firstly, before its necessary to spend money for windscreen replacement check whether its covered under ur insurance policy. if its covered, then juz find any PIAM workshops to replace them and make sure the bill doesn't exceed the sum insured. if u think, going to franchise after sales service will do a proper job, then go for it. provided the total cost is lower than sum covered.
ask ur insurance provider whether is it necessary to lodge police report or not. some insurance do not require them, photos taken before and after replacement will do sufficiently. a simple report may do...like this..
pada 'date' lebih kurang jam 1530 saya memandu dari rumah ke stesen minyak di blah bla bla dan saya memandu di belakang sebuah lori. tiba-tiba saya sedari cermin hadapan saya retak, dipercayai terkena serpihan batu yang terpelanting dari tayar lori. saya tidak cedera. tujuan repot adalah untuk tuntutan insurans. jumlah kerosakan tidak pasti.
juz an example.
if windscreen is not covered, prepare to korek ur wallet thinner. cars that has local made windscreen from MSG (malaysian sheet glass) doen't cost u a bomb to replace. the more cars on the road, the cheaper they will be.
there are varieties of windscreen glasses like tempered and laminated. normal windscreen glasses like the one used on toyota hilux LN106 tend to break into various sizes and this may be harmful. proton sagas use tempered glass which will break into thousand of small pieces to prevent serious injury especially face and eyes.
on the other hand, laminated are being used widely including the latest kancil and iswara since 1994. laminated are actually 2 glasses bonded together. the effect is that they are stronger and hold together upon an impact but can get easily cracked. the crack may also grow longer as u drive into a pothole. this is normal.
tempered glass for saga/iswara cost around RM80. plus workmanship and sealant gum, it wud come up to a total of rm120. laminated will cost around rm180-250 to replace depending on workshop.
other than national cars, try to shop around if u have the time and get the best quotation. make sure they provide guarantee against poor workmanship. otherwise come rain or after a quick wash, there will be water dripping in onto the dashboard.
i remeber during my time working at toyota, an owner of this TCR11 estima came over to change his crakced windscreen. to my surprise and him too, the parts dept informed that the glass alone (imported from japan) cost RM11,000++!!
that doesn't include labour charges, sealant gum and windscreen moulding which may be necessary if not properly removed (kiaw).
