Scratched glass. Going to attempt repair, any tips welcome!

[webbah]

Recently I discovered micro scratches on literally every glass window in my car. I can only assume that a detailer made a mistake and used an abrasive or dirty towel/sponge when cleaning at some point, but only noticed recently when driving with the sun going down. I'm pretty bummed about it. I took it to a local detailer and he said it's too time consuming without any guarantee to fix them and suggested just changing all the glass. Insurance won't cover scratches as it is not a safety hazard and only cracks, etc are covered.

I've watched a ton of videos on Youtube and decided to give it a go to repair myself. I'm aware Celium Oxide is likely the best to use, but I decided to go with the following:

1) Prewash with good glass cleaner, clay bar and lube.
2) DA Polish with Carpro Ceriglass (contains Cerium Oxide). Will likely take many passes and I'll need to work section by section
3) Clean with Carpro Eraser to prep for glass treatment
4) Apply glass protection

I'll post some photos later when the sunlight shows them best. Curious if anyone has any other tips or experience with this. I also have a temperature guage to ensure I don't heat the glass too much and create distortion. Perhaps I'm stubborn but I want to give it a go before spending a fortune on replacing all the glass!

 

[abwmma]

Watch Mike Phillips at Autogeek: How to matchine polish glass.(1.5 hr.) DA don't have the power. It is very hard. Good Luck.

 

[Perscitus]

Also see this

 

[webbah]

Watch Mike Phillips at Autogeek: How to matchine polish glass.(1.5 hr.) DA don't have the power. It is very hard. Good Luck.

Yeah, I did watch that video. Unfortunately a DA is all I have so it will take longer. To buy another polisher then questions whether I should just pay to replace the glass. I've got the time so I might as well try. I also have the Carpro rayon glass pads and Ceriglass in hand. Thanks for sharing!

 

[Perscitus]

Careful not to introduce more scratches (long, orbital shaped and deeper than the micro scratches you currently have) as well as marring/clouding as you make the passes... its very easy to do both whe using cerium oxide, pads that cake up and when not keeping the surface and slurry wet. A two person job and even then, under ideal conditions, the end effect often falls short or introduses more/different damage.

Modern laminated glass, ugh.

 

[webbah]

Careful not to introduce more scratches (long, orbital shaped and deeper than the micro scratches you currently have) as well as marring/clouding as you make the passes... its very easy to do both whe using cerium oxide, pads that cake up and when not keeping the surface and slurry wet. A two person job and even then, under ideal conditions, the end effect often falls short or introduses more/different damage.

Modern laminated glass, ugh.

Yeah, I'm going to need to be patient and take the time. I have a spray bottle and bought 10 rayon pads to change them out if I need too. Still worth a shot before changing out the glass. Looking at the Model Y video above my scratches are no worse than that. If some still exist I may use wax to try and polish/fill them in. We'll see how it goes.

I actually spent the money on a new polisher as I also have an issue with plugging in. I bought this with 2 extra batteries (total of 4) and I have my 12v pure sine wave converter so can charge up dead batteries while I'm using the others. Going to be fun! Bah...

Adam's Polishes Cordless 15mm Swirl Killer | No Cord Polishing Machine

 

[6thDAY]

I'm also facing the same issue. I have micro-scratches all over the glass. Some shops I called recommend not polishing the glass as it can cause distortion.

Please post fix of BEFORE/AFTER and let me know the results of yours when it's completed.

 

[webbah]

I'm also facing the same issue. I have micro-scratches all over the glass. Some shops I called recommend not polishing the glass as it can cause distortion.

Please post fix of BEFORE/AFTER and let me know the results of yours when it's completed.

This is why I mentioned I have a temperature guage. You need to keep moving and not heat up the glass in one spot. The videos above are good, and there are many on Youtube as well. I spent hours watching them and decided to go for it. Mine bother the hell out of me so if it doesn't work I'll just swap out the glass and then immediately add some protection. Laminated glass can be a pain though!

 

[TypeRx]

I had to remove a bunch of microscratches as well as ground in wiper marks from the windshield on my 997 Turbo. The prior owners must have spent time in beachy areas as there was a lot of sandblasting of the windshield. I could have just replaced it but wanted to try and improve it myself.

I used CeriGlass and the CarPro Rayon glass pad (foam pads don't have enough cut). Mask off all trim nearby as well as the car itself (I used plastic drop sheeting for house painting). Why mask off the entire car? Well, it is because polishing glass is MESSY!

Keep a small squirt bottle handy with water and make sure the surface you are polishing is always wet to stop the polish from going dry. I have done glass polishing with a Porter Cable and it was so much elbow grease. With a Flex 3401 it was much better. Regardless, polishing glass is a PITA.

I highly doubt your cordless polisher will be a sufficient tool for polishing glass. Find a friend with a corded long-throw polisher.

In the end, I got rid of the the microscratches and slightly improved the visual perception of pitting. Good luck!

 

[Thp3]

I managed to polish the windshield on my car, it turned out like new.

Ok, how? What did you use? How much time?

thx.

 

[eric135i]

i have a similar issue with my 1-month-old '20 M3P. i used some fake glass water repellent (AqualPel) from Amazon and it messed up my windshield. i was in a panic to clean it up before driving it to work and did a quick search. Some fool recommended Bon Ami abrasive cleaner, me (more of a fool) used it and it caused a ton of micro scratches on my windshield. will be using Meguirs on a DA polisher first, then if that don't work, Ceriglass.

 

[webbah]

Ok, how? What did you use? How much time?

thx.

I can tell you that this is a royal PITA! But, in the end it came out rather good. I still have 2 scratches that catch my finger nail and those I'll have to live with. But I was able to remove probably close to 50-60 others on all the glass. The windshield looks perfect. I spent close to 10 hours all in. Don't want to do that again any time soon! But considering replacing all glass costs 1000's it was worth the time.

 

[webbah]

i have a similar issue with my 1-month-old '20 M3P. i used some fake glass water repellent (AqualPel) from Amazon and it messed up my windshield. i was in a panic to clean it up before driving it to work and did a quick search. Some fool recommended Bon Ami abrasive cleaner, me (more of a fool) used it and it caused a ton of micro scratches on my windshield. will be using Meguirs on a DA polisher first, then if that don't work, Ceriglass.

I'd recommend pairing the pad with the polish. Carpro Rayon and Carpro CeriGlass is what I used. This is mentioned in the first video above that not pairing the products has caused additional problems. Going with the same vendors products makes sense and even if it is simply marketing it was worth it not to waste all that time for nothing.

 

[Pied]

I used Meguiars M105 with the Griots G9 polisher.

It won't get everything out, but it was enough to not annoy me anymore. When the sun hit the front window just right I would see all the scratches. I can barely make them out now. I spent 4hrs polishing the windshield with M105. Ceriglass is very aggressive and messy from videos I have seen. It was my last resort if M105 didn't work. I also had M105 from a detail I just did, so I figured why not.

 

[webbah]

I used Meguiars M105 with the Griots G9 polisher.

It won't get everything out, but it was enough to not annoy me anymore. When the sun hit the front window just right I would see all the scratches. I can barely make them out now. I spent 4hrs polishing the windshield with M105. Ceriglass is very aggressive and messy from videos I have seen. It was my last resort if M105 didn't work. I also had M105 from a detail I just did, so I figured why not.

I was considering something like this for the deep scratches but for now I'm calling it a day:

Professional Glass Scratch Removal xNet™ System

 

[6thDAY]

planning to do before/after results any time soon?

 

[webbah]

planning to do before/after results any time soon?

Sorry man, I really should have taken photos of before but I just went at it to get the job done. I'd be happy to take some photos of the after though. I just finished a fresh coating of Kamikaze Intenso though and it needs a day or two to cure before I can take the car out in the elements as it's raining here.