Back in August, when my car was 13 days old, my windshield was cracked by a kicked-up rock. It was beyond repairable limits.
I contacted my insurer, GEICO, who told me I could have it repaired at the shop of my choice. I didn't have a preference, so they transferred me directly to Safelight.
The only question from Safelight was whether or not the car had a rain sensor. It does, so that added $200+ to the cost. Safelight had to get the glass and the non-reusable rain sensor kit from Smart, who had it them stock.
BTW, I called Smart Bloomfield to see if they had the parts in stock, and whether or not any special techniques were involved that may cause me to have them do the job. I was assured that there was nothing special and even though they would be happy to do the job for me, any experienced installer could do it.
Safelight handled it all, came to my workplace and changed it in about 30 minutes. Very professional installer and well equipped van. It was the installer's first Smart, but afterward he said it was not any different than most newer cars. Total cost was roughly $850. I gave a $250 check for the deductible and that was that.
I'm not overjoyed with GEICO's premiums, but the service was incredible.
P.S. The installer said that the rain sensor itself could be re-used, but the gel pad that affixes to the windshield could not be and that it was not available, so the whole kit was needed. He said that sooner or later, the gel pads should be available separately and the cost should be $30 or so. At least that's what he thought MB charges.
I guess I got lucky - recently, my neighborhood suffered a single-night run of B&E on cars. They broke out the passenger-side window and cleaned out my glove-box (got my registration and insurance card, plus an iPod cable). SC mandates 0-deductible auto-glass replacement (comprehensive insurance), and they automatically transfered me to Safelite. That was on Thursday (few weeks back). They told me that smart-glass was not an in-stock item (something I already figured out), and put it on order.
On Monday, they called and said the glass would be in the next day, and would I prefer they fix it at my house or place of work, or bring it in. I asked them if it would be easier (and subsequently faster) if I brought it in, and they said it would. So I dropped my car off at lunch Tuesday, they called me 1.5 hours later, said it was ready. I picked it up that afternoon after work, got it re-tinted the following Saturday, and all is right with the world (aside from not finding the @#$%@^ that broke into my car to begin with...)
An over-all good experience on the tail of a bad one.
Just had a car in front of me throw a rock and cause a nickel sized spider crack in the windshield. Went straight home to try and avoid making the crack bigger. Called my Insurance company (State Farm), no deductible and set up to send a reputable Glass Shop out to my house tomorrow to repair the crack.
UPDATE:
Repair truck came out and started the repair but unfortunately the nickel sized spider crack went wild into a 12" one way and a 4" the other way crack... Oh well now I'll be looking for a replacement windshield. Covered 100% by my insurance company, thank goodness.
The tire warranties usually cover this for x number of days.
To the best of my knowledge there is not a tire company that will cover road hazard for any mileage/time. They would however cover a defect in workmanship ( different from outside influence )
If you purchased tire and wheel warranty when you purchased your car, you would have that type of coverage.... which by the way, is simply another form of insurance...
To the best of my knowledge there is not a tire company that will cover road hazard for any mileage/time. They would however cover a defect in workmanship ( different from outside influence )
If you purchased tire and wheel warranty when you purchased your car, you would have that type of coverage.... which by the way, is simply another form of insurance...
Then you, my friend, need to either buy a tire at NTB or Toyota. I have purchased from both and NTB gave me 30 days. If I had a flat due to ANYTHING they would replace/fix the tire free of charge. Toyota gave me 60 days. I have two new tires because of that (well, ok. ONE. But it was replaced twice ) But anything after that has to go through the tire protection plan we have. Found out we have two! (They really pile it up in the financing office, I swear.) And yes, its insurance. But the 30/60 isnt.
Then you, my friend, need to either buy a tire at NTB or Toyota. I have purchased from both and NTB gave me 30 days. If I had a flat due to ANYTHING they would replace/fix the tire free of charge. Toyota gave me 60 days. I have two new tires because of that (well, ok. ONE. But it was replaced twice ) But anything after that has to go through the tire protection plan we have. Found out we have two! (They really pile it up in the financing office, I swear.) And yes, its insurance. But the 30/60 isnt.
... and you should also know that we are speaking from different sides of the service desk. You see, even Mercedes provides a 2 year road hazard warranty when you purchase an OEM tire via a MB Service department.
What you don't know/see is that the price of the 30day,60day,90day,24 month warranty is included in the price of the tire you purchase.. its called added value.... it is not the tire company being nice.
Still don't believe me? Try taking your tire that you purchased from NTB 30 days ago and try and get someone other than NTB to replace the tire. You can't, because it is a NTB short term insurance policy. If it were a tire warranty, you would be able to go to any tire distributer. The reason you have to return to NTB is because it has the tire warranty that they built into the cost of the tire and they have to process the claim internally.
... and you should also know that we are speaking from different sides of the service desk. You see, even Mercedes provides a 2 year road hazard warranty when you purchase an OEM tire via a MB Service department.
What you don't know/see is that the price of the 30day,60day,90day,24 month warranty is included in the price of the tire you purchase.. its called added value.... it is not the tire company being nice.
Still don't believe me? Try taking your tire that you purchased from NTB 30 days ago and try and get someone other than NTB to replace the tire. You can't, because it is a NTB short term insurance policy. If it were a tire warranty, you would be able to go to any tire distributer. The reason you have to return to NTB is because it has the tire warranty that they built into the cost of the tire and they have to process the claim internally.
Oh, well that makes sense. But its still a warranty, not insurance. Thats like saying the warranty that a car comes with is a actually insurance you are buying. It comes built into the car. And they still replace road hazard instances.
Oh, well that makes sense. But its still a warranty, not insurance. Thats like saying the warranty that a car comes with is a actually insurance you are buying. It comes built into the car. And they still replace road hazard instances.
Not exactly:
Warranty = Failure of windshield,tire, or other part due to defect in workmanship
Insurance = Outside influence. road hazard, act of god, etc
Warranty = Failure of windshield,tire, or other part due to defect in workmanship
Insurance = Outside influence. road hazard, act of god, etc
Ahh, so technically you are right. A warranty wont, no matter what you call it. Technically if it covers something outside the defect zone, then its insurance.
Cool beans.
But I wouldn't include act of God in insurance. Too touchy...
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Big Red
R2-D2 42
) But anything after that has to go through the tire protection plan we have. Found out we have two! (They really pile it up in the financing office, I swear.) And yes, its insurance. But the 30/60 isnt.
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