Published on Oct 20, 2026
Welcome to another Q&A session where I answer questions from y'all on the internet.
Today's question is:
Jake's view is that a properly installed windshield should last for the life of the vehicle, provided it never sustains new damage. He cites the only meaningful exception as rust, since some vehicles are simply prone to it and corrosion around the glass can undermine an otherwise sound installation. To illustrate the longevity of glass itself, he points to cars from the 1940s and 1950s that still carry their original windshields, precisely because that glass was never struck or replaced. In his framing, glass isn't a typical wear item; what ends a windshield's life is an external event such as a rock strike, an impact, or body rust, rather than the glass wearing out. A correct install, left undamaged, simply endures.
A properly installed windshield should last as long as the car does, as long as it never takes new damage. The only real outlier is rust; some vehicles are just prone to it, and that can shorten the life of an install. But other than that, glass lasts. I've seen vehicles from the forties and fifties that still have the original glass in them. Why? Because it's never been replaced, never been hit, never taken new damage. So the glass itself isn't really a wear item the way people think; if it's installed correctly and nothing strikes it, there's no reason it shouldn't go the distance with the vehicle. The things that end a windshield's life are outside events: a rock, an impact, a collision, or rust working on the body around it. Barring those, a good install simply stays put. And that's really what our warranty is about; we stand behind the install itself and things like leaks or defects, but new impact damage from the road is always going to be outside of that, because there's no way for anybody to warranty against a rock.
