Statistics

[pierre]

Does anybody have any numbers on say % of cars with windshield dammage, number of windshields being fixed or any other info of that sort..? Thanks kindly.

[Repair1]

I posted this in a earlier post this is a copy hope it helps.

One thing I would look at are breakage rates in each market not all markets will be the same based purely on population there are a lot of factors involved weather, Road conditions etc. You need to know how many vehicles per household that info should be available through your local government somewhere. I would get a hold of the glass wholesalers ask them if they know what the breakage rates are for your markets. Lets say you have a 6% breakage rate with 1000 cars, there should be at least 60 possible repairs if not more these numbers are based on replacements not repairs however I do think it is a good comparison to see what kind of market your in.

It

[glassdoctor]

I have never tried to track this, but working with car dealers I would say it has to be about 10%... maybe a bit more. This is with a good mix of new and old cars, and nothing over 100K miles. With the 4 or 5 years old trade-ins I see a much higher %... maybe 20-30%.

1 or 2 year program cars with 20K miles or less have a very low %, of course, like 5%. Some times I have seen 20 or 30 program units and no chips. Other times, though the same group could have 3 or 4. It's weird like that.

Without counting cars, that's my best guess.

[GlassStarz]

The reason you see very little on the "Program Cars" is simple. Program cars are rental units most rental companys are franchised, the franchisie leases the car from the company when it aproaches 20k miles it must be returned. When the car is returned the inspector looks for every little thing to bill the user. For example with the company I do repairs for when the car is returned and it is even noticable that a repair has been done they are charged for a windshield at the leasing companys price (about 3 times what it costs to do with a local guy) result is they replace even the smallest damaged windshield before it is sent to the auction. Part of my rent at my new car wash location is to take care of the states largest rental fleet but im not to touch them unless it is going to dissapear completly they replace if thats the case. Now remember I spent 20+ years in auto sales before going into the windshield repair buisness so yes im the guy who told you the so called Program car you were looking at was some companys sales reps car or maybe a bankers but the reality is they are rental returns and we tip toed around telling you. and thats why I call myself a recovering car salesman.

[glassdoctor]

You are right about the program units, and why they are usually "clean" coming off the fleet. Good points.

I know all about the "program" cars. I been hanging around car lots and in manager'a offices for 12 years.

I have also been on the "turn back" side also, as I do some rental lots as well.

Sometimes, I can tell which rental fleet the "program" cars come from, like the Hertz cars that usually still have the little clear stock number sticker somewhere on the car.

Some rentals like Enterprise don't get the same treatment as others, so they actually have quite a few chips. What's surprising, is how often I repair a car from Hertz, etc who are so picky about w/s chips. Somehow, some sneak through the process.

[GlassStarz]

I think thats because they hit the rental company for a windshield when it hits the auction but dont actualy replace it. They justify this by saying the car went through the block for less $ because it needed one. in reality the buyer (car dealer) figured $30 to repair. but from what I see most of the franchise guys replace before it gets sent out.