Windshield Replacement in Winston-Salem, NC

Winston-Salem Auto Glass is Impex Auto Glass serving Winston-Salem. Impex’s nearest shop is on W Market St in Greensboro, and in Forsyth County the work is done where your car is parked: your driveway, a lot downtown, an office car park off Stratford Road. Every quote Impex gives is meant to be fully inclusive, with no hidden fees, upsells, delivery charges, fuel fees or disposal fees.

Replace or repair: the decision comes first

A new windshield is not the answer to every chip. Repair keeps the original factory bond in place, and when it will hold, it is the better job. Impex’s test is that repair may work when the damage is small, shallow and away from the edges. ROLAGS, the repair standard of the National Windshield Repair Division, puts the outer limit at stone breaks up to two inches in diameter and single line cracks up to 14 inches.

Most of the windshields that come out in Winston-Salem have moved past that point. These are the usual reasons:

• The crack reached the edge. The edge is where the glass is glued to the body, and a crack there weakens the part that holds it in.
• The crack is long. ROLAGS calls anything over six inches a long crack. Many shops use six inches, about the length of a dollar bill, as their own rule of thumb for repair.
• It sits in front of the driver. Even a well-filled repair can leave a mark in the place you look through all day.
• It sits in front of the camera. The area behind the rearview mirror is where the forward camera looks out, and it needs clear glass.
• Both layers are broken, or there are several breaks, or an old repair has spread again.

If you are not sure, say so in the form and send a photo. The technician makes the final call at the car, and if a repair will do, that is what you will hear.

Choosing the glass for your car

Two windshields that look alike can differ in ways that matter: the mounting pad for the camera, the bracket for the mirror, a rain and light sensor, a heated wiper park area, an acoustic layer, a shade band across the top. Trim levels of the same model often take different glass. That is why Impex checks every part against the vehicle identification number before it orders, so the windshield that arrives fits the brackets and sensors your car actually has.

There are two broad kinds of glass. OEM glass comes from the same maker as the windshield fitted at the factory. Aftermarket glass is made by other manufacturers to the same safety standards and can differ slightly in thickness or tint. Impex fits both and its technicians can recommend which suits the vehicle, especially where a camera reads through the glass. If you have a preference, or your insurer has a rule about it, say so when you ask for the quote.

The replacement, step by step

A modern windshield is not held by clips or a rubber gasket. It is glued to the body with urethane, and the bond is what lets the glass do its work in a crash. The Auto Glass Safety Council says the windshield aids in occupant retention and must be installed properly for the airbags to deploy safely and effectively. Each step below serves that bond.

1. Protect and strip. The paint and dash are covered, then the wipers, the cowl panel at the base of the glass and any edge mouldings come off.
2. Free the sensors. The mirror, the camera cover and any rain or light sensor are unplugged or released so nothing is pulled with the glass.
3. Cut out the old glass. The old urethane bead is cut all round and the damaged windshield is lifted out.
4. Prepare the frame. The pinch weld, the flange the glass sits on, is trimmed and cleaned so the new adhesive has a sound surface. Bare metal is usually primed so it does not rust under the bead.
5. Set the new windshield. A fresh bead of urethane goes on and the glass is placed, centred and pressed down evenly.
6. Put it back together. Mirror, sensors, cowl and wipers are refitted and the fit checked.
7. Calibrate. On cars with a forward camera, Impex calibrates it on site after the glass is in.
8. Cure and hand back. You are told when the car is safe to drive and what to avoid for the first day.

Impex says most windshield replacements take about one hour, plus a short curing period, and that in most cases you are back on the road within two hours. Calibration adds time on top, covered below.

Drive-away time and the first 24 hours

The Auto Glass Safety Council defines minimum drive-away time as how long the car should stay still after installation to let the bond form, and says it varies with the adhesive used, the weather at the time and other factors. There is no single number that applies to every job, so the technician gives you the time for yours. Cold, damp mornings in the Piedmont can lengthen it.

For the first 24 hours Impex asks you not to wash the car and not to slam the doors. A slammed door pushes a burst of air against fresh urethane. If you hear wind noise or see water at the edge in the days after, call so the seal can be checked.

Calibration after a new windshield

If your car has lane departure warning, automatic emergency braking or adaptive cruise control, there is a good chance a camera behind the mirror runs them. I-CAR lists removing the windshield as one of the events that may require that camera to be aimed again, and a camera that sits even slightly off on new glass can read the lane in the wrong place. Impex says it performs ADAS calibration on site immediately after windshield replacement, with static and dynamic calibration done in one visit, and that calibration takes between 30 minutes and 2 hours.

Static calibration uses targets placed in front of the car while it stands still. Dynamic calibration means driving the car at a set speed for a set time or distance, which needs clear, dry roads without heavy traffic or many curves. The detail, including radar and which cars need what, is on our ADAS calibration in Winston-Salem page.

Paying for a windshield through insurance

Glass breakage falls under comprehensive coverage in North Carolina. The NC Department of Insurance lists ‘Breakage of glass’ and ‘Missiles or falling objects’ among comprehensive losses, paid ‘less any deductible’. So if your comprehensive deductible is close to the cost of the windshield, a claim may not save you much. North Carolina has no zero-deductible glass law. Some policies carry full glass coverage, and your declarations page will say if yours does.

How a claim usually runs with Impex:

1. You report the damage to your insurer, or ask Impex to start the claim with you.
2. You tell the insurer you have chosen Impex Auto Glass. Under G.S. 58-3-180 the choice of repair shop is yours and the insurer pays the same amount whichever you pick.
3. Impex quotes the job, including calibration where the car needs it, and works with the insurer on the bill. Impex works with all major insurance providers.
4. You pay your deductible, if your policy has one for glass.

A glass claim under comprehensive is not an at-fault accident and adds no Safe Driver Incentive Plan points. Insurers may still look at how often you claim when they review a policy.

Where in and around Winston-Salem

The work comes to you across the city: downtown between Salem Parkway and US 52, the west side around Hanes Mall and I-40, the streets near Wake Forest University, and south along Peters Creek Parkway. Beyond the city we cover Clemmons, Lewisville, Pfafftown, Bermuda Run, Advance and, down I-285, Lexington. The service areas page lists each one. Drivers in Davidson County have their own page, windshield replacement in Lexington.

For a visit at home or work, what the technician needs from the spot you choose is on the mobile auto glass repair page. If it is a door window or the back glass that broke, see back and side glass replacement.

Questions people ask