Have you ever been driving along and noticed a funny-looking spot on the windshield? Once you’ve seen it, you can’t unsee it and it becomes just about the only thing you can focus on.
You pull over to take a closer look and your more detailed inspection reveals something quite disturbing --- it’s a small chip.
You start wondering how it might have happened. You didn’t hear or see anything that could explain it. The fact is that chips and cracks in the windshield can happen any time that even a small rock or other bit of debris hits it.
If you were driving at speed, had the radio on, or were even talking to a passenger in the car, you might have missed it.
Sadly while small chips may not affect you, they can have a big impact on resale when the buyer's do their pre purchase inspection. As such it's best to make sure they're fixed!
Enter: Mobile Auto Glass Repair Services
You’ll want to get that chip fixed a soon as possible, of course. Even a minor structural weakness in your vehicle’s windshield can quickly turn into something worse, then you'll need a mobile repair service too . Furthermore, it makes your entire windshield more susceptible to catastrophic failure.
The trouble is, you don’t have time in your day to drop the car off for repairs. It’s not a problem of course, because you can call on a mobile auto glass repair service to come to where you are and complete the work.
These mobile auto glass repair services bring a lot of convenience into our lives, but are they entirely beneficial?
Today we’re looking at the benefits and drawbacks of these mobile services for auto glass repair.
Benefits of Mobile Auto Glass Repair
1. Convenience
The first and most obvious advantage of mobile auto glass repair is convenience. When you depend on your car but don’t have the time to take out to visit an auto repair shop , then having those services come to you is fantastic.
Better yet, repairs can be done while you are at work without the car ever leaving your sight. Your schedule doesn’t have to include a single diversion and it'll take less than the time of an oil change for you .
2. Safety
That crack or chip might not look serious now, but its presence signals that your windshield’s overall integrity has already been compromised. With its structural integrity compromised, the windshield is prone to shattering.
Even worse, if the car were to be involved in an accident, then the weakened windshield couldn’t support the roof as it can when properly intact. This makes the possibility of the car being crushed all the greater in the event of a crash. Finally, if the crack or chip has happened right in your field of vision, then it impairs the visibility of the road ahead.
All of the above are safety concerns that warrant immediate attention. This is where the benefit of a mobile service can be felt. You can address the safety problems of a chipped or cracked windshield without any delay.
3. Efficiency
Mobile services are frequently faster and more efficient than in-house repairs. There are a couple of reasons for this.
First, a mobile service provider has to visit a number of clients each day in order to make their money, which prompts them to work quickly and effectively so that they can complete as many jobs as possible in a single day.
A second reason is the lack of distraction. An in-house repair service has to contend with multiple vehicles being on-site awaiting service, plus the added distraction of managing the shop itself: answering the phone, dealing with walk-in customers, interacting with other team members, etc.
It’s one of the biggest reasons that your vehicle remains queued up among others when you take it to a shop for repair .
4. Cost
If you use a service that focuses on mobile repairs, then the service is perhaps more affordable than that of a service based in a bricks-and-mortar repair shop.
Depending on where you live in the US, the costs of a physical facility are generally high. These overheads seep into your service price and make you less competitive.
A mobile auto glass repair service that has shed itself of these overheads can offer competitive pricing, which is of course a great benefit to us.
Drawbacks of Mobile Auto Glass Repair
Nothing is perfect, and that includes the apparently wonderful, convenient, safety-enhancing, efficient and affordable world of mobile auto glass repair.
1. Remote Working Limitations
Let’s say there’s some special circumstance in your particular case and your car needs additional repairs besides the glass chip. A mobile repair service couldn’t solve this, and may need to take the car back to a shop in order to complete the work.
If it turns out for any reason only discovered after arrival that the service can’t help you, you may incur additional expense and end up having to go to a shop anyway. In this case, you’ve also wasted a lot of time and energy.
2. Added Costs
You only save money if the service is provided by those who don’t also operate a bricks-and-mortar location. If they do, then you may actually end up paying more for this service because you have to add the convenience premium.
The service will likely be sold as a higher-level service, for which you have to pay extra compared to taking it into shop yourself for repairs.
3. Weather
Unless you’ve got a place to shelter the car and the auto glass repair worker, the weather can greatly limit your ability to get this service.
Drop it off at the shop and they’ll work on it come rain or shine. For mobile services, however, bad weather puts them right off and the job will just get postponed.
4. Cowboys
One of the benefits of the auto shop is that you can rightly expect the operators to prominently display the credentials of their mechanics and other technicians. With a mobile operator, it can be harder to guarantee that.
For higher end vehicles, this may be more of a problem at the change might require special processes that only specialty shops train on .
Sure, you can ask them to tell you or show you what they have, but if they claim that it’s “back at the office,” what are you going to do? A reputable service will find a way to display them or gladly show them on demand, but when you’re in a hurry and need that chip fixed…
Mobile Auto Glass Repair Service – Is it Worth It?
On balance, mobile auto glass repair services are a net benefit to us as consumers. Added convenience and safety, along with a good chance of additional cost savings on vehicle upkeep and maintenance and a job done more efficiently, all mean good things for us.
Many of the drawbacks depend on certain circumstances that are not always likely to occur. With the marketplace the way it is, you needn’t ever despair even when you encounter a bad auto glass repair service.
There will always be another more professional and more reputable one just around the corner that is ready and glad to serve!
Shop around, find the best service, and enjoy the benefits.
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