So I am driving my 2010 MR Touring with the rain sensing wipers (which suck BTW) today with the wife on the highway and a rock hits my windshield and cracks it. 10 minutes later the crack is about 18 inches long. Long story short I called safelite glass and it is $628 for a rain sensing glass windshield and $303 for non-sensing. What could possibly be the difference in glass? The rain sensing part is built into the rear view mirror piece that gets glued to the windshield. There is no glass coverage in RI so I am SOL on the insurance end.

I have a strong feeling that this is just a way to extract more money out of the consumers by claiming "rain sensing glass." Wouldnt the sensor that "feels" the rain work just the same regardless. Looking for any and all input so I can hopefully save myself $300.

HOLLA!!!

 

I dont remember all the details but I believe its the tint on the glass that is different between the 2. Without the tint the sensor can't function correctly. Also, the Evo glass is thinner than the lancer glass (windshields are the same size).

I bought my car in seattle and had to drive down to Portland and along the way had a trucker kick up a rock and got to watch the crack propagate the whole way home. That was awesome... the base lancer glass is thicker (heavier) but more resilient so if you dont care about the rain sensing glass go with that its the best bang for your buck.

~Nate

 

You are correct.... nothing more than a sensor. If they charge more ask them to explain exactly how the glass is different.

http://www.jdpower.com/autos/article...ensing-Wipers/

 

I know this is right.. But there are people on here that swear that they are the same. When windshield cracked I got the thicker one. It was only like $150 bucks installed too. I would choose the thicker one unless you track your car. The thicker windshield cut down on rode noise and noise from rain on the windshield is ALOT quieter.

As far as the "sensor windshield" question, I have no idea. I would think they would be the same, and the sensor would be the only difference.

 

The reason one windshield is more expensive is because the rain sensor is part of the Windshield. Other than that the two windshields should be the same.

 

Don't you have insurance? Just call the dealership and ask if there is a difference and they'll look up the part numbers. I highly doubt the glass company is lying to you.

 

Safelite gets sued regularly and have been bankrupt at least once.

go local

 

i o know there are two different thickness of windshields for the x. the thicker one is actually gor the lancer models. the thinner one is for use on the evos for weight saving. as far as rain sensing... i have an 08 and i dont have that option for rain sensing wipers. there was a guy on here not sure who but had his wind shield replaced with the thicker one. he said it does sit higher, not as flush but was not a big deal to him since the thincker was cheaper. not sure if this helps but just explaining thin vs thicker, not about sensor. good luck though

 

The glass in the MR with the rain sensing is actually different than the GSR too. The sensor is not part of the glass but on the rear view mirror, however the glass is different because the sensor laser needs a specific refraction index to work properly. So if you use generic glass the system probably won't work (no big loss)

 

Do you see that big *** black box thing in the middle of the windshield on the top behind the rear view mirror? That thing is build ON the glass. You cannot take it off without damaging the glass. When you order a new windshield it comes with that which is the rain sensor thus the price of the windshield

 

Well I just found someone to do it with the rain sensor for $365.....still much better than the original $630 that I got quoted from 2 other places.

 

We have a rain sensor? I thought our wipers were based off vehicle speed.

 

That sounds like an awful lot of money for that type or crack. My local fixed mine for a fraction of what your quote was, but my damage was not to the same extent.

 

ive only had mine for 1400 miles and i already have a chip. =(

 

This is also factual, however the MR's have the ability to turn the wipers on and off completely based upon water hitting the top of the winshield.