, so I expect I'll need to replace it in the next month or so.

Wondering what people's experience has been lately in replacing the windshield, and whether there are particular brands or providers to avoid (e.g., Safelite). Starting a new thread since these kind of things change because, with a limited car like the Clarity, there may only be one or two manufacturers of windshields at this time. Also wondering if the third party providers have finally figured out how to align the camera. Happy that I have glass coverage.
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For a long time, only Honda could supply a windshield for the Clarity (sometimes they were slow to arrive). Later, however, some forum members have had Safelite windshields installed. You can search "Safelite" on the forum to find those posts. This post reported "minor optical distortion."
 
I had my windshield replaced (for the same reason as O.P.) about 4 months ago. I went to Safelite because they are automatically covered by my AAA policy. The first time I took my car in, with an appointment, they told me that if I used the aftermarket windshield they had in stock, there was, at best, a 50/50 chance that the calibration would work. If it didn't, I'd have to bring the car back and have them redo the replacement with an OEM windshield (no extra cost). I decided that if I was likely to have to come back anyways, I'd wait and have them put in the Honda windshield the first time. It took them a couple of weeks to get the right windshield and installation parts in, but the windshield they installed worked just fine. The full cost was covered by my insurance, so there was no issue of a Honda vs. aftermarket windshield from my point of view.
My recommendation would be to go to Safelite, but ask them to install a Honda-supplied windshield, and make sure they have everything they need before you take the car in.
 
I had to replace my other Honda. Went to Safelite. No issue at all. Price includes camera calibration. Go with OEM windshield if insurance is paying for it. 3rd party's might have some distortion near the edge where it curves a lot.
 
I had my windshield replaced with aftermarket for about $400. There is optical distortion in about 1/2" of the lower edge in the center. My car was totaled, so I took the payout, and had to pay for all repairs. I don't think they calibrated the camera, but I think they said it should not be affected. I don't use the lane keeping feature, so I am not sure I would notice if the camera was out of calibration.

The radar was out of whack from the accident, ACC would follow the car in the lane to the right. I bent the support back in line, and it works pretty well (ACC follows traffic fine, and still applies brakes when car is approaching on a curve).
 
Finally I got hit by the dreaded rock chip. I had had a couple of close encounters that left tiny craters without any cracks, but this one left an 1 inch crack at either side of the impact, i.e., within the "repair" window stated by Safelite. I called them and they came today and repaired into my garage. No out of pocket, insurance covering everything. Glass looked like only having a little water stain. Everything looked too good to be true until I sat behind the wheel and drove off under the sunlight. The cracks were still there, but larger than before. The funny thing, you can't see them looking from the outside, but from the driver's perspective under daylight they shine like unsheathed swords. Called Safelite again asking for their warranty and the lady told me that the (new?) cracks could be an effect of the pressure applied during the repair process and they couldn't be re-repaired, even though the damage is still smaller than the stated repair window so I need to replace the windshield. I asked for availability, given the bad experiences some fellow Clarity She said they had a Clarity windshield available at their distribution center and it would be available for my Friday appointment. They didn't specify if it was aftermarket or OEM. Got hit with a $250 co-pay, hoping the insurance won't deny the claim, given they already were billed for this morning "repair". Fingers crossed the windshield is actually a Clarity one. BTW, for the recalibration service they asked me to bring the car with no heavy load on the trunk, tires properly inflated and plenty of gas since they will need to drive the car around to re-calibrate properly. Praying it all goes well...
 
Keep us informed, please. My appt with Safelite is a week from Friday (busy here, and limited availability).

I think there's the original Asahi, Fuyao (DOT-459), Plinkington (DOT-177), and XYG (DOT-563). Wondering what Safelite has these days.
 
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By the way, when I had my windshield replaced, I asked why they wanted a 3/4 full gas tank. It's not because they're going to drive a lot, but because the aiming of the radar changes based on the distribution of weight in the vehicle. They want the weight of the gas in the tank to be in their standard range.
 
Allantheprinter said:
By the way, when I had my windshield replaced, I asked why they wanted a 3/4 full gas tank. It's not because they're going to drive a lot, but because the aiming of the radar changes based on the distribution of weight in the vehicle. They want the weight of the gas in the tank to be in their standard range.
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I suppose this is just standard practice for them, but it is a dumb statement for the Clarity. Gasoline weighs 6 lbs. per gallon, so a full tank of gas in a Clarity only weighs 42 lbs. With a vehicle weight of 4,000 lb, that's definitely a 'princess and the pea' scenario. Also, changing the windshield has no effect on the RADAR. They are really aiming the video camera which does look through the windshield (from behind the rear-view mirror).
 
This is actually really useful info. I fill up every few weeks, don't burn very much, so I'm actually going to have to make a special effort to get the gas where it needs to be: probably by putting four and a half gallons in. Ugh. Likely I'll just ignore since Mr fixit is right, although I do Wonder whether it would be safer from a warranty perspective to exactly follow their inane rules (they presumably warranty that the calibration will work)
 
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Allantheprinter said:
They want the weight of the gas in the tank to be in their standard range.
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This concept is laughable.

If it was worthy of consideration, why would you give them the car with the fuel level in “their standard range”? We drive 95% of the time with a full fuel tank, so that extra 10lbs of fuel needs to be onboard for the calibration.

What happens if they put a 300lb technician in the drivers seat while calibrating, but the most frequent driver weighs 120lbs? Should they drain all the fuel for that or add an extra 3psi to the driver side tires?

It’s terrifying to think of how dangerous it must have been every time I put 120lbs of chicken scratch in the trunk. I’ll be using the truck for that task from now on and just be thankful I’m still alive.
 
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People, give the poor tech a break! He was doing what he was taught to do. For most cars with like 20 gallon tank or more, a full tank would make the nose point higher and can possibly affect the camera. He didn't know Claras have a small tank.
 
Below are 2 photos taken this morning. The phone/camera was resting on a wood box for both photos, so the lens height was the same. No camera angle trickery here. In the first photo the measurement shown is with a full fuel tank and a few items in the trunk. A small tool bag, tire chains, L1 EVSE and some cleaning supplies. In the second photo a 40# bag of organic chicken crumble has been added to the trunk in addition to all of the previously mentioned items.

The additional weight, all of which is located aft of, what would be the rear axle if the Clarity had one, has caused the suspension to compress 1/16” as measured directly over the center of the rear wheel. Forty pounds is just 2 pounds less that the weight of 7 gallons of gasoline. That’s the entire capacity of the Clarity tank, or 1/4 of a 28 gallon tank.

The fuel tank on the Clarity is located on the driver’s side and in line with the rear wheels. Adding weight to the fuel tank would apply that load directly on the rear wheels, whereas adding weigh behind the rear “axle” has the potential to cantilever weight off of the front wheels. That may have occurred today, however the car was not on scales to confirm. There was no measurable change in height at the front wheels.

I used an online calculator which indicated that a change of 1/16” over a 108.3” wheelbase results in a change of 2/1000ths of a degree. Please check my calculations and bear in mind that adding 40lbs to the trunk has more of an impact than adding 40lbs to the fuel tank.

These windshield technicians, assuming they have any formal training, need to be informed that they are spewing nonsense and they should inform their instructors that they are being taught nonsense.
 

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Just came back from Safelite shop. They replaced the windshield with some aftermarket called Pilkington FW05128GTY, unsure if it's the same (DOT-177) @JustAnotherPoorDriver mentioned earlier. I couldn't find any optical distortion anywhere (which I think is very good news). Total (tax included) was $1108.33, less my copay of $250, ins. billed $858.33. I will hit the freeway some time tomorrow to check if all the ACC, LKAS etc. works fine. Wish me luck...
 
Nice. I think Pilkington may be the OEM for US made Hondas, so for the Clarity they are somewhere between original and aftermarket (in fact, it's possible that Honda isn't importing the Clarity glass from Asahi Japan, and just has their US supplier supply for the Clarity too, so the same glass you'd get at the dealer).

I looked-as of a year or so ago, they were buying from 2-3 different companies, depending on the model; possibly all three (Fuyao, Pilk,, and XYG) suppliers for US made cars. I'm still waiting to hear what the insurance will pay for re: Honda vs aftermarket.
 
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Update: I hit the freeway today and drove like 20 minutes. Adaptive cruise control and lane-keeping assistance work fine, just as before. Didn't have the guts to test the collision warning/autobrake feature. Again, no optical distortion whatsoever. So far the experience was no different to any other car I had to replace windshields, from mu 2013 Mazda 6 to my son's 1996 Toyota Tacoma. So, (except any new supply-chain debacle hits) I think we Clarity owners can get our new windshields if needed without any special hassle. And I'm happy it's made in the USA.
 
JustAnotherPoorDriver said:
Nice. I think Pilkington may be the OEM for US made Hondas, so for the Clarity they are somewhere between original and aftermarket (in fact, it's possible that Honda isn't importing the Clarity glass from Asahi Japan, and just has their US supplier supply for the Clarity too, so the same glass you'd get at the dealer).

I looked-as of a year or so ago, they were buying from 2-3 different companies, depending on the model; possibly all three (Fuyao, Pilk,, and XYG) suppliers for US made cars. I'm still waiting to hear what the insurance will pay for re: Honda vs aftermarket.
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Wish you luck! Our Safelite here in Vegas didn't even mention there was a choice. I was so afraid there was none on stock... Very happy so far.
 
coutinpe said:
Wish you luck! Our Safelite here in Vegas didn't even mention there was a choice. I was so afraid there was none on stock... Very happy so far.
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I spoke to them yesterday (they called me). No option for Honda unless I pay the difference (car is a 2018 I bought in 2018, with State Farm). They can't tell me if it will be Fuyao or Pilkington, but apparently those are the options. Hoping for Pilkington since I've heard somewhat better feedback. Either way, I'll obviously test the LCAS and insist they get it right since i use it all the time.

I will say, I'm glad that 3 companies make windshields for this rare car. Hope we can keep getting parts well into the future since I don't plan on replacing her for a decade or more.
 
Just thought I'd give everybody my report of my Safelite appointment. Got there on time (midtown Manhattan is a total pain I should have grabbed an appointment in Queens) and they had the glass in stock without distortion, except it had an inclusion between the laminations. So they're going to have to order another windshield and I'm going to have to come back another day. Pilk made in Mexico windshield. Apparently their quality control is not great, and the fact that Safelite doesn't bother looking at it until you actually get in is also pretty trash.
 
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