Windscreen scratches

[SEJohnson95]

OK, this on is my "daily driver" (as opposed to anything else I have the occasional access to! ) but I'll probably get away with it.

The windscreen on my car is showing plenty of age-related marks, particularly noticeable are scratches following the arc of the driver's side wiper. Polarised lenses cuts them out during dry weather, but in the rain it's a different problem.

When the wipers pass over the scratches, they either keep missing the water in the grooves or not shifting it all. On a semi-wet screen in light rain, the screen has chance to dry in between wipes and clears completely, but when the rain is harder, the grooves seem to retain the moisture more. You can see them when there's condensation on the windscreen or during heavy rain:











The windscreen and wipers otherwise work well usually, shift water just fine, and the screen has plenty of Rain-X on. Tried removing the Rain-X at one point and seeing if that made any different, which it did not.

Things have improved slightly with a new wiper blade (I only replaced them last year! ) but I was wondering what the options are for polishing glass. I use the autoglym glass polish fairly regularly but I suspect that stuff isn't abrasive enough. I read about the cerium oxide-based polishes, with the caveat that attempting it yourself could lead to making the windscreen into a bit of a lens and distorting the view.

Is this sort of thing possible to rectify, and if so, can anyone recommend any professionals who might be able help (for a reasonable fee!)

[Durango2k]

To do this job properly, I’d suggest you’d insure it, throw a stone at it, then call insurance for help....
(No, not seriously).

Carsten

[christopher storey]

I have never seen marks like that before , and particularly in the third photo down they look both deep and wide . I doubt very much that they can be polished out even with a cerium oxide powder, and if you attempted that the likelihood is that the visual quality would be impaired. A visit to Autoglass or similar for them to look at it is the best I can advise . The car has not been exposed to chemical pollution of a bromine or fluorine nature has it ?

[SEJohnson95]

Not as far as I am aware, Christopher. Certainly over the past 4 or so years that I’ve known about the car, it hasn’t been exposed to those environments. I think I will get the opinion of autoglass or someone similar

It does seem a little strange admittedly. Can’t remember it being a problem last year, but then could it be anything to do with the car being In a city environment relatively more as opposed to countryside of home? Environmental pollutants, etc?

[Jeremy]

I agree...ask a specialist. I bought a DIY scratch removal kit a few years ago to deal with a scratched screen and it didn't make the slightest difference.

[Heuer]

No way of polishing out the scratches and as they are in the vision of the driver you may well fail the next MOT. New windscreen required which should be covered by your insurance. One test is to bang your fist hard (several times) on the inside of the windscreen in the area of the scratches and see if it cracks. Modern cars have bonded windscreen's which are part of the structural integrity and rigidity of the vehicle and those scratches weaken that integrity which could allow road debris, road furniture or a pedestrian into the cabin rather than being deflected.

[288gto]

........ should be covered by your insurance. One test is to bang your fist hard (several times) on the inside of the windscreen in the area of the scratches and see if it cracks.

Probably best not to tell your insurance you did that though

[Heuer]

Valid and legal to test it in that way as a structurally safe windscreen would not crack. In the event of an accident your hand or head could make contact with the screen and if it failed the repercussions would be severe.

[288gto]

Tongue in cheek David, hence the

I had a mental picture of Simon telling a claims handler he had been punching the windscreen to test it

On a serious note Simon, replacement is probably the best option. I’ve tried to little avail with all sorts of compounds to remove scratches.

[SEJohnson95]

Thanks for the responses, gents. I have had a ring round a few places for some quotes for new windscreens + fitting and the quotes weren't half as past as I was dreading them to be.

My car is actually only insured 3rd party fire and theft, so no windscreen cover, although the excess would be most of what I would be paying anyway. Long story, it was not an awful lot more expensive for fully comp, but it also meant that when some git ran into me last year my insurance company couldn't write the car off as they wanted to. The car is more valuable to me as it's a classic case of better the devil you know with used cars. That and between Richard and I, we've got the servicing covered cheaply too

I suspect I will be getting a replacement screen in the coming weeks. Funnily enough, I'd just purchased a little DIY resin kit to deal with a few chips I picked up the other day, but now I've been scrutinising the screen a bit more, I've noticed one or two more. A new screen also gets rid of this issue.

Will keep you all posted!

[SEJohnson95]

Just to bring this one to a close - I had a new windscreen fitted last Thursday. Quite an interesting process to see, and I'm delighted with the results, and excellent value for money. Superb optical quality, no smears or anything of the sort to worry about. Brand new screen had glass polish then Rain-X on to give it a proper seal, and the water doesn't hang around.

A few pictures for those interested:



Old screen out - and what a sod it was to remove as well. The fitter was telling me that it was most likely put in by hand and with a considerable amount of care, correct amount of sealant and so on. Apparently in some well-known German cars, the screens pop out in 5 minutes! I'll take it as further proof that the Japanese built this car well





Really weird seeing an everyday car with a windscreen out





Finished!

It's like having a new car - should probably have done this a while ago.