Windscreen Replacement Advice

[james250]

I have a quite a few chips and marks on my windscreen. One of the chip is very close to the drivers area and hence was not repaired. This chip is now turning into a crack and expanding. So i am considering getting my insurance to replace it. Just wanted some advice. I have a 2006 IS250 that has the defrosting wipers feature. So just wondering if i need to make them aware of this, is there something on the windscreen that facilitates this feature? or is this feature not on the windscreen itself?

Also considering having the clearplex windscreen protection film, anyone used this? here's a video of its durability:

[scudney]

hi,purely for piece of mind would advice you ask for a OEM one,that way you know what your getting.Some IS 200 mk 1 owners had theirs replaced with non OEM ones and had issues like water leaking in,headlights staying on etc,so better safe than sorry.

[normski2]

Yep, make sure you get the exact correct one fitted. Any doubts ask your Nearest Lexus dealer to advise you what to make sure you ask for, ie. the wiper park heated area.

Also, make sure whoever fits it puts back in place any rattle damping bits around the dash area. Make sure they don't just take em and lob them in the bin.

[matt-c]

Bad fitting is the cause of most leaks, and second is bad condition car. It's nigh on impossible for the actual windscreen itself to facilitate a leak. Windscreens are made from two pieces of glass, vacuumed together with laminate inbetween. Obviously, only the outside of the windscreen is subjected to rain and water, so for a windscreen to cause a leak, you'd need a crack on the outside large enough for water ingress, a gap between the outer layer and laminate, then another gap between the inner layer and laminate, and a crack on the inside large enough to allow water to exit. Not gonna happen! 1) Cracks in glass are so tight, water ingress is limited to minute seepage at best, and in 99.9% of cases, are still completely impervious to ingress. 2) gaps between the laminate and the glass would result in cracking almost immediately, and be incredibly noticeable. 3) even with all three of the above in play, the water flow into the vehicle would be so minimal, you wouldn't ever even know it.

Go and look at old Mercs like the 190E; many of those will have white milky looking areas around the edges of the screen. That's water ingress, caused by the glass and the laminate beginning to separate. Typically these will be the original screens, and are very old. Merc's not fantastic design allows water to collect and pool at certain areas, meaning over time it will being to de-laminate the screen. Now think at how old that screen is; even if it's spent the last 20-25 years outside every day, there's still not enough delamination occuring to allow water to enter the vehicle.

However, poor workmanship - badly glued up, incorrect (or lack of) use of primers, incorrectly seated, etc, screens can leak, just as cars that are rusty beneath the screen on the aperture.

In 10 years, I've never heard of an IS leaking, and never had a 1st, or 2nd gen, screen that I've fitted leak (at least not to my knowledge)

As for heater element - it's part of the screen. I don't recall ever seeing a mk2 without one, but to be on the safe side, tell them it's heated. There's only one option for heated, so it can't be wrong once established as heated.

As for the film, I wouldn't use it. 1) by the way that "chip" broke, that's not windscreen grade glass. 2) I wouldn't be putting ANY type of film on the front windscreen of any car, and I'd be very surprised if it's MoT legal. and 3) I've been doing automotive glass for ten years - if windscreen film was actually any good, I'd have come across it by now, and/or been asked to fit it. I have neither.

Finally, the most important thing to be sure of with your fitter when he comes, is to make sure her has a set of new clips for the side trims. I don't care how good you think you are, no one saves all the clips. I've saved some, but not all, and in the case of the 2nd Gen IS (and the GS for that matter) there's no point reusing the clips even if you do save them. New clips is the name of the game with these cars! Secondly, make a point to mention the top trim - on the 2nd Gen IS, the top trim is a small flap of rubber fitted to the UNDERSIDE of the top edge of the glass. This "flaps up" against the aperture when the glass is laid in (the same type of thing can be seen on a number of cars, including the 2nd Gen Yaris, the 2nd Gen Prius, and a similar style is used on later Mercs, Audi's, VW's, etc. In most cases, even with a dealer supplied glass, the trim is not fitted to the screen from the factory. It has to be applied by hand at time of fitting. Some fitters don't fit the new trim. I can understand why - 1) it's a PITA to get it on straight. 2) Sometimes laying it in can cause the trim to lift, and not be level when the screen it fitted. And 3) the "new look" for screens lately is "floating glass" - where there is no trim on, around, or over the glass, but instead a small gap (3-5mm) around the edge, giving the effect the glass is floating. Of course, this is NOT the fitters choice to make, as it's NOT their car! It's YOURS! So whilst some people might think "Oh, I don't want to be a nuisance" and I fully understand some people don't like to tell a professional how to do their job (and in most cases I wouldn't suggest you do so, because I'm on the other end of that stick more than you'd imagine, and it's properly annoying!) but it's something I've seen enough on these particular cars (and not just these, but since this is about IS's, then it's pertinent) to warrant making a point of it.