The state of your windscreen

[maurice28]

The other week I noticed that the windscreen on my 5 month old car has some pit marks, those small dots that aren't really chips but nevertheless show up in the right condition. One or two are just above the steering wheel so in my eyeline and, now that I've noticed them, are irritating rather than distracting. There's one that's only 1mm, so tiny and too small for a meaningful repair, but it can catch my eye in the sunlight or headlights at night.

That one I actually managed to get filled at one of those pop up places in a supermarket car park and a lot of the time, I can't see it, although I think the fill may actually have fallen out again recently. Basically, I know I'll have to swallow down my OCD and deal with the marks! But make me feel better, what kind of condition is your windscreen in? Full of chips and pits and scratches, or as pristine as the day the car was made?

[soad]

Tend to run older cars, won’t replace it unless cracked. Experienced having it damaged (twice) over the last 5 years (always leaving work). Suppose that’s not too bad?

Stone chips are an eyesore, luckily dash cam mount mostly hides it…

[Zetec-S]

A couple of minor chips but nothing too bad/noticeable.

My biggest issue is getting the inside clean, absolute ball ache of a task which I hate with a passion. No matter what I do it always seems to leave smear marks, especially this time of year with the low sun.

[J4CKO]

We have two cars with chipped windscreens,

Due to this hopeless job Cheshire East paid for,

https://www.wilmslow.co.uk/news/article/24595/issu...

Wife was on her way back in her new car and got hers chipped by a Merc flying past.

[Ussrcossack]

Zetec-S said:

A couple of minor chips but nothing too bad/noticeable.

My biggest issue is getting the inside clean, absolute ball ache of a task which I hate with a passion. No matter what I do it always seems to leave smear marks, especially this time of year with the low sun.

I use Autoglym car glass polish always works for me

[eth2190]

Can't really comment on new vehicles but a replacement windscreen is good way to freshen up an old/ high mileage car. Many miles of micro scratches from the wipers can have a significant effect on visibility.

[Glassman]

Surface pitting is common; airborne dust and grit particles means windscreens are being sand-blasted almost every time you drive.

[andy43]

J4CKO said:

We have two cars with chipped windscreens,

Due to this hopeless job Cheshire East paid for,

https://www.wilmslow.co.uk/news/article/24595/issu...

Wife was on her way back in her new car and got hers chipped by a Merc flying past.

Chucking tar and gravel on Acacia Avenue works fine, on a 70mph dual carriageway with roundabouts every half a mile not so much. It is indeed hopeless.

[andy43]

I’ve got mine through a mot filling a chip with superglue btw. Squeeze, leave, scrape flat with a blade. Could still see it but it was as good as the professional repairs I’ve seen.

[aturnick54]

I have a 10 year old car, with 62k miles on it.

Windscreen is badly pitted to the point that visibility is dangerously bad in low sun.

Tempted to try and get it replaced through insurance, but not sure if it'll be covered as it's not broken.

[Glassman]

aturnick54 said:

I have a 10 year old car, with 62k miles on it.

Windscreen is badly pitted to the point that visibility is dangerously bad in low sun.

Tempted to try and get it replaced through insurance, but not sure if it'll be covered as it's not broken.

It's what your insurer - or the policy wording - interprets as damage. Some policies are specific and will state very clearly. What you have is wear and tear, but no doubt someone will be along shortly to suggest that you should drop a brick or hammer on the windscreen.

[toobusy]

Ussrcossack said:

I use Autoglym car glass polish always works for me

Same here, but apply thinly to avoid smearing.

[anonymous-user]

13 year old car with 68K on the original screen. It is not too bad, no noticeable stone chips but there are a few arch shaped scratches which have been caused by the wipers dragging grit over the screen

Having seen the issues caused years later after having replacement screens fitted on my parents cars (rust around the screen pillars, water ingress and the fact they seem to crack if you so much as bump up a kerb) I will only replace it if it is cracked.

Infact in 33 years of driving I have never had a replacement screen.

[J4CKO]

andy43 said:

J4CKO said:

We have two cars with chipped windscreens,

Due to this hopeless job Cheshire East paid for,

https://www.wilmslow.co.uk/news/article/24595/issu...

Wife was on her way back in her new car and got hers chipped by a Merc flying past.

Chucking tar and gravel on Acacia Avenue works fine, on a 70mph dual carriageway with roundabouts every half a mile not so much. It is indeed hopeless.

I think jam and desiccated coconut may have lasted longer !

[andy43]

J4CKO said:

andy43 said:

J4CKO said:

We have two cars with chipped windscreens,

Due to this hopeless job Cheshire East paid for,

https://www.wilmslow.co.uk/news/article/24595/issu...

Wife was on her way back in her new car and got hers chipped by a Merc flying past.

Chucking tar and gravel on Acacia Avenue works fine, on a 70mph dual carriageway with roundabouts every half a mile not so much. It is indeed hopeless.

I think jam and desiccated coconut may have lasted longer !

Just Stop Oil

[budgie smuggler]

I've got tonnes of scratches on mine. I parked under a tree, and it rained at some point while parked. I switched ignition on and the auto wipers obviously saw the droplets on the screen, did a wipe and dragged a load of tree crap over the screen. Result was a load of scratches following the wiper arc. Really annoying in the low sun, it really catches the light.

I tried using Carpro Ceriglass and the proper felt pad with a polisher, but it didn't make any noticeable difference to the main scratches. I think you'd have to work it for hours to make any progress. Guess it would need proper sanding, then blending out etc.

[Pica-Pica]

ThingsBehindTheSun said:

13 year old car with 68K on the original screen. It is not too bad, no noticeable stone chips but there are a few arch shaped scratches which have been caused by the wipers dragging grit over the screen

Having seen the issues caused years later after having replacement screens fitted on my parents cars (rust around the screen pillars, water ingress and the fact they seem to crack if you so much as bump up a kerb) I will only replace it if it is cracked.

Infact in 33 years of driving I have never had a replacement screen.

Our 12 year old Fabia has had two screens replaced due to cracking - the scuttle to roof is quite high. My BMW E36 was 19 years old, lots of scratches and chips, I was just wishing it would crack, but it never did.

[Wills2]

J4CKO said:

We have two cars with chipped windscreens,

Due to this hopeless job Cheshire East paid for,

https://www.wilmslow.co.uk/news/article/24595/issu...

Wife was on her way back in her new car and got hers chipped by a Merc flying past.

That's a standard result around here the surface just rips up a total waste of time and money but that's councils for you.

[J4CKO]

Wills2 said:

J4CKO said:

We have two cars with chipped windscreens,

Due to this hopeless job Cheshire East paid for,

https://www.wilmslow.co.uk/news/article/24595/issu...

Wife was on her way back in her new car and got hers chipped by a Merc flying past.

That's a standard result around here the surface just rips up a total waste of time and money but that's councils for you.

Council paid huge sums to a third party, which I think is a lot of the problem with the roads, council ponies up x pounds, contractor sends a couple of blokes out with some tarmac and lay £3 worth into a hole which lasts an hour or so. Contractors do ok but seemingly no accountability for the quality of the work.

[aturnick54]

Glassman said:

It's what your insurer - or the policy wording - interprets as damage. Some policies are specific and will state very clearly. What you have is wear and tear, but no doubt someone will be along shortly to suggest that you should drop a brick or hammer on the windscreen.

I'll have to have a read.

Or as you mentioned, would be unfortunate if a brick accidentally fell onto the windscreen.