Scratch on the inside of windshield

[thedoc46]

Hi I noticed a scratched on the inside of my windshield about a foot long and passes over my visual sight. Slight but there. Can feel it with my nail. I have absolutely no idea how it got there, but i can feel its deep enough with my nail that its a scratch. I'm wondering if when i was cleaning in inside glass, and the titanium buckle of my new Apple Watch Ultra2, caught it ? I have no idea. Either way its there and needs to be addressed.

Is there a way to polish it out ? Do windshields have any special coating that stop them from shattering if you fly into one during an accident? is there anything on there that could perhaps prevent polishing.

I have all the Meguiars compound and polishing pads and their machine the MT300.. i wonder if that'll suffice or if i need to get something more aggressive. The car is low mileage and new ! only bought in Jan24. As you can imagine being part of this forum does tend to lean towards people that are perfectionists when it comes to their cars. Me being one of them.

I'd rather not replace the entire windshield and be at the mercy of the installer, who'll probably use a non oem, and then who knows, i'll be hearing a whistling while driving down the road.

Any advice appreciated.

 

[MisterSnoop]

Glass is pretty hard in comparison to paint and takes a lot of effort to polish. I'm not sure I would bother trying to polish out a scratch.

 

[chilly]

Glass is pretty hard in comparison to paint and takes a lot of effort to polish. I'm not sure I would bother trying to polish out a scratch.

This is true, not to mention trying to run a polisher keeping upward and outward pressure in an essentially backwards process from polishing on the outside

Windshields don't have a "coating" to keep them from shattering, they are 2 pieces of glass in a sandwich with a plastic inner core, all bonded together with a heat activated adhesive

The plastic core holds on to the small pieces of shattered glass in a wreck

That plastic core is also the reason you have to be extremely careful polishing glass so you don't work an area too long or too hard and heat it up and compromise the structural integrity of the layers

 

[Setec Astronomy]

Not to go too far off topic--but does anybody remember many years ago that GM briefly was putting an "anti-laceration" layer on the inside of some windshields? It was kind of like PPF, I guess...that didn't last long because it was too easy to screw up. (mentioned here in the "discussion" section--longer ago than I realized https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3217380/ )

Also...wasn't Lexus or somebody putting something on the inside or the outside for anti-fogging? I'm vaguely remembering something from here or Autopia from a long time ago about them having it on the driver's window, too. Maybe it was on the outside.

 

[chilly]

I don't remember the GM thing and I hadn't heard the Lexus anti-fogging either

I just used those terms to search and I am not finding anything, but that could just be my weak a$$ google-fu

I know the new car has a dealer option "diamond coating" something or other that actually does bead and sheet water like crazy, but the main claim to fame is how it's supposed to strengthen the windshield against cracking and breaking...

Righttttttttt



I think all it is, beyond a water repelling treatment, is a thinly disguised windshield replacement insurance ploy

If the windshield cracks or breaks beyond repair they will replace it at no cost, and considering the complexity of the window and all the cameras and sensors that are attached to it the final dollar amount to replace it myself, with our car insurance $1,000 deductible, would be about a wash with what the program cost

I know we are NEVER going to recoup all the money the boss spent on all the dealer options but who knows