NOT ALL WINDSHIELDS ARE CREATED EQUALLY

Is a windshield a windshield? That's what consumers think. In this windshield crack repair journal, we will cover the misconceptions about windshields, their quality, and relation to price. You will see how the windshield industry more honest about price and quality than compared to common vendors in the lives of many Americans.

These days you can find out about any products performance and reviews except for windshields. Consumers and auto glass businesses have no idea about the quality of the windshields they buy. This affects the cash market, the price of repairing a windshield and of course the insurance industry and NAGS get to price fix the industry.

We all get that phone call everyday from the consumers saying, “ I need a new windshield”. My reply to them is, “what kind of windshield would you like?” and the call goes silent.

I have a son who has been blind since the age of six from retinoblastoma. He is now twenty-four and on his own. The word blind for me is a painful word but I could not think of any better word to describe the way consumers, and we in the auto glass business, have to buy windshields.

When my family goes out to a restaurant either my wife or I read the menu for my son so he can make his buying decision. Consumers want and deserve information about the food and products they buy including those of us that are reselling safety products to consumers in our businesses. Consumer Reports is one non-profit that consumers can turn to get non-bias feedback on products so they do not have to buy blind, such as cars, tires, smart phones, vacuum cleaners, ovens, TVs and computers. The internet now has feedback and ratings on just about everything these days, except for windshields. Most people spend more time looking at their windshield everyday then they do looking at their spouse and kids. You would think there would be more information out there on such an important safety devise.

I have personally been involved in fracture testing windshield brands in a lab and in surveys but I know of no one else who has. None of them had identical scores. There are differences. Many of you repairers and installers know it too from your experience, not from readily available information on the brands. An Ultra Bond customer of mine that does repairs and replacements was approached by a windshield manufacturer sales representative. My customer told that sales rep that he would never put that brand of windshield in HIS customer’s car. The sales rep’s reply to him was that it was smart business to install this brand, it was cheap to buy and he would get more business because he would replace it more often. That sales rep definitely knows his product.

Let’s compare the choices, prices and information a buyer gets when they walk into McDonald’s for a hamburger versus what we in the auto glass business get when we buy a safety devise/windshield, (not including the nutritional information you can obtain on McDonald's website). Have you ever seen a TV commercial by a windshield manufacturer toting why their windshield is better than the others? I have not. What do you think would be the most important feature to the consumer?

Closer Look at Consumer Buying Behavior, McDonalds Example