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Getting My Car Fixed On the Go


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Getting My Car Fixed On the Go

After a beer bottle careened into my car on the freeway, I knew it was going to be a long, frustrating day. In addition to having a packed schedule, I also had a tight budget at the time, which complicated things. I didn't know what I was going to do or how I was going to fix my car. After I arrived at the office and started talking with my coworkers about the issue, they suggested looking into mobile windshield repair. I was skeptical, but I called anyway. It was incredible how quickly a team of experts arrived, diagnosed my windshield's problems, and found a solution. Check out my blog for more information about this helpful service.

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Protecting Your Windshield While You Wait For Chip Repair

The longer you leave a chip in your windshield alone, the more difficult it will be to repair. But, unfortunately, it's not always possible to get a chip repaired immediately. If you've got a windshield chip and it's going to be a few days before the repair company can come to fix it, there are a few things that you can do to help keep it from getting worse. By protecting the chip, you make it more likely that it can be repaired and less likely that your entire windshield will need to be replaced.

Avoid Temperature Extremes

One thing that can encourage windshield chips to spread into big cracks is shifts in temperature. In hot summers, this can come from exposing your car to long periods in the sun; in the winter, the cold temperatures outdoors have the same effect. Each of these will cause a temperature shift when you actually drive the car and turn on the air conditioner or heater.

Since you can't control the weather, your best option is to park in a garage if you can. While parking under a tree can help keep your windshield from heating up, only do this if you've protected your windshield chip with tape. Otherwise, you may get debris and pollen infiltrating the chip and making it difficult to repair.

Don't Wash Your Car

If dirt gets into a windshield chip, it can make it worse. Not only can the friction of dirt cause a chip to spread, but dirty chips are more difficult to repair. Unfortunately, washing your car or windshield doesn't help; like dirt, water that gets into the chip can also cause further damage. So try to avoid washing your car until the windshield chip is fixed. And if possible, minimize the amount of driving you do in rainy or snowy conditions.

Place Clear Tape Over Chip

While it's not very helpful to try to wash the dirt out of a chip, you can help prevent dirt (and water) from getting inside the chip in the first place. Clear scotch tape, placed over a chip, can temporarily protect it from further damage. Place the tape on the outside of the windshield (where the actual chip is), and make your piece of tape just big enough to cover the entire chip.

One exception to this is if the chip is right in front of you when driving. Adding even clear tape to this can make the area even more distracting. And since many chips in this area are fixed by replacement instead of repair, it's less necessary to protect the chip from damage; your repair company will be able to tell you whether your chip can be repaired or not.