Jay337

Hi,
the windshield of my 2018 SQ5 is cracked, It needs to be replaced (tried to get it repaired)

Should I go to dealer or independent shop?
It's a lease btw.

patmurphey

If caused by road damage, contact your insurance company and repair under your comprehensive coverage. Insurance companies have varied policies on OEM parts. You might have to fight with them based on the age of your car. If it was spontaneous from a flaw, go to your dealer for warrantee coverage.

C-Los

Agreed. If it was from road debris that got kicked up, call your insurance. I just had to do that on my previous vehicle. State Farm was quick and they even have a dedicated department for windshields. LOL

Gfunk720

I prefer having dealers do glass replacement, and I would request OEM parts only from your insurance company.

I've had so many bad experiences with companies like SafeLite, and I'd rather have someone that knows the vehicle that they are working on work on my car. On one of my old cars they were swapping out door glass, and managed to break the window switch and strip the bolt for the motor. Every piece of glass I've had replaced at the dealership has gone very smoothly.

farmerjones

99% of dealerships do NOT replace glass themselves, they call one of the exact same companies you have access to and have it replaced. So whats the point in paying a huge profit markup at the dealership to have that done? Ask around, you can probably uncover the exact company that your local Audi store uses and go visit them directly. Make sure you understand your how your insurance company treats a glass claim...sometimes is just better to pay out of pocket and avoid the "strike" of a claim on your policy (in some cases).

patmurphey

I've never heard of a comprehensive claim affecting premiums. I've had many including windshields and 3 expensive deer strikes - State Farm for over 52 years. The claims are not considered your "fault".

farmerjones

I was licensed to work with auto insurance in 13 different states for a while. I prefaced that you need to check with YOUR insurance, because it does vary a lot. There is a BIG difference between "at fault" and a "risk indicator" claims, but don't be fooled if you don't think companies track EVERY claim that you make. Sometimes you policy is automatically "reconsidered" after X number of claims, regardless of if you were at fault or not (and regardless of the claim payout). A glass replacement could potentially count as one of these claims.

Too many "not a fault" claims costs can cause a company to reevaluate your "risk factor", which can potential lead to a rate increase. Another specific example is I have seen State Farm revoke "road side assistance/towing" from a policy because it was used so frequently by an insurer. Even calling to report and incident and ultimately not filing a claim can be recorded on your policy as a "risk factor occurrence" by some companies, potentially affecting your rate. Personally, unless my windshield was ultra expensive/special (like a Range Rover heated windscreen), I would never risk a measly glass claim and pay out of my own pocket every time.

Just some insight from someone that worked in the industry for a while. Every insurance company (and state laws) vary dramatically, so I was just offering the advice to double-check how a glass claim potentially could affect your insurance.

Jay337

Thanks all for your answers!
That clarify my questions.
Really appreciated!

katzjamr

Farmer Jones I agree with everything you said about the insurance companies and frequency of claims, the same goes for homeowners as well. However I have also had terrible luck and service from Safelite glass replacement. On my Lexus they broke the locking mechanism so that door does not lock with all the others during replacement. Another time it took them 4 hours in the shop to replace one door glass because 'the technician was in a bad mood'. Seriously, I would never go back there again.

patmurphey

Geez! Why by comprehensive insurance? How often do you have damaged windshield claims?

BTW, I never have a deductible on comprehensive - it's cheap insurance.