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Had my windshield replaced...

fmac

New member
Location
CA
Do not get the Fuyao replacement windshield for a Mk7 GTI, especially if you have a rain sensor. The glass fit poorly with a huge gap at the top of the windshield where it meets the roof and there was a poor fit at front corners of the windshield. The rain sensor would not align with the roof and windshield, so the sensor cover could not be put on. There was also significant distortion along the entire bottom edge of the windshield just above the dots. On the plus side, there was no increased wind noise and other than the distortion along the bottom, the glass was pretty clear. I bit the bullet and just got the Vitro OEM instead as no other after market glass was readily available. I had my last car (Interga) for 20 years with no glass damage ever except for a small chip that was easily fixed (with not much visible damage after repair). I've replaced this Vitro GTI windshield twice within a year. Every rock that has hit the OEM windshield in the past has either deeply pitted the windshield or severely cracked it (not repairable). If I could have found the Saint Gobain glass, I would have tried that.
 
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7umberjackZac

Go Kart Newbie
Location
Pittsburgh, PA
Car(s)
Gti
2016 and every centimeter of my windshield is chipped and pitted. Scratches 6 inches across in several places.

Absolutely worst windshield of any car I've owned.

Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk
 

ksmith

New member
Location
Indiana
I have a crack in my windshield now and am running into issues, was wondering if anyone else has run across the same problem. I have a 18 GTI S, so I have no sunroof, no lane departure, but I do have the rain sensing wipers. I am being told that the windshield for my car is OEM only. They are saying that the only aftermarket ones available with only the rain sensor are for cars with a sunroof. One person did tell me that he could use the sunroof version, but would have to change the molding. There is a big difference in price to get the OEM vs. the aftermarket, it is almost $700 for the OEM installed. Has anyone run across this problem?
 

Johaan

Ready to race!
Location
Atlanta
Wow, so I guess I should not worry that the previous owner of my '18 ran it too hard given the chips in the windshield and the semi-circle micro-scratch from the wiper blade on the driver side (shows up only at dusk). I thought it was abuse till this thread got bumped.

Sounds like a replacement is inevitable. How bad do these get for those who track, or are highways worse?

Conversely my Jeep TJ's windshield took a deer's head to it in without a scratch (no antlers), and lots of rocks and trails over the years. Totally different animal...
 

RichardCranium

Ready to race!
Location
Arizona
I've got none of the fancy options on my '17 S, but I'm on windshield #4. I wouldn't worry about chips in your windshield, shit happens. Doesn't mean it was abused, trust me.
 

jimlloyd40

Autocross Champion
Location
Phoenix
Car(s)
2018 SE DSG
I've got none of the fancy options on my '17 S, but I'm on windshield #4. I wouldn't worry about chips in your windshield, shit happens. Doesn't mean it was abused, trust me.


Arizona has to be near the top for windshield replacements.
 

jaystonewee

Go Kart Champion
Location
Denver, CO
Car(s)
2018 GTI 4dr S 6spd
Arizona has to be near the top for windshield replacements.
Second only to Colorado!

I had to make sure my insurance had a glass policy that included OEM. I had my original windshield replaced about 6 months ago due to a chip propogating into a crack right in my FOV. 1 month later took another rock to the passenger side that immediately cracked to the passenger A piller. I'm waiting until this winter is over, and I'll be back at the dealer getting windshield number 3 installed.
 

KevinC

Autocross Champion
Location
The land of Wyatt Earp & Doc Holliday
Car(s)
'19 Golf R, '21 M2c
Guys in my BMW forum have been able to get good glass via Safelite, but it took some conversation with them.

I got OEM glass for my '16 back when it was almost new, the 3rd party garbage wasn't available yet. Then Safelite completely butchered the install. I will *never* let those goons near any car of mine again. No doubt they have some good techs, but too many are poorly trained and careless.
 

jaystonewee

Go Kart Champion
Location
Denver, CO
Car(s)
2018 GTI 4dr S 6spd
Having a good glass guy is like having a good tireshop/alignment shop/tint guy/mechanic/etc. Once you find a good one it's worth it to go out of your way to keep 'em.

Cheap, Fast, or Good. pick two.
 

ReadTheBook

Autocross Newbie
Location
Bay Area Smoke Hell
Car(s)
DVP Spektrm, MK4 R32
Second only to Colorado!

I had to make sure my insurance had a glass policy that included OEM. I had my original windshield replaced about 6 months ago due to a chip propogating into a crack right in my FOV. 1 month later took another rock to the passenger side that immediately cracked to the passenger A piller. I'm waiting until this winter is over, and I'll be back at the dealer getting windshield number 3 installed.
Many dealers contract out to glass companies. On my 2016 golf I took it to the dealer because it had embedded defects from the factory.
The company they used caused paint damage to the outside of my a-pillar, didn’t even install the glass straight, cracked the plastic cowling below the windshield, somehow managed to slice through one of my windshield wipers and damaged both of the rubber strips on either side of the windshield. The car was given back to me in that condition. I was fucking FURIOUS.
 

KevinC

Autocross Champion
Location
The land of Wyatt Earp & Doc Holliday
Car(s)
'19 Golf R, '21 M2c
Many dealers contract out to glass companies.
They ALL do. I've never heard of any dealership who has a "glass guy" in house who does windshield or other glass work - it's always gonna be an outside company.

I had my 2nd windshield replacement done at my dealer because their service department had already proven to be surprisingly competent, and I figured that their contracted glass company probably had plenty of VW experience and since they'd be doing the work right there at the dealership, with OEM glass, would *probably* do a good job. They did not disappoint, the workmanship was perfect. After the previous debacle with Safelite it was a huge relief.
 
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