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One note of caution - I had a non-oem glass installed on a Mercedes. It ended up not being installed correctly and leaked 1.5 years later - the water ran to the passenger side floor board and shorted out the electrical components of the drivers assistance/blind spot etc hardware. The glass supplier wouldn’t fix it(claimed something must have caused it to do that) and Mercedes wouldn’t cover under warranty. I ended up having to pay over 6k to fix all of this -talked to a lawyer but it would have taken at least 3-6 months to even have a chance of resolution. I don’t think Mercedes would have denied responsibility if I had the dealer replace the glass. I would hope a company as big as safelite wouldn’t behave the same way but I am not sure I will do aftermarket glass again after that experience.
I've had a windshield replacement on my older LR (not a Defender). It has the heat, so when I called to schedule a replacement I asked that the company doing the install use an OEM JLR windshield. It took a few extra days, but they did it. Without the JLR windshield, I may have lost the heat function, so that's why I wanted one from my dealer. BUT, it wasn't installed by the dealer, which was easier for me.
One note of caution - I had a non-oem glass installed on a Mercedes. It ended up not being installed correctly and leaked 1.5 years later - the water ran to the passenger side floor board and shorted out the electrical components of the drivers assistance/blind spot etc hardware. The glass supplier wouldn’t fix it(claimed something must have caused it to do that) and Mercedes wouldn’t cover under warranty. I ended up having to pay over 6k to fix all of this -talked to a lawyer but it would have taken at least 3-6 months to even have a chance of resolution. I don’t think Mercedes would have denied responsibility if I had the dealer replace the glass. I would hope a company as big as safelite wouldn’t behave the same way but I am not sure I will do aftermarket glass again after that experience.
The installation is all legit and covered and backed up by safelite.
The glass is normal and the fit is the same as before. If it leaks I'd have them rectify it. Not a worry. Safelite do good work and stand behind it.
LR dealer here sends it to their glass people somewhere and charge double.
There are law firms that are taking cases based on this specific windshield issue. If the warranty on these windshield defects are not being honored, it may be worthwhile to reach out. I am in the process of doing this with a firm.
As a resolution, I don't get why JLR doesn't let dealers put in replacement windshields that are extra strong - nail the problem shut. Jeeps can have an upgraded (you pay for it) windshield by MOPAR - Gorilla Glass by Corning. I'd be more than happy to give my dealer money to do that as a solution if my windshield broke.
@curb-optional Can't agree with you more. The Defender windshields are very light when compared to other Land Rover windshields; The Range Rover windshield is twice as thick as the Defender one and twice as heavy.
Anything that hits a Defender windshield will cause it to ship or crack like no other windshield. LR needs to up the beefiness of the Defender windshield. I personally bought three windshield replacements for the Defender. I owned Range Rovers since 1982 and never ever bought a replacement windshield for a Range Rover since.
I literally got my LR last week, took it to get the windows tinted last week and took it today to get ppf and protective windshield film and the shop called to let me know it was too late already has a broke windshield. Unbelievable, I that it was already broke when I got it.
Not sure I can prove it.
I see some post in here showing they run $1650. Is that OEM glass?
I am now near positive it arrived here like that.
This pic it’s Still setting on the truck the day it was delivered to me.
Got to love the camera quality of the iPhone 15 pro max. Was able to zoom in right on where the crack is. It was there before coming off the trailer.
That's great evidence. Back to the dealer for a free windshield replacement then.
That’s what I hope to find out today.
‘I am in Kansas I found and purchased the car from a Land Rover dealer in Florida.
The pic I took when it was still on the trailer and it was the transport company I hired to pickup the car in Florida and transport it to me.
Now that I know where the crack is, I went back through all the original dealer add photos and it does seem the crack was there when they sold it to me.
I got quotes for new windshields last night. It looks like OEM glass is around 2300-2500.00 .
Aftermarket glass is looking like 650-950.00.
Where the crack is if it could be repaired and it might be repairable I don’t really know, but if I am on the hook for it, I may try to have it repaired and then proceed on with glass protection film over that. It’s really not a very visible flaw, but concern would be that it continues to crack say this coming winter, that’s when it could become a problem.
Try to get $$$ from them, Repair this spot now with some superglue. Drive it and see later what to do. It's is a safe spot imho.
That is really a great idea.
I am waiting to hear back from the Dealership to see if they are going to stand behind this situation or not.
If it ends up, I am on my own, I am most defiantly going to try and see if I can get it repaired and still put the protective film over it to hopefully prevent future problems.
This is part of what it was in the shop for now. Both PPF and this glass protection film, hoping to prevent stuff like this from ever happening.
Just was very ironic the shop it is at called to tell me come back and look at it, it is already chipped/cracked/broken.
