I hate flying pebbles

My one week old got dinged by a pebble. You can see a small amount of greyish metal in the chip.

 

Yes. You don't want it to travel. Hire a professional. They have glass repair stuff they can put in it where you'll hardly know it's there. If you leave it it may develop into a crack, travel and then you'll need a whole new windshield.

I sympathize. I had a clear bra installed on my hood first thing I got the car. Then I got into an accident and the hood was replaced. The guy said not to install another clear bra for 30 days. In a week I had a chip in the hood. All the way down to the metal. Black car. :-(

 

I'm lucky to not have any glass rock chips, however I have 2 chips in the hood. Annoying. I have touchup paint, but have yet to apply it. the key is to not use the brush, but use a toothpick to dab paint in place, just enugh to fill the chip.

I'm not sure where to get a clear bra in my area? Any ideas, it has to be east of the Cascades.

 

Let an auto glass shop look at the damage and see if they think the repair would be suitable. I had repair on 2001 Prius windshield 4 years ago, the crack-lines have not spread further since. In more recent conversation with a glass guy, he was surprised that this type of repair had lasted 4 years. As I intend to drive this car very far, I am counting on a new windshield at some point. Quote was $150 for aftermarket glass; don't know Toyota's price.

 

Hehehehe try following a Manitoba Highways sanding truck down the Trans Canada.

I'm laughing *with* you, not *at* you.

Seriously, the "joy and wonder" of owning a car. You have to expect these sort of things. I've got two knicks in my windshield, which Autopac repaired for me. Also have a couple of knicks in the headlights.

 

I feel your pain . I had my Prius for about a week when it happened to me. Mine came from a truck that was hauling and uncovered load of dirt and gravel. I was so ticked off that I got the license plate and the company name and phone number. Called up the company, they admitted that the load was uncovered (required to be covered), and they said they were willing to replace the windshield. The company called up the local glass guy. I went to see the glass guy and he told me my window chip wasn't so deep and that it would not spread. He suggested not to replace the windshield right now (didn't need to even be sealed to prevent spreading) because the factory seal.

So, to make a long story short, the company wanted to pay for a new windshield so I have non-expiring gift certificate for a new original equipment windshield including labor whenever mine breaks. By the way, the replacement cost for a 2006 Prius windshield is $1300 since the only glass for 2006 Prii that is available is made by Toyota. No after market glass available yet...to new.

My suggestion for you AdrianO is to get the ding fixed and wait on replacing the windshield because of the cost and because you will lose your factory seal.

 

You want OEM glass anyways.

 

Find a Novus dealer in your area. I've found them to have the best results of the different repair methods

 

If you google for auto glass repair quote, you can find many places that will give you a immediate quote for repair or replacement. There are many places that will come right to your home. A few years ago when I had a small crack, I wanted to watch them fix it, but I stepped inside the house and missed the entire thing because it was so fast. The total cost to repair my '88 Stanza was under $100.

www.safelite.com quotes a 2006 prius replacement at $283 and a repair at $69.

 

It is interesting that Florida law requires insurance companies to repair or replace cracked windshields with no deductable. My Tacoma was struck TWICE by flying pebbles-- enough to put about an inch-long crack both times. The repair guy installed a factory windshield in about 20 minutes (both times). The only thing missing was my Toyoguard-inspired VIN number engraved in the glass.

If it is just a chip, the repairs work fine. But cracks seem to get larger with time.

 

heck i got so many dings on my hood it aint even funny. i orginally bought a tube of touch up paint thinking it would be an expensive $10.

now im realizing that i will be spotting quite a bit. now i got my biggest gouge in the same way as the OP. behind a gravel truck, i moved to the far left lane and a rock from him (had to be him) hit me anyway. the tragic part of it was, is that i could have sworn i saw the rock bounce out of the back of the truck, then was immediately deflected by a car into my lane and normally it would have been flat on the ground, but another car nicked it popping up in the air just in time to meet the hood of my Prius...

and yes, i will have to say that the aluminum hood (or whatever its made of) dents easily, metal is soft and therefore dings have become much easier to acquire than i would like to admit.

 

Well, I got you all beat. I got a highway windshield chip from a rock the day after I picked up my '05 Prius. It was frustrating, but the repair folks did a good job. Had the chip drilled, then filled. Can barely notice it.

Rick

 

I can top that flying rock story. Last friday a fist sized rock came flying off a dump truck in front of me and hit the hood emblem dead center. It created a Toyota emblem shaped dent about an inch deep.

The lowest repair quote so far is $447. I got the construction company name and number from the driver, but so far they have not returned any of my calls. I'll give them about a week or so to at least acknowledge my presence and if they haven't, then next will come a formal demand letter followed shortly afterwards by a trip to small-claims court.

 

Definitely! Especially if it is a brand new car!

And yeah...I know I should expect dings and chips from rocks...but not so soon !

 

Ditto what the previous poster wrote about insurance companies (not just in FL).

My insurance company will send a glass repair guy to my house to repair a ding/chip for free. No deductible is charged. It's much cheaper for the insurance company to repair the chip now instead of handling the claim for a new windshield when the unrepaired chip spreads into a crack.