Permatex 09103 Automotive Windshield Repair Kit For Chipped And Cracked Windshields. Permanent Air-Tight Repairs, With Repair Syringe & Plunger, 9-piece Kit

I was was on the interstate, driving my relatively new car to a car show a few hours away, and THWAP! -- a piece of gravel or something hit my windshield. The damage looked HUGE from the driver's seat, but when I stopped and examined it, it was not as large as a US dime and, in rock-chips-windshield parlance, looks like it was a "bullseye" type crack.I immediately texted my car-exterior guy, asking if he knew of someone who repairs such things and he -- after sympathizing with what happened -- replied in the negative, so I was on my own.I was going through my usual mental gymnastics: if I have the windshield replaced, there's a small deductible, but what if they mess it up and it leaks? Or they don't replace the lane-keeping camera properly? Or, or, or? Sigh.I something-searched for repairing cracked windshields and was reminded of repair kits. Long ago, I'd used one on another vehicle and even had some kid outside the grocery store fix a chip a couple years ago, but neither of those experiences were particularly stellar, so I didn't have a great deal of confidence with the repair-kit route. On the other hand, I figured the worst that happened was I tried a kit, the outcome was horrible, and then I'd have the windshield replaced and deal with whatever came of that.So I ordered this Permatex kit (it was significantly cheaper than a competing kit and that was a big factor in my deciding to go with this one) and watched a video or two from actual people (as opposed to the manufacturer) who threw in a couple of wisdom nuggets that I made a mental note of.The kit arrived with typical Amazon expediency and, finding some time in my schedule, moved my usually-parked-outside car into the garage to begin the repair. (I think that's important because the resin cures by exposure to UV in sunlight, so I didn't want it to start to cure until it was supposed to start to cure.)One of the first steps is to use the provided pushpin to clean out any loose glass or other debris from the surface of the chip. I did that and it dawned on me that loosening up said debris around with the end of a pushpin is fine, but I probably wanted to get that stuff out of there, not just move it around, so I grabbed a cordless vacuum cleaner and used it to (hopefully) remove all of the loose fragments. I figured that would give the resin the best chance at filling in the break in the glass, vs. its having to work around any remaining loose debris.While the instruction sheet is jam-packed with information and I wish that it was a little more checklistable/readable, the rest of the repair process was relatively straightforward. I followed the steps as best I could (my spouse was washing our dog in the middle, so I left to help her during the wait-at-least-20-minutes parts of the repair) and it was going pretty well.I heeded the suggestion to place a paper towel below the chip to catch any resin drips and -- being a careful guy -- was doubting the need for such a thing. However, when I was removing the pedestal from the window, it popped off, and drops of resin shot in unexpected directions. Some of it landed on the wiper blade (which I wiped off) and I didn't see any on the paint, but if it is, hopefully, it will come off. All of which is to say, you may want to proceed very gently when you are removing the pedestal and adhesive circle because there's a bunch of resin in there. Maybe cover the whole deal with a paper towel (in addition to a paper towel below) to catch any resin drops that fly away. Anyway, I think I dodged a bullet there, but we shall see.I cleaned up the excess resin, applied the drop of resin and clear square to the repair, moved the car into the driveway, and -- since it was partly sunny (not fully sunny) -- set a timer for an hour. Due to the plastic and surrounding resin, it was hard to tell what the end result was going to look like, but even at that point, it was looking WAY better than it did before I started. Either way, I figured that it was going to be what it was going to be, so nothing to be done if it was less than great.After the waiting time elapsed, I went out to gently peel off the plastic square and scrape off the excess resin and it looked amazing! The damage evolved from a clearly visible chip through the glass to a small, slightly rough dot (about the size of this letter "O" right here on my display).There was resin goop in the vicinity, so I grabbed some denatured alcohol and a paper towel and cleaned it all up as best I could, trying to keep away from the aforementioned dot, figuring it should continue to cure without my getting it wet with alcohol.While it would be great if that little dot was not there, I'm really pleased with the repair. My exterior-car guy suggested some sort of film over the windshield to lessen the likelihood of these, but I may save that for when I get an actual new windshield and when I get my next chip (which I imagine will come eventually), I'll be trying this kit again.One potential downside (not for me in this case, fortunately) is that one of the first items in the instructions is that this kit is "for bullseye chips only". Looking back, I see where the product page does mention that, but if I'd had a different kind of chip, I might have missed that detail. And when I was searching earlier to see what kind of chip I had, the only images I was finding looked like they came from a 1950s coloring book, so I wasn't really even certain that I had a bullseye chip. Fortunately, I did -- or at least whatever I did have worked with this kit. Phew!While I hope that you never get a chip in your windshield, if you do and it is a bullseye, I hope this kit works for you as well as it worked for me!

READ THE INSTRUCTIONS IN THEIR ENTIRETY MULTIPLE TIMES FIRSTIf you are like me, you wing. Don’t do this here. Read the instructions multiple times and have the basic procedure down before you start so you don’t mess things up. I had damp paper towels handy to clean any mess and extra alcohol pads to clean residue adhesive.I am amazed at the finished product, yea you can still see a tiny portion of the original chip but it no longer looks like it’s spreading, is damn near smooth to the touch and is almost invisible from inside the car when it was rather obvious prior to the treatment.I was able to cancel my Safelite appointment and save the $150 they were going to charge I also didn’t have to run the risk of my insurance covering it and using it as an excuse to jack my rates.

I used this to repair a bullseye chip and it repaired it much better than I expected while I was following the instructions and applying it. After the repair, there is only tiny dot where the bullseye used to be on my windshield. I've knocked a star from my rating due to the much less user friendly current version of it as opposed to the previous version, like having a cap on the resin tube and their terrible instruction sheet. Speaking of which if these changes are due to Permatex doing some cost savings, at least have the courtesy to your customers by updating the included instruction sheet to show the current version of it.I highly recommend that you seek out the 16 year old Permatex video on applying this product prior to actually doing so as the instruction sheet isn't great and their newest video on it is half the length (< 2minutes) and is worthless.

I was pleasantly surprised by how well this repair kit fixed the bullseye chip on my windshield. Following the instructions carefully, I applied the product and the result was remarkable - now there's only a tiny dot left where the chip used to be. However, I have deducted a star from my rating due to the current version being less user-friendly compared to the previous one. Issues like having a cap on the resin tube and a poorly designed instruction sheet were disappointing.I recommend watching the 16-year-old Permatex video on how to apply this product for better guidance, as the included instruction sheet is not very helpful. The newer video is short and uninformative, which is a letdown. Overall, despite some drawbacks, this repair kit is still worth trying for fixing bullseye chips.

I decided to use the Permatex repair kit after watching YT videos and reading reviews. My vehicle is 17 years old with plenty of miles on it and I didn't want to spend $95 quoted by a professional. When I read the instructions, I discovered it was to be used for bullseye chips only. My chip was more elongated, but still within the size specified, so I decided to go ahead with the DIY repair. For the step of resin curing via UV light, I left my vehicle outside facing the sun (Midwest in April) for a full hour. After the final step, there were still two very small pinhole divots in the glass that I could have lived with. I opted to repeat final resin application followed by UV curing since I had some resin left, using the flip side of the small, clear plastic piece. That filled in the two tiny divots quite nicely and now the repair is nice and smooth. It was good value for the money at $13 and it was easy to do after watching videos and reading the instructions! I am hopeful that the repair will last, but time will tell.

Why did you pick this product vs others?:I love the Permatex 09103 Automotive Windshield Repair Kit! It's a complete game-changer for fixing chipped and cracked windshields. The repairs are air-tight and permanent, thanks to the syringe and plunger included in the 9-piece kit. I highly recommend this amazing product for anyone dealing with windshield damage.