Model 3 windshield replacement

[Xminusuno]

thanks for sharing, I went through Tesla and I was just notified my windshield should be at my service center (Littleton, CO) tomorrow by Noon. This is a little over 2 weeks with a Labor Day holiday. I hope to have it installed on Friday, already had an appointment on deck.

You mentioned it looks like the same window, but you should be able to check its OEM by the Tesla T in the lower passender side. Do you have the OEM "T"?

Yes, it has the T. The installers mentioned that they purchased it straight from Tesla. I'm just not a guy who knows much, or cares much about windshields so I didn't want to give the impression that I was 100% certain that it was direct from Tesla. The installers also mentioned that glass with other car logos was not OEM so who knows. As long as it works well, I'm happy with it.

It turns out my SC brings in a contractor (probably Safelite or some other windshield company) to install it. They got the piece for me and did the installation in a few hours.

The Bluechip installers said that they think they have the only guys certified to do model 3 windshields in the state. I can say that the install/removal looked more involved than my other car (4runner). If you are squeamish, I'd recommend not watching. They take what looks like a sawzall to your car and go to town. I'd just make sure the guy installing your windshield has done it before no matter the company. When I talked to safelite I just didn't get the sense that they knew what was involved, but who knows who I was talking to. However, another guy on the local facebook group said safelite did a great job on his model3. Caveat emptor, right? You can only weigh your choices and make the decision. In this case, the third party worked out without the service center being involved beyond calibration. Let's hope we continue to get more choices with our model 3 repairs.

 

[Pkmmte]

@CuriousM3 Would you mind sharing why you disagree with my post? I can provide evidence of the replacement cost, if necessary.

 

[ooandyoo]

Just had my windshield replaced at Tesla as well and it came out to just over $900. $530 Parts / $370 Labor.

 

[jelloslug]

When I had the windshield replaced in my AP1 Model S, I went directly to Tesla and then filed the receipt to State Farm. They paid it in full, no questions asked.

 

[mcbarnet007]

Tesla SC contract out the screen replacement labor to outside party anyways. If your installer has done many Model 3 installation, you'll get the same result.

 

[PSNeo]

I tried to make an appointment with Tesla for windshield replacement this morning and was told that they no longer offer this service and to contact my insurance company for recommended installers. I was surprised because I was told by a mobile technician back in July that they that they can do replacements when he noticed a chip that I had just gotten repaired while there fixing a power window issue I had. I guess that they are way too busy nowadays.

 

[redscott]

I tried to make an appointment with Tesla for windshield replacement this morning and was told that they no longer offer this service and to contact my insurance company for recommended installers. I was surprised because I was told by a mobile technician back in July that they that they can do replacements when he noticed a chip that I had just gotten repaired while there fixing a power window issue I had. I guess that they are way too busy nowadays.

Huh, that's weird. I recently made an appointment to replace the Windshield for my Model 3 in the Bay Area (San Francisco Van Ness). Called October 6th, I drop it off October 19th. We'll see if they turn me away.

 

[PSNeo]

Huh, that's weird. I recently made an appointment to replace the Windshield for my Model 3 in the Bay Area (San Francisco Van Ness). Called October 6th, I drop it off October 19th. We'll see if they turn me away.

My nearest Sevice Center is in Dublin, Ca. I tried to schedule online with them as well but they called me the next day to cancel. Hope you have better luck. I’ll need to go the 3rd party route.

 

[P3D_Denver]

I tried to make an appointment with Tesla for windshield replacement this morning and was told that they no longer offer this service and to contact my insurance company for recommended installers. I was surprised because I was told by a mobile technician back in July that they that they can do replacements when he noticed a chip that I had just gotten repaired while there fixing a power window issue I had. I guess that they are way too busy nowadays.

weird, i was told by a 3rd party that they recommend Tesla’s going to the service center because of all the Auto Pilot calibration and diagnostics. My local SC in Colorado happily replaced my window last month.

 

[SageBrush]

$900 replacement is certainly not cheap, but I think reasonable for the glass and assorted complexities. I'm actually relieved that it is not a lot more. Either Model 3 is leaving the stigma of horrendous Tesla repair costs behind or I am becoming numb to the Tesla tax

 

[redscott]

My nearest Sevice Center is in Dublin, Ca. I tried to schedule online with them as well but they called me the next day to cancel. Hope you have better luck. I’ll need to go the 3rd party route.

And you were right! 11 days after I made the appointment they called me to say they don't do windshields. I called the glass place they recommended in San Francisco and they gave me a quote of $1083.

 

[MXWing]

@CuriousM3 Would you mind sharing why you disagree with my post? I can provide evidence of the replacement cost, if necessary.

I have NO idea why someone would vote for you down. You've always been a helpful and knowledgeable poster. Some people weird like that.

Voted you up so even steven on the bad juju. <3

 

[SSBN727]

Has anyone had their Model 3 windshield replaced through Safelite? I have to get a new windshield as you can see. Geico is assuring me they order the windshield directly from Tesla and will reimburse me for the autopilot calibration. Which sounds good but they did ask me some strange questions about my windshield like did it have lane keeping, or block dots around it that gives me pause. I have the option of going directly to Tesla (already scheduled an appt. time) but I would be responsible for labor rates above $40/hr. Any advice is appreciated. Am I crazy to trust a third party installer?

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Has anyone had their Model 3 windshield replaced through Safelite? I have to get a new windshield as you can see. Geico is assuring me they order the windshield directly from Tesla and will reimburse me for the autopilot calibration. Which sounds good but they did ask me some strange questions about my windshield like did it have lane keeping, or block dots around it that gives me pause. I have the option of going directly to Tesla (already scheduled an appt. time) but I would be responsible for labor rates above $40/hr. Any advice is appreciated. Am I crazy to trust a third party installer?

View attachment 326828

I just got a small rock chip in the lower passenger side of my windshield. I thought the right thing to do was to go into Safelight right away and patch the very small chip, thinking if I get on top of this right away it wont over time grow. Safelight went to patch it and when they put in the epoxy they turned the small tiny rock chip not bigger than a beebee into a very large 7 inch crack across the lower corner crack. I was much better off doing nothing. Lesson learned, do not replace small tiny rock chips. After they informed me that the chip truned into a large crack, they quickly asked me my deductible amount and acted as if now I would just let them replace the windsheild. They were sorry it happened and then informed me that patching the small chips often leads to them becoming large cracks. I am now trying to schedule going to the service center to get my windshield replaced. Small beebee sized chip is something I will never worry about in the future

 

[P3D_Denver]

I just got a small rock chip in the lower passenger side of my windshield. I thought the right thing to do was to go into Safelight right away and patch the very small chip, thinking if I get on top of this right away it wont over time grow. Safelight went to patch it and when they put in the epoxy they turned the small tiny rock chip not bigger than a beebee into a very large 7 inch crack across the lower corner crack. I was much better off doing nothing. Lesson learned, do not replace small tiny rock chips. After they informed me that the chip truned into a large crack, they quickly asked me my deductible amount and acted as if now I would just let them replace the windsheild. They were sorry it happened and then informed me that patching the small chips often leads to them becoming large cracks. I am now trying to schedule going to the service center to get my windshield replaced. Small beebee sized chip is something I will never worry about in the future

if you don’t patch small chips with the change in temperature, and other factors, they are likely to spread into huge cracks in my experience.

 

[Gregwhiteshark]

I got a rock chip yesterday and immediately pulled off to call my insurance company to schedule a repair with Safelite. While talking on the phone I watched the chip expanded into a long crack directly across my field of view. Now Safelite is scheduled to do the replacement instead of just repairing. The told me 3-6 weeks to get the windshield from Tesla. In the meantime I’ll have to drive with this crack in my way. Only 1700 miles on the car. Such bad luck.

 

[Gregwhiteshark]

 

[theheff]

I just went through this process and thought I'd share my experience. The service center in Denver didn't have any in stock so I had to order a windshield - it took about 2-3 weeks to arrive from CA. I found that calling the Tesla Parts number instead of service got me through faster even though a service appointment was required to get work scheduled. I also called Safelite and a few others, but they all had to special order the windshield and probably had a longer wait than the Tesla service center. I just had it repaired today, and the total bill was $830. $262 for labor and $530 for the windshield.

Also, I'd recommend getting the job done through Tesla if possible. It looks like even the Tesla technicians damaged my headliner during the replacement process and ended up replacing that under good will on my invoice.

 

[fr100]

Here is an update on my windshield replacement for others who need to replace their model 3 windshields.

I ending up deciding to use a third party to replace my windshield. I used Bluechip in Phoenix, AZ. When I called they were very familiar with the model 3 and had new windshields on order. The downside was that it required me to drive an hour away (compared to having safelite do it in my garage, but about the same distance as going to the service center) but the up side was I would get the replacement much faster than going directly to the service center.

I scheduled the windshield replacement about four days after calling them. I met the guys at a family members house in Phoenix and they did a good job replacing the windshield. They said they order the windshields directly from Tesla and it sure looked like the exact same window. Overall they did a great job replacing it. Once they were done, I scheduled to have a Tesla ranger come to my house and do the autopilot calibration. Autopilot was riding the extreme right side of the lane after the windshield replacement when I tested it. I stopped using it and waited for my ranger appointment that was four days after my windshield replacement.

The Tesla rangers came out, adjusted the cameras, and fixed a small issue where they said bluechip did not correctly install the camera housing. They did say that my car would need to re-calibrate autopilot just like it did when I picked up the car. A nice touch is that the auto pilot calibration now has a nice status circle to tell you how much longer it will take. It didn't have that when I picked up my car.

Overall, the process went smoothly after doing some up front work to make sure the glass company was experienced with a Model 3 and I'm happy with the outcome. I got my new windshield in a bit over a week and I didn't have any out of pocket expense with my Geico insurance. Here are some pictures of the process.

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Did they have to do anything special like remove the hood? Looks like they removed the wipers to get yours out. None of the installers near me have experience with Model 3.

 

[jkoya]

Are there already generic windshields out there for the Model 3 ? I had Safelite replace the windshield to my 2016 Volt. I told them my insurance covers OEM parts. They told me for Volts, they only had OEM windshields. Don't know if this true or not. They did recalibrate the camera for me, nothing as complicated as Tesla though I'm sure.

Seems like so much road construction around here that windshield damage is one of my fears for the Model 3 we are picking up today.

I wish I could find an OEM windshield for my NSX..........

 

[borka105]

Did they have to do anything special like remove the hood? Looks like they removed the wipers to get yours out. None of the installers near me have experience with Model 3.

My windshield was recently replaced by Tesla. They left a small gap in the rubber seal that is designed to hide the space between the windshield and the roof glass. They told me the small gap doesn’t matter since the area underneath is sealed and that the rubber in between is most aesthetics. Since you saw the car without the windshield can you confirm or should I be concerned?