Decades of Data on Windshield Chips and Cracks in the United States
Fast Facts About Windshield Chip Repair and Crack Repairs
- Windshields are the #1 Auto Insurance Claim in the United States.
- There are 264,000,000 vehicles in the United States.
- Parking Lots Surveys in 13 cities in 12 different states show 14% of windshields in the U.S. have a long crack.
- 79% of these cracks are edge cracks.
- For every million vehicles there are over 300,000 Stone-Breaks (Chips).
How This Impacts Your Windshield Crack Repair Business?
What can you be repairing? You will repair more and have far more opportunity if you have a professional windshield crack repair kit that is capable of repairing long cracks and chips versus a windshield repair kit that only repairs chips. Repair More= Make More.
Here is 20 years of market data from our Windshield Repair and Replacement Business and Parking Lot Surveys from 12 states, so you can see what type of damage and the length of repairs are done the most and the least.
Chip repairs are the most common. They go for about $50 to $65. The average payment from an insurer for a repair is $63. Long Crack repair goes for about $100 -$150. With a long crack the insurance company will pay the $63 and the consumers will gladly pay the rest because you're saving them hundreds of dollars. NOTE - The insurer or Third Party Administrator (TPA) will now tell the insured they have to pay the difference.You should inform your customer of this before you call in the claim if your customer is going to use their insurance coverage.
With crack repair you are competing in the replacement market, which is the consumer market. Cracks will be about 40-50% of your gross repair income. Repairing cracks will open up the ability to market, advertise on the Internet and compete with replacements that are $250+ more on vehicles without ADAS (Advanced Driver Assistance Systems) and $700+ more on the newer vehicles with ADAS without doing replacements yourself. Almost all new vehicles now have ADAS.
ADAS is now a boon for long crack windshield repair because the cost of a replacement has doubled and the consumer may have to go to the car dealer to get the vehicle re-calibrated after it has been replaced by an auto glass shop. That makes two inconveniences for the customer. The safety features involving the windshield have also doubled with ADAS - that means more safety features can be compromised by a replacement.
A crack is repair versus replacement, a chip repair is preventive maintenance. Only 5% of chips actually crack-out into a floater crack.
An auto glass Repair Ratio is the total of all Repairs (chip and cracks) versus Replacements. At Ultra Bond this Ratio is 89%.
The "Real Repair Ratio" is Crack Repairs vs Replacements.The Crack Repair versus Replacement Ratio is 84% -This is the percent of replacements in the United States that can be repaired.
The only condition that renders a crack un-repairable is contamination in the form of dust or dirt. Fortunately this is rare. Contamination in cracks 14-inches and under is less than 3%. This is because the gap of the crack is not wide enough to allow the dirt in. It is also fortunate that when a windshield cracks-out it is cracking to relieve stress and 74% of the time the stress is relieved at less than 15 inches, which is why 74% of cracks are 14-inches and under. This is why the United States Auto Glass Industry's Repair of Laminated Auto Glass Standard (ROLAGS) landed on 14-inches. The Australian and New Zealand Standard is and has been at 14-inches since 1999.
Understanding Windshield Tempering For Professional Windshield Repair
Here are decades of data from Ultra Bond Windshield Repair and Replacement Shop with a comparison to Parking Lot Surveys from 12 states:
| Damage Ratios and Percentages: | Shop Data | Parking Lot Surveys |
|---|---|---|
| Crack Ratio – Edge Crack to Floater Crack | 92% Edge Cracks | 84% Edge Cracks |
| Crack Ratio – Floater Crack to Edge Crack | 4% Floater Cracks | 5% Floater Cracks |
| % of Chips | 66% | 74% |
| % of Cracks | 34% | 26% |
| % of Edge Cracks | 90% | 84% |
| % of Floater Cracks | 10% | 16% |
- 90% of the cracks you will repair will be edge cracks.
- 34% of your repairs will be cracks but 50% of your income.
- 66% will be chips.
- 74% of crack repairs are 14 inches and under.
- Contamination in cracks 14-inches and under is less than 3%.
| Length of Cracks Repaired | Contamination Rate of Cracks by Length |
|---|---|
| 3" - 6" = 10% | 2.5% |
| 7" - 14" = 64% | 2.4% |
| 15" - 18" = 17% | 7% |
| 19" - 24" = 9% | 13% |
For more valuable information you should know see our Lab Tests and Real World Performance showing Ultra Bond Repairs to be stronger than a new windshield.
Note -The Ultra Bond vs. Safelite Lawsuit filed in August 2015 is ongoing as of this date.
Ultra Bond filed a Federal Lanham Act (False Advertising) Complaint over Safelite's False Advertising Campaign - telling insurance companies, insureds, consumers, business owners and everyone they came in contact with that a crack longer than a dollar bill (six-inches) is a replacement. During discovery it was found in Safelite's documents that they know when it comes to repairing cracks, as it was stated in their own documents that - "24-inches is safe and viable". Safelite has also NOT produced any evidence that there is any difference in a six-inch crack versus a 7- inch crack, or 8" or 9" or 10" or 11" or 12" or 13" or 14", etc.
MORE PROFESSIONAL WINDSHIELD CRACK REPAIR BLOGS....
Understanding The Windshield Edge Crack
The Science Of The Edge Crack
90% of cracks in windshields are an edge crack that happens in the weak-spot of the windshield which is the black frit area around the perimeter. Ultra Bond's windshield repair resins and windshield crack repair kits and tools enable windshield repair technicians to restore any windshield to pre-loss strength and stronger than a new windshield with an edge crack. Ultra Bond Founder Richard Campfield invented and patented the methods and resin properties to repair edge cracks.
In order to successfully become a Crack Master, you need to practice. Ultra Bond gives FREE TRAINING and FREE TRAINING MATERIALS where you can get enriched in the science of windshield crack repair.
We recommend you watch all of our windshield crack repair training videos before and after reading this manual and go through our store and learn the name and purpose of each tool and resin in your windshield crack repair kit.
But remember, this is a hands-on business and the only way to become an expert is to do repairs. See our practice at home videos. Read the instruction manual carefully, and be reassured that if you have any questions, Ultra BOND is here to help.
The reason 90% of cracks are edge cracks is because of 3 defects; (a) manufacturing residual stress, (b) Induced Stress at the edge of the windshield from gluing it to the frame of the vehicle and (c) the Black Frit causes thermal variance. As with any adhesive application you must understand the stresses you are dealing with in order to obtain a proper bond.
Residual or manufacturing stress is created during the molding and annealing process and causes this area of the windshield to fracture 2.5 times easier than the rest or interior of the windshield. This defect is technically called the "Tension Bulge", it's nicknamed is the "Weak-Spot".
Induced or installation stress is created from gluing the windshield to the vehicle. This stress causes a fracture in the weak spot to crack almost immediately. It is cracking to relieve this installation stress and it will go 8-12 inches. Your repair resin must withstand this stress.
You can feel this stress by knocking with your knuckles at the edge of your windshield and go toward the middle. This stress goes out about four inches from the edge. Click Here for Technical Windshield Facts You Should Know.
Exploring The Dos and Don'ts of Opening a Windshield Repair Business Part 1...
Date: Sept 25, 2017
Author: Richard Ultra Bond
Category: Windshield Repair Business Opportunity
Opening a windshield repair service can be a very profitable endeavor -- that is, if you conduct business properly and prioritize customer satisfaction. But with 253 million cars on the road, the windshield repair industry is certainly a growing market. And we should know -- as the makers of some of the most in-demand windshield repair kits used today....
How Patent Trolls and Insurers Tried To Kill Windshield....
Date: Sept 17, 2017
Author: Richard Ultra Bond
Category: Ultra Bond Legal News
Large auto glass companies, glass manufacturers, and PVB manufacturers formed a committee through the National Glass Association in 1994 attempting to attack the safety of crack repair and to write a new standard to eliminate all professional and DIY windshield crack repair...
Date: Mar 21, 2017
Author: Richard Ultra Bond
Category: Ultra Bond Legal News
This action seeks damages and additional relief against Safelite under Section 43(a)(1)(B) of the Lanham Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1125(a)(1)(B), which prohibits, inter alia, any “false or misleading description of fact, or false or misleading representation of fact, which . . . in commercial advertising or promotion, misrepresents the nature characteristics, [or] qualities . . . of . . . goods, services, or commercial activities.”
