Three things decide it.
Size, location, and depth — in that order.
A chip that fails any one of these needs a new windshield. Send us a photo with your quote and we will tell you which it is before a technician is ever dispatched, so you are not paying for a visit to find out.
Size — Smaller than a nickel
Measure the whole damaged area, cracks included — not just the point of impact. Past a nickel, the resin cannot restore the structure and replacement is the safe call.
Location — Outside the driver’s view
A repair always leaves a faint blemish. Inside the Driver’s Primary Viewing Area that blemish becomes a distraction you look through every day, so we replace instead.
Depth — Outer layer only
A windshield is two sheets of glass around a plastic interlayer. If the damage has reached that interlayer or gone all the way through, no repair can bond it back together.
What a repair actually looks like
UV-curing resin is injected into the break and bonded to the interlayer, restoring the structural integrity of the glass. It is not cosmetic surgery — a faint mark stays where the impact was. That is a successful repair, not a failed one.
If it repairs
Quick, mobile, and far cheaper than glass. Your technician comes to the car, and you keep the factory seal — which is always better than any replacement, however well installed.
Repairs are not guaranteed: pressure and heat during the process can occasionally spread a break. We will tell you the odds before we start.
If it replaces
Cracks longer than a credit card, damage through the glass, or anything in your line of sight. We match the new glass to your VIN so the sensors and cameras behind it are the right ones.
Covered by our nationwide limited warranty for as long as you own the vehicle.
Not sure which one you have?
Send a photo with your quote — a house or car key next to the chip gives us the scale we need. You will have a recommendation and a price without a phone call.
Get my quoteCalifornia holds windshield work to Accepted Trade Standards under 16 CCR §3365.1, enforced by the Bureau of Automotive Repair, and that is the floor we work to. We do not repair chips exceeding the diameter of a nickel, because past that point a repair cannot reliably restore the windshield's structural integrity — and the windshield is a structural part of the vehicle.