Fixing Rock Chips in Glass Roof!

[pandam3]

WOW! $100 in Labor charges for an item costing less than $8??? Welcome to America!

+ 1 this is something easily fixed with windshield repair kit from the local autoparts store in 20 to 30 minutes. In my area they are $15 ish.

On older cars I've had instances where the windshield chips and after heat cycling the windshield cracks if I don't get around to repairing in time.

So now I just carry a spare windshield repair kit in all my cars so I can do it during my lunch break. In fact the last time I had to do this, I went to several autoparts stores that where out of stock. So now I just hoard a bunch of repair kits. Seems that there is just a lot of debris in the carpool lane during my commute. (Cars ahead of me crossing the double yellow kicking up debri and work trucks with poorly secured loads scattering debris behind them... I even extend my autopilot following distance to 7 hoping other cars get ahead of me to act as a shield however they see it too and don't want to be a shield)

 

[Jffurlan]

Literally just had a similar event happen: golf ball sized rock fell from dump truck and kicked up by truck in front of me. Hit right above the camera in the middle of the sun roof.

Thankfully Tesla mobile service is coming tomorrow to look at something else so I’ll inquire with him, but I’m curious if anyone thinks this is worth replacing the glass or getting it repaired?

 

[mswlogo]

Literally just had a similar event happen: golf ball sized rock fell from dump truck and kicked up by truck in front of me. Hit right above the camera in the middle of the sun roof.

Thankfully Tesla mobile service is coming tomorrow to look at something else so I’ll inquire with him, but I’m curious if anyone thinks this is worth replacing the glass or getting it repaired?


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Don't wait too long, that crack could extend.

I find it hard to believe a $15 DIY kit would work as well as the results the OP got.

Yours looks a lot like the OP's level of damage. Looks like it's worth a shot.

 

[Jffurlan]

Yeah, I’m going to have to deal with it soon. So upset, Model 3 is less than 2 months old with less than 2000km. Truck wasn’t even in my lane, rock bounced over and under the vehicle in front of me. I guess the bright side is if I hadn’t been so far back it would have been a more direct hit on the windshield.

 

[ucmndd]

I got a similar chip in my all glass Model S roof in the first 500 miles. So pissed.

Had a local glass shop I trust come out the next day and fill it just like they would a windshield chip. It’s all but invisible now except under very specific lighting conditions and has held strong for 80,000 miles. Best $40 spent so far.

Tesla will want to replace the whole panel. Worst case with a glass shop the fill procedure causes the crack to spread or it doesn’t hold and you... replace the whole panel. For me the $40 experiment was an easy decision.

 

[halfricanguy]

I had a similar chip in my windshield. Went to Safelite and they used the same method and it looks great, happy to see this would work for the glass roof.

BTW talk to your insurance first. I have Geico and they work directly with Safelite. They would rather pay for the window repair rather than dealing with an insurance claim. So they paid for my Safelite repair with no deductible.

 

[GreenMtnM3]

Be careful, I have Geico as well, and when my windshield was chipped by a stone they recommended I have Safelite come out to repair it. They waive the deductible for the repair. After 15 minutes of working on it, the tech told me that the repair 'failed' and instead of a 1/16" chip, I had an 18" crack. He said that they would order the windshield from Tesla. The next day I got a call from Safelite to schedule the replacement for the following week. I asked them if they could get the windshield that fast. They told me that they had 2 in stock. The next day someone else from Safelite called to tell me that it would be a few weeks, they don't have any windshield and she did not know the customer service person that called me the prior day or why he called me (despite me providing his name). That was 3 weeks ago. I called today, and they told me it will be another 3 weeks or so, The crack has grown another 6" in the mean time.

I don't think I'll be repair chips in the future...

 

[KimmyJ]

Just had my model 3 glass roof repaired at safelight. Picked up a small rock chip, approximately 1cm across. Only owned the car for 3 weeks! My first new car to boot. Anyways, I’m thankful for this forum as I needed to push safelight into even seeing the car. Luckily a great technician there had done this before and fixed it. The repair is not visible unless the sun refracts through both the glass and repair resin at just the right angle. I have some pics, chip is not visible in the before pic (looking down into the roof) But it was small and round and showing the most minute spidering. The after shot is looking up through the roof where the chip was. Will look into possibly wrapping the roof with protective film of some sort to stave off these small chips.

 

[KimmyJ]

Well guys, that repair has spidered. Noticed it yesterday. Still can’t get a good pic but there is now 2, one inch long cracks extending toward the hood and the other toward the rear of the car. Called my insurance company and my local service center. Off to get a new roof. :/ I hear I shouldn’t hold my breath.

 

[moenasrallah01]

I am going to post the techs contact information here and the Safelite address in Cincinnati Ohio, I had already informed the Safelite tech that I would be passing his info around to the Tesla community so he IS aware any of you might be contacting him with the same problem.

PLEASE REMEMBER that if your roof *or any* glass cracks during the repair process Safelite will not bill you anything,
but Tesla Service will have to replace the panel.

Dave Harding:
Cell: 513-869-9971

Safelite AutoGlass Address:
6596 Glenway Ave Unit B, Cincinnati, OH 45211
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I got the same exact rock chip and the default price was $150 when booking the appointment online.
Took your receipt in to match the same price.

When they seen your receipt, they said that the prices went up since then.
Instead of matching, they gave me a $20 discount (which you can always Google the promo code for online.)

Attached is my receipt. I'm from Detroit, MI.

The shop did a great job, but I don't know why they don't honor all their prices the same.
Their site doesn't have the 2019 Model 3, so it mislabels it as a 2019 " Model S". Also, there is no option to indicate that its on a "glass roof". You have to select windshield.

Overall, happy with their service. Took 30 min total. Needed 10 min for the car to cool down from the sun before work order (risk of cracking otherwise.)

Hope this helps

 

[Tpstulane]

I want to start this thread letting everyone know that if you try to get your glass roof *Or any panel for that matter* sealed and fixed up it carries the risk of the glass cracking completely and Safelite CAN NOT replace any glass since they can't order it from Tesla to stock up on.

Alright so about two months ago I heard that loud clang of a rock hitting my Model 3 on the highway and when I looked that evening I couldn't find anything on the windshield, and thus I assumed I got off lucky. A few days later a passenger was admiring the glass roof and noticed the large chip on their side leading me to think of "what can I do about this?"

I brought my model 3 into my usual service center and they looked at it and said all they can do is replace the entire panel which for me would have been out of pocket. Tesla service said they are replacing rock-chipped glass roof panels every week on Model 3's. I asked about using Safelite and Tesla informed me it was at my own risk so I took it on myself and made an appointment anyway. I would be paying for a new glass panel anyways unless Safelite worked.

It gets interesting when I arrived at Safelite, The tech who greeted me was very nervous about my Model 3 and informed me that he has never worked on a Tesla before and has turned down all previous Tesla customers. The reasoning for this is that Safelite's warranty is a lifetime warranty and if the repaired glass cracks post-fix they will replace the panel. However, with Tesla, they can NOT replace the panel and therefore don't want to perform the repair.

The glass roof panels are made of a milti-layer laminated glass just like a windshield, and therefore the approach should be similar. I called Tesla one final time and I was informed that this fix will not impact the Model 3 Warranty at all and I took the gamble. At the end of the day, its fixed and it looks as if nothing ever happened! The Safelite tech took a lot of notes and called a regional manager about the success and the process he performed *at a gamble*

It appears we are in uncharted waters with these cars still, so I wanted to pass along my experiences.
was $115 with taxes and fees to get the chip sealed.
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[Tpstulane]

I got the same exact rock chip and the default price was $150 when booking the appointment online.
Took your receipt in to match the same price.

When they seen your receipt, they said that the prices went up since then.
Instead of matching, they gave me a $20 discount (which you can always Google the promo code for online.)

Attached is my receipt. I'm from Detroit, MI.

The shop did a great job, but I don't know why they don't honor all their prices the same.
Their site doesn't have the 2019 Model 3, so it mislabels it as a 2019 " Model S". Also, there is no option to indicate that its on a "glass roof". You have to select windshield.

Overall, happy with their service. Took 30 min total. Needed 10 min for the car to cool down from the sun before work order (risk of cracking otherwise.)

Hope this helps

See pics above. Had a rock chip catch the edge of my roof. Had it repaired with just using risen. Lucked out it cleared perfectly.

 

[needp3d-]

It all depends on how hard you push those liquid in and UV

 

[needp3d-]

See pics above. Had a rock chip catch the edge of my roof. Had it repaired with just using risen. Lucked out it cleared perfectly.

How did you do that

 

[Tpstulane]

It all depends on how hard you push those liquid in and UV

Correct.

 

[Tpstulane]

Correct.

One other thing I’d like to point out. I believe that aftermarket rubber gasket I had on for noise reduction actually buffered the glass from really getting damaged beyond repair. Without that gasket the lip of the sunroof glass is really exposed.

 

[smashcz]

How much does tesla charge to replace?

 

[Tron 3]

I got a chip (no spider) repaired on the edge of the windshield worked perfectly.
As mentioned, you should check with your insurance carrier. State Farm here, they work with specific vendors and would rather pay the repair fee than replace the panel. I had to pay zero.

 

[mspohr]

WOW! $100 in Labor charges for an item costing less than $8??? Welcome to America!

I had a chip repair at a local glass shop for $25. You can buy a DIY kit for $10.

 

[M3FNATIK]

Wow, I guess I can join the club here. This happens more often than I thought!

Here's the big rock that hit, caught on TeslaCam

What started out as a small cracked (spidered on impact)

Grew to a huge 12"+ crack the next day

Insurance covered but directed me to use Safelite first. Safelite said they couldn't replace it and I had to work directly with Tesla and they'd reimburse me. Took about a week to get the glass panel in stock at the local Service Center. After install there was a small ticking sound that was pronounced at low temps. Made a 2nd appointment for Tesla to assess but during that time, I found that interior roof section may not have fully seated. I pushed up on the center by the dome lights and heard a loud click like something seating in place. After that the noise went away. Probably was a clip that didn't fully snap into place.