Yeah, I agree. I know that I could get a cheaper one off the shelf, but it's an insurance claim. Since I have full glass coverage with my policy, it won't cost me a dime out of my pocket. I just ordered the new one from Charlie at ECS. It cost $450.00 plus $220.00 shipping to Minneapolis. It'll take a long time to arrive (sometime after Christmas according to Charlie), but I will be putting the car away for the winter soon so I'm not too worried about it. BTW, the current date coded broken windshield in my car also came from ECS and cost $315.00 back in 2020. Thanks for the compliment on my Duster. I'm down to one collector car now, so I want it to be right and don't mind going the extra mile to get the correct windshield in it. All the mobile glass places here in Minneapolis could have installed a new generic windshield within a day or two, but I gotta look at this thing in my garage every day and it would just bug the heck out of me to see generic glass in my Duster. All of the remaining glass in the car is factory original, so now my new windshield will match. And yes, you're correct - it shows what a sick person I am to go to all this trouble over a dumb windshield!ECS is probably going to be your best bet. I'd say it's almost to the time in Minnesnowda that your Duster will be put away for the winter anyway. If the windshield is just cracked, and not plum busted and falling into the car, just drive it until the snow flies. Dave Walden (R.I.P) that founded ECS was one of the most meticulous, detail driven people that has ever been in this hobby, so I have no doubts that the glass will be fine. You have done an outstanding job of detailing your Duster, so choosing correctly date coded glass is a no brainer.
JD - sounds like a bad run of luck in the windshield department for you. I'm glad it wasn't any worse and whatever hit you didn't penetrate into the car. I've replaced a lot of windshields over the years, which is why I always opt for full glass coverage on all my cars. I think it has paid off many times over. Since we've been talking about winter approaching, here's a shot of Dusty in the winter a few years back. Hope that makes you feel cooler down in SC. Thanks again and have a great fall!Nope....you're not a sick person at all. The hard work you have put in shows. When I look at a car like yours that is detailed to the Nth degree, I can tell all the work that it took to get it there, because I've done it myself. You did all of that yourself and were good enough to document it and bring us along for the ride.
I'm 66 and have gone my whole life without getting a busted windshield until the last 2 years. My wife and I do a lot of driving back and forth between Candler, NC and Myrtle Beach, SC with the majority of it on the interstate. First windshield to get busted was in my 2004 Dodge 2500 Quad cab that I bought new in the fall of 2003. A rock from out of nowhere came from across the median and BLAMMO! About a month later, my wife's Saturn Vue got the same thing. We got them both replaced by a good glass shop that is local. About a month ago, we were on our way home from the beach, my wife's Saturn got it again. I was in the left lane on the interstate and saw the rock coming directly at my face, and even though it wasn't....it looked as big as a cinder block! I swerved as far to the left as I could get, but the rock still hit the windshield in the lower right corner and busted it. I'm waiting until the first of the year to get it replaced so I don't have to buy a new parking sticker to get in the campground at the beach where our little tin condo is.....lol.
