Windshield Replacement in Monroe, NC and Union County

Auto Glass Company Charlotte is a website of Impex Auto Glass, a North Carolina auto glass company based at 5641 David Cox Rd, Charlotte, with a second shop in Greensboro. In Monroe and the rest of Union County the service is mobile: the technician brings the glass to wherever the vehicle is parked.

Monroe and the roads around it

The Monroe Expressway is an 18.7-mile toll road, also signed as US 74 Bypass, run by the North Carolina Turnpike Authority with open road tolling along its whole length. It opened in November 2018 and runs from US 74 in Stallings to US 74 near Marshville, carrying through traffic around the city. US 74 itself still carries local traffic through Monroe, while US 601 crosses north to south and NC 75, NC 200 and NC 207 fan out toward the rest of the county.

Around Monroe sit the towns that make up most of Union County: Indian Trail, about ten miles south-east of Charlotte; Stallings next to Matthews; Waxhaw to the south-west, where NC 16 (Providence Road) and NC 75 bring new housing; and Wingate, Marshville, Unionville, Fairview, Mineral Springs, Weddington, Wesley Chapel and Marvin. Impex covers all of them as mobile visits.

Repair first, if the glass allows

Before you replace a windshield in Monroe, find out whether it can be repaired. Impex says a repair may be possible when the damage is small, shallow and away from the edges of the glass. ROLAGS, the windshield repair standard, treats stone breaks up to two inches across and single line cracks up to 14 inches as repairable, while a common rule of thumb says damage smaller than a dollar bill is likely repairable and a chip smaller than a quarter usually is. Those are rules of thumb; a technician decides at the car.

Speed matters. A chip picked up on the Expressway on Monday can be a crack by Friday after a cold morning, a hot afternoon and a few potholes on a county road. Send a photo with the quote form as soon as it happens, and cover a fresh chip with clear tape to keep out dirt and water until it is looked at.

When replacement is the right call

• A crack that reaches the edge of the glass, where the windshield is bonded to the car
• Damage directly in front of the driver, where even a good repair can leave a mark in your view
• Several chips or cracks, or a crack that keeps growing
• Damage where the forward camera looks through the windshield

A windshield is not just a window. The Auto Glass Safety Council calls it part of the vehicle’s passenger restraint system, which must be installed properly for airbags to deploy safely, and says it aids in occupant retention. That is why the bond and the drive-away time matter as much as the glass.

How a mobile visit works in Union County

Impex orders the windshield by VIN-based verification, so the glass that arrives is the one made for your vehicle, with the right camera bracket and sensors. On the day, the technician removes the wipers and trim, cuts out the old windshield, prepares the frame, sets the new glass in fresh urethane and puts everything back. Impex puts the work at about one hour, plus a short curing period, and says most cars are back on the road within two hours.

Out in the county, a few details make the visit go smoothly. Give the full address and any gate code, and say where on the property the car will be. A level, firm spot is better than a soft grass verge. The Auto Glass Safety Council notes that drive-away time depends on the adhesive and the weather at the time of the job, so on a wet or very humid day a garage, barn or carport helps. If the car is a work truck parked at a job site, say so and the visit can be arranged there.

Calibration after the new windshield

Many cars now carry a camera behind the mirror for lane keeping, collision braking and adaptive cruise control, and I-CAR lists removing the windshield as an event that may require that camera to be aimed again. Impex performs ADAS calibration on site when your vehicle requires it, and says most calibrations take between 30 minutes and 2 hours. Some calibrations need a drive at a steady speed on well-marked road, and the long, straight Expressway is the kind of road that helps. For the details, see ADAS calibration in Charlotte; for the radar in the front bumper, see ADAS radar calibration.

Stones, trucks and the law

Union County’s roads carry gravel, stone and farm loads. North Carolina’s G.S. 20-116(g) requires every vehicle on a highway to be loaded so that nothing falls, blows or leaks off it, and trucks over 7,500 pounds gross vehicle weight carrying rock, gravel or stone must keep the load six inches below the walls and securely covered by a tarp or other suitable covering. The law exists because loose stone is a road hazard. It does not stop stones thrown from tires and tailgates, and claiming against a truck’s owner means proving which truck it was, so most drivers use their own comprehensive coverage.

Insurance near the state line

Union County borders South Carolina, and drivers here sometimes hear that glass is covered with no deductible. That is a South Carolina rule: under S.C. Code 38-77-280(B), an automobile physical damage deductible does not apply to automobile safety glass. North Carolina has no such law. In North Carolina, the Department of Insurance lists breakage of glass under comprehensive coverage, paid less any deductible, so unless your policy includes full glass coverage, your deductible applies. Check your own policy.

• You choose the company. G.S. 58-3-180 lets you select who repairs your vehicle, and the insurer pays the same amount either way.
• No points for glass. A comprehensive glass claim is not an at-fault accident, so it adds no SDIP points; insurers may still look at how often you file claims.
• Impex can handle it. Impex works with all major insurance providers and can deal with the claim for you.

After the job

Impex’s advice for a new windshield is to avoid washing the car and slamming the doors for 24 hours. Leave the car where it is until the technician says it can be driven, and keep an eye on the driver assistance features for the first few trips. If anything looks wrong, call.

Nearby

For Matthews, Mint Hill and Stallings, see windshield replacement in Matthews, NC. Farms, builders and service firms in Union County running several vehicles can read about fleet auto glass in Charlotte.

Questions drivers ask