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844-963-0813Safelite Auto Glass Review
PROS:
- The auto glass industry leader: trusted by 5,000,000+ drivers each year
- ADAS recalibration experts for modern vehicles with windshield sensors
- Maximum convenience: easy scheduling (including online) & the most locations
CONS:
- It's a big business, not ideal for customers who prefer to shop local
- Doesn't offer aggressive incentives like some smaller shops
Why Trust Our Auto Glass Reviews
Our team of automotive experts has decades of experience providing auto glass services and writing about the automotive industry. We use a transparent methodology to review auto glass companies based on our own custom evaluation factors, and we adhere to strict editorial standards.
What Is Safelite?
Safelite is the largest provider of automotive glass services in the United States. Originally started in 1947 from a Kansas junkyard, Safelite now has more than 850 shop locations and more than 7100 mobile service vehicles nationwide. Safelite services are available to 96% of US drivers in all 50 states.
In addition to auto glass services for the general public, Safelite also offers wholesale auto glass sales and claims management for large insurance companies such as Geico.
What's So Great about Safelite?
Safelite has leveraged its scale and resources to make its auto glass services as convenient as possible for its customers while maintaining consistent quality.
- Scheduling is easy with online scheduling available, or reps available by phone 365 days/year.
- You can choose from the widest variety of service locations, either in 1 of their hundreds of shops or with one of their thousands of mobile service vehicles.
- New technicians go through a 3 month paid training program to help ensure service quality.
- Quality materials include OEE or OEM glass plus proprietary sealant for repairs.
- If you pay for your service through insurance, Safelite has relationships with all major auto insurance providers in the US for the easiest claims process.
- Repairs and replacements are backed by a nationwide warranty covering both parts and labor.
The Bottom Line
Safelite makes fixing your glass easy with the most scheduling options of any US auto glass company. Well-designed processes and good materials help ensure the quality of their services, and a nationwide warranty takes care of any problems afterwards with materials or workmanship.
Safelite is not the cheapest windshield company and they don't offer promos as often as some other shops (or with as much value), but their combination of convenient scheduling, service quality and warranty peace of mind makes them our top choice for a great windshield repair or auto glass replacement.
How We Score Safelite
Safelite is the #1 rated auto glass company according to our team of our auto glass experts.
We rated Safelite a 4.7/5 based on our custom criteria for evaluating windshield and auto glass shops.
Scheduling & Service Locations: Our Score 5/5
One of Safelite's real strengths for customers is the wide range of scheduling and service location options they have.
Easy Scheduling by Phone or Online
Most auto glass companies do scheduling over the phone, but it's common for companies to be closed for at least 1 day per week and major holidays. Safelite has multiple call centers open 365 days a year for easy scheduling or service help over the phone.
In addition to phone scheduling, Safelite also has an easy-to-use online scheduling system you can use to schedule your service 24/7. Online scheduling is uncommon in the auto glass industry, but Safelite makes it easy with a simple, intuitive online system.
Nation's Largest Network of Locations/Mobile Coverage
Safelite gives you more choices for where to have your auto glass service than any other US windshield company. Whether you want to go to one of their offices for your service or you want to have a mobile technician meet you somewhere around town, Safelite has you covered with more than 850 shop locations and more than 7100 mobile service vehicles.
Deals: Our Score 3/5
Some auto glass shops never run promo deals or special offers, and some companies are always running some type of aggressive incentive because that's the main way they are able to get customers. Safelite is right in the middle.
Safelite doesn't rely on specials to bring in customers. They don't always run promo deals, and when they do they tend to be a moderate discount.
What Promos is Safelite Running
As of spring 2024, Safelite is running 2 promo offers:
- $45 off replacement
- $15 off repair
Materials & Type of Glass: Our Score 5/5
OEE & OEM Glass
There are two main types of glass used in replacements:
- OEE glass (the "OEE" stands for original equipment equivalent)
- OEM glass (the "OEM" stands for original equipment manufacturer)
OEE is the most common type of replacement glass. This glass is made to the same specs as the glass that came in your vehicle, but it's made for the aftermarket. This means it won't have the manufacturer branding label on it to match your vehicle (i.e. Honda, Toyota, Ford, BMW, etc.). OEE glass is popular for auto glass replacements because it costs significantly less than OEM glass.
OEM glass is glass made for the original vehicle manufacturer to their specifications. This kind of glass will be an exact duplicate of the glass that came in your vehicle, so it's regarded as higher quality than OEE glass. OEM glass costs a lot more than OEE glass in most cases. A good rule of thumb is to double the price of OEE glass and that will be the range of what OEM glass will cost.
What Does Safelite Do for Glass Type
Safelite gives customers the choice of OEE or OEM glass. They use OEE glass by default since most people choose it for its much lower price. For customers that want to use OEM glass, Safelite can use that for replacements as long as the customer lets them know when scheduling that they want OEM glass to be used.
Resins, Sealants and Adhesives
The quality of materials besides the actual glass used in a glass repair or replacement service have a big impact on the quality, durability and reliability of the service.
For repairs, a special resin is used to inject into the damaged area and fill it up, then the resin is hardened and polished smooth. A higher quality resin will cure faster and stronger than a low quality one, resulting in a repair that can last as long as the rest of the windshield.
For replacements, adhesive sealants are used to secure the glass in place and create a tight seal around it that keeps out wind and water. Good quality sealants will form a tight, consistent seal without leaks, and they will cure quickly so the customer can drive the vehicle away quickly (this is called the safe drive-away time).
What Does Safelite Do for Other Materials
Safelite uses their own proprietary resin for repairs to help ensure quality and consistency.
For replacements, Safelite uses their own TrueSeal® Technology and high quality adhesives and primers so that new glass is properly secured with no leaks and a fast safe drive-away time.
Technician Training & Communication: Our Score 5/5
From a customer's perspective, there are 2 important factors about their auto glass technician:
- that they have the skills and experience to do a good job with the glass service.
- that they are who they say they are.
What Does Safelite Do for Tech Training & Communication
Safelite does a great job on both of these factors.
First, if you provide your email while scheduling your service, they will email you a technician profile with the tech's name, photo and credentials so you can see exactly who will be performing your service.
Second, Safelite has a formal training program for new techs that uses classroom and hands-on training to teach them how to do glass repairs and replacements, recalibrate automotive safety systems and use Safelite's online systems. This training program helps standardize the skillset of techs across the entire Safelite company nationwide.
ADAS Recalibration: Our Score 5/5
For many modern vehicles, after their windshield has been replaced they will need to have their ADAS system recalibrated. ADAS stands for advanced driver assistance system, and it refers to technologies designed to help improve driver safety and convenience like night vision, emergency stop, rain sensors, head-up displays (HUD) and more.
When a new windshield is installed in a vehicle with ADAS, the system will need to be recalibrated. There are 2 different kinds of recalibration: static or dynamic. Some vehicles need static, some need dynamic and some need both. As the names imply, static recalibration is done when the vehicle is stopped and dynamic is done when it is moving.
Problems with Recalibration at Smaller Glass Shops
Many smaller glass shops are unable to do recalibration themselves since it requires special equipment to perform that they either don't have room or budget for. In cases where small shops can take care of ADAS recalibration, many times they outsource it to a 3rd party company so it has to be done at a different time and place than the actual windshield replacement.
How Does Safelite Handle ADAS Recalibration
Windshield recalibration is one of Safelite's primary strengths for their customers: as a large company with lots of resources, Safelite has all the equipment needed to do static or dynamic recalibration. Safelite can take care of whatever type of recalibration your vehicle requires, and it can be done at the time of your replacement service so you don't need to go somewhere else.
Warranty: Our Score 5/5
There are 3 elements that make up a good warranty on auto glass services:
- What it covers
- How long coverage lasts
- Geographical coverage area
A good auto glass warranty will cover issues with both parts and labor, sometimes also called materials and workmanship. Coverage on materials means if there are any defects or issues with the specific materials used in a service, then they will be replaced. Coverage on labor means that if the technician didn't perform part of the service properly (like apply the resin into a repair or the adhesive sealant to hold a new windshield in place) then the work will be redone.
Ideally, an auto glass warranty will provide coverage for the vehicle's lifetime or, at minimum, a significant time period like 3-10 years. Lesser warrantees will limit their coverage to a much shorter period of time, sometimes down to a period of months or even days after the service.
The best geographic coverage on an auto glass warranty will include the entire US (or at least the entire contiguous 48 states). Lesser warranties will limit coverage to a particular state the service is initially performed in, or even a particular metro area in the state.
How Does Safelite's Warranty Stack Up?
Safelite's warranty is another real pro for their customers. All Safelite services including replacements, repairs, recalibration and even wipers come with solid warranties for your peace of mind.
All Safelite warranties are good nationwide, backed by the largest network by far of office locations and mobile service vehicles.
- Warranties on glass replacements cover parts and labor for vehicle lifetime, as long as you notify Safelite within 30 days of the issue that needs to be fixed.
- Warranties on glass repairs cover additional cracking for vehicle lifetime, plus all repairs are guaranteed to pass any state vehicle inspection. Sometimes repairs can't be fixed. In that event, Safelite will credit the repair cost paid towards a full replacement.
- Safelite even warranties their ADAS recalibration services. All recalibrations are guaranteed for 1 year or to the next recalibration event (something like a collision or another windshield replacement that requires recalibration).
- Finally, if you get new wipers from Safelite, they'll come with a 6 month warranty as well. The warranty will cover replacing the wipers if they're defective, or re-installing them if they weren't installed correctly.
Reviews: Our Score 5/5
Customer reviews are an important way to see what your experience would be like as a customer of a company.
While 1 individual review isn't necessarily that helpful, looking at large numbers of reviews and identifying common positive or negative trends can give you pretty accurate info about a company's pros and cons as a customer.
Positive & Negative Trends in Safelite Reviews
Safelite has more reviews by far than any other US auto glass company. With many thousands of reviews across all the major review platforms, some of the more notable trends in the reviews include:
- Pro: easy scheduling. Lots of locations, many mobile service vehicles, online scheduling, phone reps available 365 days/year.
- Pro: recalibration process. Can handle static or dynamic recalibration at time of service.
- Pro: professional experience. Branded vehicles, emails ahead of time with tech photo and credentials.
- Con: not as many/as large of deals or incentives. No free gas/movies/food, deals are limited to amount of $ off service.
- Con: not a local business. Some customers prefer to shop local to support businesses in their area.
Methodology: How We Rate Auto Glass Companies
We divided the windshield replacement process from start to finish into the criteria below. We used those criteria to identify the best windshield providers:
About Us
Pinnacle Auto Glass is a local Arizona auto glass company that offers a full range of auto glass services to customers in Greater Phoenix, AZ.
The Pinnacle team has decades of experience fixing auto glass, and we've helped hundreds of thousands of customers over the years with quality windshield repairs and replacements.
For our website visitors from other states, our team of automotive pros has reviewed the best windshield replacement companies in each state to help our visitors find the best auto glass shop in their area for their needs.