Xanadu350

I live in Florida, so we have no snow, ice or salt on roads to deal with. I bought my 98 SC400 locally in Florida but the original owner of the car lived in New Jersey & kept it there for the first 3 years of it's life.

My question is, do Northern cars have chips on the windshield from rock salt that sprays up into the windshield on the highways? On my front windshield there are VERY tiny little chips in the glass but it is all over the glass not just in 1 area. I only really notice it when the Florida sun is shining right into the windshield.

It makes the windhield appear to look dirty but it is really the many many micro chips all over. Is this common. I really don't want to replace the windshield.

Is there a product that can help? I saw some stuff from Griots Garage catalog called Glass Polish & Fine Glass Polish. Will something like this help at all or is it a waste of money. Also Zaino carries a Glass Polish. Don't want to waste me money if it won't help at all.

I can live with this problem but wanted to know if it was common up north for cars that deal with snow. There are soo many all over the windshield that are so tiny that I assumed it has to be from snow & rock salt on the roads blowing up into the windshield.

I have no large chips so nothing is cracking at all, there just very very fine chips.

Thanks

MadEmperor

Find out if your insurance company has 0 deductible for glass. Many will fix it even if it has small chips, if not just put a crack in it to expidite the process.

Btw, I'm in NY... I never get that.

dean s

I'm from Canada and have lived in some pretty far north locations but have never seen what your discibing could be from sand but like I say I've never seen it up here! how about the pait is it pitted as well? check with a glass shop they might be able to pollish it out.. or do as the previous post suggested

Xanadu350

Well I've Zaino'ed my car 3 times & the paint is not pitted at all, there may be a few pits up in the very front lower bumper area but that is normal road wear. So then I guess it can't be from the car living in the snow & stuff. Then this car must have been behind a gravel truck or something for a period of time or something blew on this windshield.

There not chips, sorta like pits so small you couldn't patch it, It doesn't bother me enough to replace the windshield just thought that some type of polish might help but I doubt it.

jeremyp111

If it was only in NJ for 3 years then you've got nothing to worry about. Now if it had been up there for the past ten, then that's another story. Mine's just the opposite as it's been in FL it's entire life an now it's a New England car with absolutely the cleanest front bumper and windshield I've ever seen for a 150k

J

dean s

like I said man just run it by some auto glass shop on the way to the bar see what they say ,maybe for a small fee they can cut pollish those little buggers right out of there ! hey can't hurt to see what they say.and they might be able to give you some insight as to what caused it ......
just a thought-Dean S

BCSC300

From searching my 92' sc300 history, this car never left ownership in Massachusetts. When i first bought the car i did notice i few chips and very small pucks. After a talk with the prior owner, he told me his wife had the habit of sticking behind salt trucks in the winter and that could very well be the cause for the chips/pucks. My insurance was pretty good about replacing it after i complained about visiblity.

Lexiss_sc430

iTrader: (2)

You can go pick up some steel wool from any hardware shop and use as if it were a paper towel on your windshield, get every corner of the glass and 9 outta 10 those chips you see are road debris and sap. Give it a try the steel wool will run you only a few bucks at the most, I thought I had the same problem as you and after 2 cleanings with the steel wool it looked as good as new. Oh yea, just make sure it’s the softer steel wool and not the roughest one.

Tommy

Xanadu350

steel wool? Would that be safe? don't want to put any scratches on it. I ran my fingernail across the windshield & can almost feel the microscopic indention into the windshield, hardly visible to the naked eye but can feel it with my fingernail. From the inside of the car looking out, seems like the windshield is dirty but it's not.

Might try this if others feel that it won't scratch up the windshield.

Technics

Xanadu - my car has the same problem, it makes the windshield look there's tiny drips of water on it but you can only see them when the sun shines directly in. My car is originally from Ohio and I'm not sure how much snow they have there but I have feeling the windshield is like this because the previous owner liked to follow trucks a little too closely. I have paint chips near my windshield wipers on the hood!!