farmerjones

I live in a rural area with gravel roads, and harsh winters provide lots of sand/gravel to be kicked up on the highways. Glass replacement is very common in rural areas, much more so than an urban area.

Sure, you can have $0 deductible on comprehensive....it causes you policy cost to increase (notable in many cases). A quick analysis of the cost/benefit ratio of $0 deductible versus $500 shows most policy owners the $0 is not wise financial decision over the long run. Zero deductible policies are huge profit generators for insurance companies.

I simply was offering some insight from experience. I've seen a single glass claim with someone that has other recent claims push their policy price up....10x the cost of the windshield replacement. They would have been money ahead to pay for it out of pocket. This is a common scenario. Just food for thought. It won't be applicable to all readers here for sure.

Manual_Trans

Since you have a lease, you might ask Audi Financial whether replacing factory glass with a third-party could result in charges at the end of the lease (if you intend to return the car).

Badger56

Lifeski

patmurphey

Zero deductible comprehensive on my current policy $74 per year on my new Q5 and $42 per year on my 2007 Passat wagon. Deer and windshields are the hazards here in NW NJ. I'll stick to zero deductible and file claims as I have before. $500 is too much to have to pay with my windshield and deer experiences. To each his own.

farmerjones

Your rates are not "normal" or representative of many parts of the country. Where I live 1-7 people will hit a deer annually. I prefaced every comment that you should check your own insurance, because it varies dramatically, along with policies and practices. Oklahoma residents don't have insurance similar to New York residents for example. For many moving to a $500 deductible from $0 could cut their rate in half.

patmurphey

OK, Sussex County in NW New Jersey is deer country. Cars are the apex predator with very few hunters out there. There were 7 of them in my in town little back yard a few weeks ago. I have to stop for them often enough on my country road commute. I''ll stick to zero deductible.

maximq7

Ok - noticed a huge 8 inch diagonal crack on my windshield right over where my rear view mirror is while driving to go get a haircut yesterday evening. no idea what caused it since I didn't have any impacts of any sort and didn't hear any audible cracking. Now here's where the story gets long and strange.

I've got a 2018 Audi SQ5 Premium Plus with NO lane departure and NO Heads Up Display.

First up - Caliber Collison: I call Caliber Collision here in Charlotte and they indicate that they actually contract out the windshield replacement to a Safelite or Abra.

Next up - Abra: I call up Abra and they indicate that they have an OEM version (~$630 USD)and non-OEM version (~$518 USD) of the glass if I choose not to recalibrate (which I must intentionally waive). According to Abra's system when I give them my VIN, their system indicates that I require the calibration. This does not compute so I call up Audi of Northlake next to verify why I would require recalibration based upon my VIN.

Audi of Northlake: The service advisor indicates that I do not require the calibration since I have neither the HUD or Lane Departure system. Hmmm...can't tell if I'm just getting fleeced on windshield pricing.

Next up Safelite: I then go online to get a quote from Safelite and there are two questions that appear on their system: 1. Do you have lane departure warning/heads up display (Y/N), and 2. Do you have Audi Connect. If you answer Yes to any of these the Safelite system indicates that you require a recalibration. At this point I'm not sure whom to believe.

Audi of North America: I call up Audi of North America to see if they know and they indicate that they default these kinds of tactical question with local dealerships. No help here.

GMP Performance: I call up GMP Performance to see if they can provide any additional guidance. They indicate that they outsource windshield repairs to either Safelite or Binswanger Glass. On to Binswanger then.

Binswanger Glass: Anne from Binswanger Glass of Charlotte was very nice and indicated that for my vehicle, according to their system, also required the recalibration. After explaining the conflicting message from my dealership she promised to check further before providing me a quote on both OEM glass and non OEM glass replacement options. A short while later we spoke and Anne indicated that the service techs at Audi of Northlake indicated that I DO require the recalibration, and as such, a non-OEM glass is highly discouraged since it may affect whatever calibration is required. At this point, I don't know who to believe. So out of desperation I decide to reach out to Audi of Greenville, SC where I bought my SQ5.

Audi of Greenville SC: Brandy Bishop was my sales rep at Audi of Greenville so I gave her a ring and explained my situation. After confirming for me without a doubt that I do not have Lane Departure nor HUD (as confirmed on my original door sticker), and exploring whether Lane Departure was classified incorrectly on the various glass shop systems as possibly referencing the blind spot assistance sensors (one of the other sales reps who was an engineer in a prior career) confirmed that the blind spot sensors utilize rear bumper sensors and no cameras/sensors from the windshield.

We finally identified the culprit after Brandy checked with the service department manager to see what they do when the perform the recalibration and it was then that the service manager confirmed that all new Q5 body styles have a radar for the Audi PreSense safety collision radar (which should be viewable) in a housing behind the rear view mirror. Since Audi PreSense is used to detect a potential collision and force hard braking this is the primary reason as to why the recalibration is necessary.

So now that I know that recalibration is necessary, and non-OEM glass is highly discouraged in order to not affect these safety systems,my quotes are now the following:

Abra:$1385.97 USD:
Breakdown: $300 for Recalibration, $800 for OEM windshield, $75 Flat Rate Labor, $45 for Adhesive, $78.33 Sensor Pad, $87.64 Tax

Safelite: $1329.87 USD
Breakdown: $300 for Recalibration, $1029.99 Parts and Labor, $45 for Adhesive, $9.99 Disposal, $89.89 Tax, (-$100) Promo Code: Note: Since I didn't try and immediately proceed with the service I was sent a discount code to finish the estimate the very next day with a discount code for $100 off (Promo Code = Rmrecal).

Binswanger: $1367.09 USD
Breakdown: $280 ADAS Recalibration, $780 OEM windshield, $80 Labor, $12 Adhesive, $78.33 Rain Sensor Pad, $68.68 Camera Pad, $68.08.

My insurance policy through Progressive does NOT cover windshield replacement and they confirmed that this would count as a claim against my policy. Since I have a $500 deductible for comprehensive and Progressive confirmed for my policy that if your claim exceeds $1k (regardless of deductible) it will show up on your insurance report. Progressive was unable to tell me how much my premium would change if I were to file a claim nor how long it would change for. Finally, Progressive does NOT offer windshield insurance/0$ replacement in NC (it's just not an allowable option in this state for Progressive). Sounds like I'm having to take the hit and pay out of pocket.

Hopefully this lengthy thread helps someone else out there and minimizes all the phone calls/emails I had to field to get to the bottom of this.

Badger56

I had our 2018 Q5 Prestige windshield replaced by Gerber, covered by USAA minus the deductible. Told I had to go to the dealer for the calibration, which I think was quoted around $700. Went to the Tacoma dealer service department to schedule, and they asked if all the bells and whistles were working without error messages etc.

Yes, I said, and they said don’t bother with the calibration. It’s been quite awhile now, many months of trouble-free operation. YMMV

Mister Bally

Insurance COmpaNies are your friend, until something goes wrong.

Michigan, specifically Wayne COuNty, has some of the highest insurance premiums in the United States.