If you can drive on Alberta Roads for more than a month without getting a chip in your windshield, you deserve a medal! Keeping your windshield free of cracks and chips is quite possibly one of the most frustrating things about driving in northern climates like ours. The last windshield I replaced lasted only 5 months before developing a long horizontal crack.
As hard as windshield damage is to avoid, there are some things you can do to lessen the annual damage you receive. We've interviewed Danny Desanko of Crack Chip Repair in Sherwood Park for some tips on what to do when you get that inevitable chip in your glass!
Here are the top 7 things you can do to keep your Windshield chips from spreading into long ugly cracks:
Danny tells us that there usually isn't a danger of your windshield caving in on you because of a chip or crack, but there are inherent dangers to driving with a cracked windshield
Once your windshield is damaged you have 3 choices: Repair, Replace or Do Nothing. If you do nothing your chip is almost certain to spread the length or height of the windshield.
Repairing is clearly the less expensive route. A good rule of thumb is that as long as the structural integrity of your windshield has not been compromised the crack or chip can be fixed. Repaired cracks can be quite strong, but try and find someone that will put a money back guarantee on your repair.
If your windshield has multiple cracks or cracks that extend to the edges you might want to look at having it replaced. If you do take this route Danny recommends that you ask that it be replaced with the original OEM windshield rather than OEM equivalent glass. Original glass can be quite a bit more expensive, but the quality differences are immense.
Did you know that you can actually add auto glass insurance coverage to your car or truck whether your current policy has it or not. This coverage starts at around $186 / year and if you'd like to enquire about it, don't hesitate to give your local Armour Insurance agent a call at 1-855-475-0959.
Thanks to Danny Desanko of Crack Chip Repair for all of the helpful information he supplied for this article.