What To Do When Your Wiper Arm Scrapes Your Windshield

When unprotected parts of your windshield's wiper arm come in contact with your auto glass, it can be a bad situation leading to scrapes or cracks. Here's what to do and how to assess the damage. 

Assess the Depth of the Crack

The first thing that you may want to do is get out and see how deeply the car was scratched. Fortunately, many of these scratches are no more than a surface scratch if you are able to catch the problem at the beginning and shut off your windshield wipers. But if the scratch is deep enough that your fingernail is able to get stuck inside the crack, it may be a bigger issue. 

Decide How Urgent the Repair Is

Whether or not you need to visit an auto glass repair shop right away depends on your budget, the severity of the scratch, and your comfort level with driving. If the scratch is minimal, then you might not need to fix it right away; however, if it's interfering with your line of vision, then it becomes a bigger issue. In terms of severity, the crack becomes a bigger problem if it starts to touch more than one side of your windshield. Unfortunately this is a common issue with wiper arm scratches, since the motion of the wiper arm may have it touching the left and bottom sides of your windshield pretty easily. 

Check Your Insurance Coverage

Your insurance might cover the auto glass repair, but it depends on the quality of your coverage. Comprehensive auto insurance policies are likely to cover the cost of the repair, and in some states, they may even waive the deductible. 

Call In a Specialist

Different types of repairs can be indicated in a windshield scratch. If the scratch is just at the surface of the auto glass, then your auto glass repair specialist may be able to buff out the crack and polish it to a good level of visibility. But if the scratch is deeper, they may need to inject a resin into the crack in order to hold it together. Either of these repairs can take just a few hours.

Evaluate and Replace the Wiper Arm 

Finally, after such an ordeal, you'll probably want to replace your windshield wiper to make sure that this problem doesn't reoccur in the future. Take it to an auto repair shop and then test the action to make sure there are no problem spots. 

For more information, contact local professionals like One Cut Glass.