saving my windscreen

one fine morning i parked my butt in the driver's seat of my car only to find myself staring at this loOOOoOoOng line on my windscreen. it was still dark outside so i assumed the it was some stray twig that landed on my car. apparently not. it was a bloOoOody crack. a looOoOoong crack. on my windscreen.

#*$*(#&$@#%(*$()#(*%#

the ugly truth, the length extended the whole length of the driver's view

note to self: before purchasing a car, please do inquire the cost to replace its windscreen if the need ever arises. that is, if you don't intend to purchase insurance to cover it. you know how much does my car model's windscreen cost?
close to 5k. if you ask them why, they will say it is imported. i believe its water repellent characteristics and its built-in rain sensors contribute to the crazy price.

but even if i did purchase a separate coverage for my windscreen, the premium would still be expensive, so no matter what you can only pray nothing happens to your windscreen =D.

never underestimate even a tiny chip on your windscreen, before you know it, an aftershock (read: ugly cracks that resemble tarantula-webs) can happen. i was unlucky for the crack to have originated from a small five sen coin sized star on the edge of the windscreen. the most durable part of the windscreen, according to the technician, would be in the centre, but as the technician says, you can't tell the stone which part of your windscreen you want it to hit, can you? better yet, tell the stone to stay away from your windscreen. bahahah.

anyway. if you google 'repairing windscreen' or some of the sort, a couple of infamous names will pop up, two being Dr. Cermin and Dr. Windscreen. for some reason i chose another specialist to repair my windscreen, namely Glass Mechanic, which i found through Googling. i read that GM would rather advise you to try and fix your windscreen first before replacement (because they believe that the original factory installed windscreen is the best), but only if the damage can still be repaired. the former two would probably have advised me to have my windscreen replaced judging from the length of the crack that seemed to have grown overnight (or many nights, in my case T_T). that being said, GM doesn't do windscreen replacement, only repairing.

the technician that attended to us was really helpful, she took a look at my car windscreen and gave us a lengthy explanation of what options we had, what we could and what we could not do, if we did this what would happen, etc etc. the crack's path of destruction was strategically parked at eye level on the driver's side, so she warned us of an unpretty finish, mainly because my windscreen is water repellent. after all that explanation we decided to give it a go anyway, because i don't have 5k lying around in my closet. i also didn't want the damage to the windscreen to become even worse than it already is.

an hour and a half later (we had breakfast at McD while waiting) we came back expecting the worst but to our surprise, the treated crack looked pretty much decent. in fact, it kinda looked like a scratch more than a crack. the technician advised me not to park under the sun for long periods of time so that the windscreen's condition wouldn't worsen (while awaiting for a more permanent fix... whenever that is, lol). but if the crack should grow in length, she told me to bring back the car to them to have a look.

after being treated. notice the crack/scratch now?

you may or may not be a skeptic, but if you're in a tight money fix and need an alternative fix (think temporary $$$-saving solution), then you could give it a go here:

Glass Mechanic
60, Jalan SS 2/55, 47300 Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia (opposite Pelita Restaurant)

70, Jalan 21/1, Sea Park, 46300 Petaling Jaya, Selangor

Phone: +60 3-7873 7873

Opening Hours:
Monday - Friday: 9:30 am – 6:00 pm
Saturday: 9:00 am – 6:00 pm
Sunday: Closed