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Windshield chip and crack repair
Repair is cheaper, faster and keeps your original factory seal. It also does not work on everything, and we will tell you which you have.
- Free mobile service — your driveway, your office lot, the park and ride
- ADAS camera recalibration on the same visit, not a second appointment across town
- We bill your insurer directly including through the Safelite Solutions and Lynx networks
- Lifetime no-leak guarantee on our workmanship, for as long as you own the vehicle
You're all set, there.
We've got your request. A Collision Auto Glass tech will call you shortly to confirm the glass, your coverage and a time that works.
The decision, stated plainly
Repair works by injecting resin into the break under vacuum and pressure, then curing it with ultraviolet light. It restores structural integrity and stops the damage spreading. It does not make the damage disappear — you will still see a faint mark if you look for it, and any shop promising invisibility is overselling.
What makes something repairable is a combination of size, position and age. Broadly: smaller than a quarter, not in your primary sightline, not touching the edge of the glass, not over the camera bracket, and not so old that the break has filled with dirt and water. Miss any of those and you are looking at replacement instead.
Keeping the original glass is worth something in its own right. Your factory windshield was bonded in a controlled plant, on a clean pinch weld, with no history. Every replacement after that is a new bond on a surface that has been cut back at least once. A good replacement is genuinely fine — we do them every day — but if a repair will hold, the original seal is the one least likely to ever give you trouble.
Where Oregon's rock chips actually come from
Chips are not evenly distributed across the year here, and the reason is specific to this state. Studded tires are legal in Oregon from 1 November to 31 March — outside that window they carry a Class C violation. ODOT discourages them precisely because of what they do to road surfaces: a 2014 state study put the damage at roughly $8.5 million a year to state highways alone, before you count city and county roads.
Chewed-up pavement produces loose aggregate. Add ODOT's winter sanding on the climb over the West Hills and the gravel that comes off construction and log trucks year round, and the Sunset Highway becomes a reliable chip generator. The calls follow the calendar.
The mechanism itself is worth understanding, because it explains the urgency. A windshield is two sheets of glass laminated around a plastic interlayer. A stone impact fractures the outer sheet and leaves a small cone of pulverised glass under the point of contact, with legs radiating out. The interlayer stops it going further — which is why you get a chip and not a hole — but that fracture is now a stress concentrator sitting in a panel that flexes with every door slam and expands and contracts with every temperature change.
The four break types, and how each one fills
- Bullseye — a clean circular cone, usually from a blunt stone hitting square on. The most predictable break there is, and the one that fills best. Resin flows into a single cavity and cures evenly.
- Star break — short legs radiating from the impact point. Repairable, but each leg has to be filled individually, and legs are where an incomplete repair shows. This is the type most likely to keep running if it is left.
- Half-moon — a partial cone, typically a glancing impact. Behaves much like a bullseye with a slightly less tidy edge.
- Combination — a cone with legs coming off it, which is what most real-world damage actually is. Repairable up to a point; the honest limit is when the legs are long enough that you are effectively repairing several cracks at once.
The working size rule is a chip up to about a quarter. Beyond that the resin has too large a void to fill without shrinking as it cures, and you get a repair that looks worse than the damage did. Position overrides size in both directions: a small chip in the driver's primary viewing area is a replacement, because cured resin refracts light and that belongs anywhere except directly in front of the driver. A chip within about an inch of the edge is a replacement, because the edge is where the glass carries its bond. And a chip over the camera bracket behind the mirror is a replacement regardless of how neat it is.
Cracks, and where repair stops being possible
A chip is a contained cavity. A crack is a propagating fracture with two ends, and one of them is doing something even when it looks stationary. Filling it stabilises it and improves how it looks, but the repair has to hold along its whole length rather than in one pocket — which is why the limits are tighter than people expect, and why a shop quoting a repair on a crack running the width of the glass is not doing you a favour.
- Has it reached the edge? If either end has run into the perimeter, the bond line is involved and it is a replacement. This is the one that catches people out, because the last inch is usually hidden under the trim.
- Where does it sit? Anywhere across the driver's primary viewing area is a replacement, however short.
- How long is it? Longer cracks are progressively less likely to give a stable result. There is no single honest number across all glass and all vehicles — length interacts with position and with age.
- How old is it? A crack open through a wet Portland winter is contaminated along its entire length, which is a far bigger surface to fail to bond to than the inside of a chip.
Why yours probably grew overnight
Cracks in this climate rarely spread while you are driving. They spread in the small hours, when the glass cools and contracts, and again in the first minutes of the morning when hot air from the defroster hits the inside face of glass that is still near freezing. The differential between the inner and outer sheets is what drives the fracture along.
Cold morning, chip in the glass, defroster on full — that is how a great many repairable chips become replacements in a driveway rather than on the road. If you are waiting a few days for an appointment: park out of a hard frost where you can, warm the cabin gradually, and close the doors rather than slamming them.
What we will not do
We will not repair damage in the driver's primary viewing area just because it is technically small enough. We will not repair a break that has run to the edge, because the bond line is already compromised. And we will not repair a windshield we can see is delaminating, because the resin has nothing sound to key into.
Plenty of people have been told a chip was unrepairable by a shop that only makes real money on replacements. It is a fair thing to be wary of, and the only useful answer is a test you can apply yourself: ask them why. A straight answer names the reason — it is in your sightline, it has reached the edge, there are five breaks not one, it is over the camera. A vague answer about it being "too risky" is worth a second opinion. Send us a photo with a coin next to the damage and we will give you the reason, not just the verdict.
Glass, and the camera behind it
One team handles the glass and the calibration in the same visit. Nothing gets driven across town to a second shop, and nothing gets billed twice.
Windshield replacement
New glass, set by two people, with the camera behind it recalibrated in the same visit.
Windshield replacement →Chip and crack repair
Rock chips, star breaks and cracks — resin injection while the damage is still small enough for it to work.
Repair or replace? →ADAS calibration
Autel MaxiSYS, in-house. The camera behind your glass gets aimed and confirmed.
ADAS calibration →Side and door glass
Tempered glass, the pebbles inside the door, and the regulator that often broke with it.
Side and door glass →Back glass
Defroster grid, antenna, and several thousand pebbles in the load area.
Back glass →Mobile service
Free across the service area. What we need from the space, and when it is a bad idea.
Mobile service →Three steps, no shop visit
Tell us what broke
Send the form or call. Your VIN or plate gets us the exact glass for your vehicle, including whether it carries a camera, rain sensor or heating element.
We check your coverage first
Before anyone is dispatched we confirm what your policy covers and what your deductible actually is, so the price you hear is the price you pay. No claim is filed until you say go.
We come to you
Your driveway, your office lot, your job site — at no extra charge. We fit the glass, recalibrate the camera if there is one, and tell you when it's safe to drive.
What Oregon drivers actually pay, and who gets to choose
Glass claims are the part of this job customers have been given the most wrong information about — including by shops. Here is what is actually true in Oregon.
Your insurer does not get to pick the shop
Oregon law is explicit about this. ORS 746.280 prohibits an insurer from requiring you to use a particular repair shop, and requires them to tell you so. If a claims line tells you that you have to use their network shop to be covered, that is not how it works — you can name us, and the claim is handled the same way.
So what will it cost?
It depends entirely on your policy, and we will not pretend otherwise. Glass is generally handled under comprehensive cover rather than collision, and the deductible is whatever your policy says it is. Oregon does not mandate zero-deductible glass — a handful of states do, and Oregon is not one of them, whatever you may have read. Call with your carrier and policy and we will tell you what we see on similar claims.
A chip is a different conversation from a crack
Many carriers treat a repairable chip differently from a full replacement, because a resin repair costs them a fraction of the glass. Whether yours does is a question for your policy, not for us — but it is worth asking before you assume a chip is not worth claiming. We bill carriers directly, including through the Safelite Solutions and Lynx third-party networks.
No insurance? Most of our calls
Plenty of people pay cash, either because the deductible is higher than the job or because they would rather not touch the policy. You get the same glass, the same urethane, the same calibration and the same guarantee. Tell us the year, make and model and we will quote it outright.
We are not affiliated with, endorsed by or acting as an agent of any insurance company. Carrier and network names appear here only to describe who we bill.
Real vehicles, real driveways
What customers say
Had a rock chip that grew to a huge crack. Called around and noticed the reviews for Collision Auto. I spoke with Scott who was very helpful and personable and I got a quote very quickly. And to clarify, I did go to Safelite to get a quote and they had 3 different prices, at Collision, it was just one price. I was unable to get it done for a few weeks, called Scott and he was able to get me right in with the same quote he gave before. They did a great job, took a couple of hours so I stayed in their waiting room and worked. It was quiet, clean and comfortable, and their WiFi worked great. I highly recommend them for your car window needs.
From the moment I called, I was treated with kindness and professionalism. Everyone—from the staff who answered the phone to the technicians who completed the work—made the entire experience easy and stress-free. The lobby was exceptionally comfortable, and I truly felt like I was treated as family, not just another customer. The level of care, attention to detail, and customer service was outstanding. I highly recommend Collision Auto Glass & Calibration to anyone looking for honest, friendly, and top-quality service. Thank you for making such a great experience!
Great experience at Collision Auto Glass & Calibration. I was referred by Land Rover Portland. From the moment I called, Brad was very helpful and easy to work with. He walked me through the insurance claim and explained the process from start to finish. It took a few days for the insurance to process, but once they had my vehicle, the turnaround was quick—about 4 hours. Professional, flexible, and they even have a really sweet dog greeting customers. Highly recommend for window replacement!
Verified Google reviews for Collision Auto Glass & Calibration · read all 365 on Google
4.9 stars from 365 Google reviews
This is our Cedar Mill shop, just off the Sunset Highway. The postal address reads Portland, but it sits in Washington County rather than inside Portland city limits — our vans cover the city itself.
365 reviews
- Cedar Mill shop
- 14201 NW Science Park Dr
Portland, OR 97229 - Service area
- Portland, the Westside & the South Metro — shop and mobile
- Hours
- Mon–Fri 7:30am–4:30pm · Sat closed · Sun closed
Portland, the Westside & the South Metro coverage
Two shops, Cedar Mill and Tualatin, and mobile vans working out of both. If your town is not named below, call and ask — the honest answer is sometimes no, and you should get it before you book rather than after.
What the warranty actually covers
"Lifetime warranty" is meaningless unless somebody writes down what it includes. Here's ours.
Covered, for as long as you own the vehicle
- Water leaks caused by our installation
- Wind noise caused by our installation
- Moulding and trim failures from our fitting
- Workmanship defects of any kind on our install
Not covered — and we'd rather say so up front
- New impact damage — a fresh rock is a fresh job
- Stress cracks spreading from damage that predates our work
- Defects in the glass itself, which carry the manufacturer's warranty
- Damage from a later collision or a break-in
Frequently asked
No. It will be much less noticeable and it will stop spreading, but there will be a faint mark where the break was. How faint depends on the break type — a clean bullseye fills better than a dirty star break that has been there through a winter. Anyone promising invisible has not told you the truth about the other things either.
Sooner is genuinely better, and not as a sales line. Dirt and moisture get into the break and reduce how well resin bonds, and temperature swings drive cracks outward from the chip. A chip repaired in its first week comes out substantially better than the same chip three months later.
Possibly, and the length is the least important part of the answer. What matters more is whether either end has reached the edge of the glass, whether it crosses your primary sightline, and how long it has been open. A four-inch crack starting at the edge is a replacement; the same crack in the middle of the passenger side may not be.
Often yes. Three separate, individually repairable chips in different parts of the glass is a straightforward job. What changes the answer is clustering — several breaks close enough that their repairs interact — or one of the three sitting somewhere disqualifying, like the sightline or the edge.
A repair is a fraction of a replacement, and many carriers treat the two differently because a repair costs them so much less. We are not going to invent a figure on a web page — call with the year, make and model and we will quote both, so you can see the gap for your car.
Oregon does not set a specific crack length in law. ORS 815.220 makes it unlawful to drive with anything obstructing the windshield that impairs the driver's view, which is a judgement about your specific damage rather than a measurement. A crack across the driver's side is the kind that attracts attention.
Our workmanship carries the same lifetime no-leak guarantee. What a repair specifically cannot be warranted against is the break running later from a fresh impact or an extreme temperature swing — that is new damage. If a repair we did fails on its own, we credit it against the replacement.
Get your glass sorted this week
Send the form and we'll confirm your glass, your coverage and a time — or just call and talk to somebody now.