ClearPlex Contour windshield film for West Seattle drivers: port trucks near the bridge, highway speed on SR-99 and SR-509. From $700 in Tukwila.
Speed is what makes West Seattle commutes hard on glass. A pebble that bounces off at city speed can chip a windshield at highway speed, and a chip left alone in cold, wet weather tends to spread into a crack. The film absorbs many of those impacts, and when it's worn it can be replaced instead of the windshield. That matters more on newer cars, where driver-assist cameras behind the glass have to be recalibrated after a replacement. Pricing is $700 for a standard windshield, $750 for a large one and $800 for an oversized or panoramic windshield. Installs start at about two hours, and the film can look a little hazy for two to four days while it cures.
Head south on SR-509 or SR-99 to our Tukwila shop at 1050 Industry Drive; neither route goes through downtown. Installs start at about two hours.
Most West Seattle drivers leave the peninsula the same way, over the bridge or down Highway 509, and share the road with port traffic near Harbor Island and West Marginal Way. That mix of heavy trucks and highway speed is what the film is built for.
If you drive the bridge and a highway most days, yes. That combination of heavy trucks and speed is where most windshield damage happens.
$700 for a standard windshield, $750 for a large one and $800 for an oversized or panoramic windshield.
The film is optically clear and installed on the outside of the glass. Protecting the windshield helps you avoid a replacement and the camera recalibration that comes with it.
It's curing. Give it two to four days and it clears to full clarity on its own.
Port trucks Container trucks around the bridge, Harbor Island and West Marginal Way throw gravel and debris into the windshields behind them.
Highway speed Nearly every trip off the peninsula includes SR-99, SR-509 or I-5, and speed is what turns a small rock into a cracked windshield.
Cold, wet weather A chip left alone through a Seattle winter tends to spread. Film helps stop the chip from happening in the first place.
Morning sun on the bridge The film stays optically clear, so it doesn't add glare when you're driving east into the sun.