How much does it affect a car’s value if the windshield has to be replaced by the seller? (I’m interested in general for newer cars, say 2015 or newer, although I’m looking specifically at a Toyota Prius)
I am looking at a used car and there is a windshield chip which the seller plans to fix at his cost. I hope it can be repaired, but if not, and the windshield is replaced, then I am a little worried that the new windshield would not be as good/safe as the original windshield. (specifically the integrity of the seal keeping out water, and making sure it isn’t more likely to pop out in an accident. The quality of the glass itself isn’t as much of a concern)
a lot of windshields are replaced and if done right, then are not different to the quality of the originally installed one
you do not tell the make/model/year, but for example on 12-yrs-old Nissan Sentra I had windshield professionally replaced for under $150 few years back and the quality was as good as new
All my windshields were paid by insurance so couldn’t say what the cost was. I’ve never worried about the quality and if you get a leak, they’ll fix it. We did use chip repair at work to save money and usually worked but sometimes didn’t. I’d rather have a new one with no unseen stresses. I’d guess $2-300 though depending on any fancy stuff. A quick call to a local glass shop though would provide a better answer.
I have had several windshields replaced. In each case it was identical to factory in all respects. The cost ranged from $625 to $265. The cheap one I paid out of pocket for because the glass was sandblasted from lots of miles. I’d knock at least $500 off any offer I’d make on a used car that needed one.
Chips can be generally be repaired if they are not in the driver’s sight line.
Hundreds of thousands of windshields are replaced every year. If just replacing a windshield was a problem we’d have heard about it by now.
A windshield is basically just glued in place. It’s not a difficult job. The biggest worry I have is before the new glass is put in the metal is primed to prevent future rust. Some low-end glass shops skip that process. The glass doesn’t fail until years later…and then it could be very expensive to fix.
As others have said…if it’s just a chip then it will probably just be fixed.