Windshield replacement - Safelite -- aftermarket vs OEM glass?

[UnsungZero_OldTimeAdMan]

Seems like maybe the quality for safelite is very tech dependent. Will update after driving a bit to see if the wind noise is noticeably better.

Not maybe. That is the case with any windshield and any car.

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[Riviot]

Consider me another unhappy (for now) Safelite customer. The tech didn't seem confident in the job, told me to reach out directly if I have any issues. Immediately after leaving I had wind noise starting at like 30mph, sounded like a window was cracked or it wasn't sealed all the way. Faster made it so much worse. I'm giving it an overnight to cure fully but I don't have confidence it'll improve, the alignment is terrible.

Driver side is crooked:

Passenger side trim looks bent? 3 spots look like that middle bend.

Bottom gasket looks pinched in the middle on both sides.

FYI, I had safelite replace my windshield and noticed excessive wind noise afterwards. I am at the rivian service center in montreal today to have the calibration done and they informed me that it appears safelite installed the windshield crooked with a larger gap on one side leading to the wind noise i have been experiencing. So if you will need to do calibration at a service center anyway, it may be better to just have rivian do it. I know that is the route i will be going in the future.

Hindsight I should've waited, but couldn't get an appointment till mid-June and have a couple road trips before then I wanted to get it fixed and XPEL films on for.

Yeah, my plan is to bring it back to safelite and hope they will make it right. The rivian service center tech had me take pictures of what it should look like on one of the showroom vehicles so I can show that to safelite. The annoying thing is I will have to come back for another calibration after if safelite does re-install.

Do you have pics of what it Should look like? I see you had luck in them correcting, did the wind noise go away?



You can't spell FUYAO without F YOU:

 

[UnsungZero_OldTimeAdMan]

Consider me another unhappy (for now) Safelite customer. The tech didn't seem confident in the job, told me to reach out directly if I have any issues. Immediately after leaving I had wind noise starting at like 30mph, sounded like a window was cracked or it wasn't sealed all the way. Faster made it so much worse. I'm giving it an overnight to cure fully but I don't have confidence it'll improve, the alignment is terrible.

Hindsight I should've waited, but couldn't get an appointment till mid-June and have a couple road trips before then I wanted to get it fixed and XPEL films on for.

Oof. That's a major bummer. After two years my ExoShield film got so scratched and hard to ignore, especially around sunset. Had it replaced last Tuesday with XPEL's film. But whatever the installer did or didn't do, there is now what looks to be hard water stain and streaks all over the windshield. Also irritating around sunset. Waiting to hear back from installer as I type. The adventures of owning a Rivian.

Suddenly the $20k Slate—a car that I would care less about—is starting to make a lot of sense.

 

[DayTripping]

Consider me another unhappy (for now) Safelite customer. The tech didn't seem confident in the job, told me to reach out directly if I have any issues. Immediately after leaving I had wind noise starting at like 30mph, sounded like a window was cracked or it wasn't sealed all the way. Faster made it so much worse. I'm giving it an overnight to cure fully but I don't have confidence it'll improve, the alignment is terrible.

Driver side is crooked:

Passenger side trim looks bent? 3 spots look like that middle bend.

Bottom gasket looks pinched in the middle on both sides.

Hindsight I should've waited, but couldn't get an appointment till mid-June and have a couple road trips before then I wanted to get it fixed and XPEL films on for.



Do you have pics of what it Should look like? I see you had luck in them correcting, did the wind noise go away?



You can't spell FUYAO without F YOU:

I have to say, your windshield as set by Safelite, is better than mine from the factory. I've seriously been thinking about going to them to reset my windshield.

 

[Foobar]

I guess I’m the newest member of the windshield replacement club. Safelite is coming out on Saturday to do the work. We’ll see how this goes. Are they capable of calibrating yet or will I need to go to Rivian?

 

[UnsungZero_OldTimeAdMan]

I guess I’m the newest member of the windshield replacement club. Safelite is coming out on Saturday to do the work. We’ll see how this goes. Are they capable of calibrating yet or will I need to go to Rivian?

Only Rivian has calibration capability

 

[NY_Rob]

I guess I’m the newest member of the windshield replacement club. Safelite is coming out on Saturday to do the work. We’ll see how this goes. Are they capable of calibrating yet or will I need to go to Rivian?

If it's a mobile repair where they replace the windshield in your driveway, request two techs for the job. It's a large heavy windshield and even with their "single person rig" (you know, the one you see them using in the TV commercials) it's easy to be off a few mm with only one person installing it. With two techs, you stand a much better chance of getting a great alignment on the first attempt. Or, you could always bring it to their shop where they usually have multiple techs on hand to help out.

 

[Foobar]

If it's a mobile repair where they replace the windshield in your driveway, request two techs for the job. It's a large heavy windshield and even with their "single person rig" (you know, the one you see them using in the TV commercials) it's easy to be off a few mm with only one person installing it. With two techs, you stand a much better chance of getting a great alignment on the first attempt. Or, you could always bring it to their shop where they usually have multiple techs on hand to help out.

Funny you should mention that - after I thought about it I decided to bring it to one of their service shops by me so that they have full access to anything they’d need. My appointment is for Monday - I could’ve done a drop off for all day on Saturday but I didn’t want to just leave it for the whole day.

 

[Foobar]

Only Rivian has calibration capability

Ugh. Guess I’ll be waiting for a while then.

 

[UnsungZero_OldTimeAdMan]

Ugh. Guess I’ll be waiting for a while then.

If you don’t use Driver+, I don’t think it’d pose much inconvenience.

 

[rutiger]

Not sure this is fillable or if window is done for. I've had plenty of filled repairs through the years in vehicles, but never tried on a hit this bad. We'll see what Safelite says next week when they come by. All of 1,300 miles on my S

 

[UnsungZero_OldTimeAdMan]

Not sure this is fillable or if window is done for. I've had plenty of filled repairs through the years in vehicles, but never tried on a hit this bad. We'll see what Safelite says next week when they come by. All of 1,300 miles on my S

Generally, if smaller than 1" it's repairable.

 

[rutiger]

Generally, if smaller than 1" it's repairable.

 

[Riviot]

I guess I’m the newest member of the windshield replacement club. Safelite is coming out on Saturday to do the work. We’ll see how this goes. Are they capable of calibrating yet or will I need to go to Rivian?

I've been using mine since replacement by Safelite, no recalibration, and have noticed no difference in my normal commute

Or, you could always bring it to their shop where they usually have multiple techs on hand to help out.

Even at their shop, they can still bugger it. It's been a busy week, so I haven't had a chance to bring it back in, but I'll be going by Monday to ask why it sounds like there's a hole in my dash.

Honestly, it's just the bottom passenger corner that sounds like the sealant is missing. No crazy wind noise or buffering, just like a window is cracked open.

 

[NC-Rivian]

Not sure this is fillable or if window is done for. I've had plenty of filled repairs through the years in vehicles, but never tried on a hit this bad. We'll see what Safelite says next week when they come by. All of 1,300 miles on my S

If it hasn’t gone through all the glass layers it can probably be repairable. Once the chip goes all the way through, the only remedy is a new windshield. Don’t ask me how I know this.

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