How To Protect Your Auto Glass if You Park Outside?

Environmental damage to your auto glass in inevitable. However, when you park outside, because you don’t have any other choice, the impact of the environment on your auto glass is even more significant. So you need to have the right ‘tool’ and ‘tips’ on how to protect your auto glass from environmental damage.

We at Auto Glass Express realize that not everyone has the benefit of parking their car in a garage or in a covered parking space. Furthermore, we are also aware that even though you are forced to park outside, there are certain trick you can use to protect your vehicle. So if you park outside, make sure to keep on reading in order to avoid auto glass repair or replacement.

Direct Sunlight

Let’s face it, most of us touched our windshield after it stood in the sun for a while. Hot isn’t it? Even though extreme heat isn’t dangerous on its own, but it has been recorded and severe heat compromises the structural integrity of your auto glass. For example, if you already have a small chip or crack on your windshield, excessive heat might only make things worse i.e. the crack can spread. So whenever you can, make sure that you park your car in shaded or at least semi-shaded places. But if you have NO other options than to park in direct sunline, and you also have some minor chips and cracks, make sure that you visit and auto glass repair shot to have them fixed.

Parking Under Trees

Let’s assume that you live in an area that has a lots of trees. Very ‘green’ neighborhood, right? Even though this looks pretty in spring, summer and autumn…winter is an entirely different story. During winter, if there is heavy precipitation, tree branches accumulate several inches of snow. This is a heavy load and if the branch isn’t thick enough, it can easily detach and fall off. And if your car is right under that branch…well there a perfect recipe for auto glass damage. And it can be a serious one. You might not ‘make it’ with just a small crack or chip. Some branches can even break your entire windshield that you will need to replace.

So if you live in a neighborhood that has a lot of trees and there is one right in front of your house, where you park your car, make sure that you trim the branches before winter snow hits. The shorter the branch, the less snow and precipitation it will accumulate thus it’s less risky that the branch will detach and damage your auto glass. So make sure that you keep your trees well-trimmed and bring this to your neighbor’s attention as well. He will appreciate it!

Going Crazy With Your AC

Car owners have the irrational urge to crank up the heat / air conditioning the moment they start their car. During hot summer days they go ‘nuts’ with the AC and during winter, they do the same but with heating.

We at Auto Glass Express urge you to resist this urge if you can. But why? Well different temperatures have different effects on your auto glass. For example, scourging heat makes your auto glass expand while freezing temperatures make your auto glass contract. Mixing extreme temperatures is never a good thing.

So when you turn the AC all the way up during hot summer days, the cold air blasts the windshield forcing it to contract at a rapid pace. The quick push-pull effect can result in damaged auto glass in forms of cracks, chips etc. The same goes when it’s freezing outside. You’re blasting hot air on your cold windshield (which has contracted a bit).

No matter if it’s summer and it’s burning hot outside or it’s the middle of winter and it freezing, make the temperature changes gradually. In winter, allow your car to warm up a little bit before turning on the defroster (in the meantime you can clean the outside of your auto glass from any ice or snow) and in summer, crack open a window or two when you drive. This will ‘suck’ out the excess heat from the car and you can gradually increase the intensity of your AC.

If your auto glass as sustained some damage due to outdoor parking, make sure to contact Auto Glass Express and have it looked at. Even the smallest chip or crack could end up as a disaster to your windshield. Better for fix it immediately than to replace the entire auto glass.