Questions about windshields and auto glass in Cary, NC

Not as a matter of law. North Carolina has no zero-deductible glass law: the NC Department of Insurance describes comprehensive coverage, which pays for glass breakage, as paying less any deductible. Florida and South Carolina have deductible-free glass laws; NC does not. What some NC drivers have is a policy with full glass coverage, which can leave them nothing to pay. Look at your declarations page or ask your agent. Any offer of a windshield at no cost in NC rests on your policy, not on state law.

Only if your policy has full glass coverage or your deductible is zero. Otherwise you pay your comprehensive deductible and the insurer pays the rest. Many insurers waive the deductible for chip repair, which is one more reason to fix a chip early.

Sometimes. ROLAGS, the repair standard the trade works to, says single line cracks up to 14 inches are repairable. ROLAGS calls anything over 6 inches a long crack. Whether yours can be repaired depends on where it is and how deep it goes: a crack that reaches the edge of the glass or runs across the driver’s view usually means a new windshield. A technician has to see it.

There is no set number of days. No North Carolina statute or inspection rule sets a crack size, and NC’s annual safety inspection checks your wipers, not the glass itself. But a crack in your line of sight is a safety problem, and the Auto Glass Safety Council describes the windshield as part of the passenger restraint system that helps the airbags work. Cracks do not get smaller. Get it looked at soon, and do not drive if you cannot see clearly.

NC law requires safety glass in windshields and windows (G.S. 20-135) and working wipers that clear the windshield in front of the driver (G.S. 20-127(a)). The safety inspection under G.S. 20-183.3 lists the wipers, not the glass. There is no NC rule on crack size. Tint on the windshield is limited to the top five inches or the AS1 line, whichever is longer.

It depends on the glass your car takes (OEM or aftermarket), what is built into it (a camera bracket, sensors, heating elements), whether the camera needs calibrating, and whether insurance pays. Impex quotes each car by its VIN, with delivery, fuel and disposal included. The windshield replacement cost guide explains each factor.

Either is fine. You can open a comprehensive claim with your insurer, get a claim number and then book the company you have chosen, or call Impex first: Impex says it can handle the claim with your insurer. Under G.S. 58-3-180 the choice of shop is yours.

No. G.S. 58-3-180 says your policy must let you select the repair service and the insurer must pay the same amount whichever you choose. If an insurer recommends a shop, it has to tell you that you do not have to use it.

A comprehensive glass claim is not an at-fault accident, so it adds no Safe Driver Incentive Plan points. Insurers may still look at how often you file claims, at-fault or not.

Your comprehensive deductible applies to most claims, but full glass coverage waives it for glass. With full glass you may pay nothing for a windshield; without it you pay up to the deductible.

For a chip or short crack within the repair limits, yes. It stops the break spreading, keeps the original glass, needs no calibration and is quick: Impex’s guidance is often under 30 minutes.

Impex’s guidance: a chip repair often under 30 minutes; a side window about 30 to 60 minutes; a windshield about an hour plus a short curing period, back on the road within two hours; back glass about one to two hours. Camera calibration adds 30 minutes to 2 hours where needed.

No. Impex Auto Glass has shops in Greensboro and Charlotte. In Cary, Apex, Morrisville, Holly Springs and Fuquay-Varina, its mobile service comes to the car.

Wherever the car can sit for a couple of hours with room to walk round it: a driveway, a garage, an office or apartment lot that allows vehicle work, a parking deck. A windshield cannot be fitted into a wet, open frame, so on a rainy day the job moves under cover or to another day.

If it has a forward camera at the top of the windshield, usually. I-CAR lists windshield removal among the events that may require the camera to be aimed again. Impex says it calibrates on site straight after the replacement.

Only along the top. G.S. 20-127 allows windshield tint no lower than five inches below the top or the AS1 line, whichever is longer, plus clear UV film that does not block the view. The windshield rule has no exceptions.

Impex Auto Glass, Greensboro: 4.9 on Google from 425 reviews (October 2026). That is the Greensboro shop’s listing, not a rating of a shop in Cary, where Impex has none.

Cary Windshield is a mobile service of Impex Auto Glass, a North Carolina auto glass company that serves all of North Carolina and South Carolina and parts of Georgia. See about Impex.