Hi all,
Thanks for your advice this past week re. the cracked windshield on my
'89 Toyota Corolla SR5 coupe.  This is in the Boston, MA area.  I've
called a zillion places-- told all of them I don't have comprehensive
coverage and need to pay out of pocket.  I thought you might find some
of the below interesting:

1.  The chains (e.g. JNPhillips) have multiple locations in my area,
and I was trying to call the inner-city locations, figuring that the
best price would be if I drove the car into their shops instead of
their coming to me.  The shops in nicer neighborhoods were quoting
like $250-$270 vs $220 for poorer neighborhoods.  Interestingly, the
shops in poorer neighborhoods would give me a quote, e.g., $220, and
when they heard I don't that live close by, they told me I can get it
done at their sister shop in my local [nicer] neighborhood shop for
$220, b/c they can "transfer the price over."  So I guess moral of the
story is that if you want a chain to do your windshield, don't
hesitate to call different locations of the same chain, b/c they'll
likely give you different prices that you can transfer to any
location.
Won't the shops lose business and money if they are routing customers
to other locations in the same chain [that are more convenient for the
customer]?  They seemed to do this all the time when I called.  You'd
think that to some extent, the amount of business each individual shop
does will affect what its employees make.

2.  Highest quote I got was $396 (!!).  Fewer than 10% of quotes were
$215 or less.

3.  Junkyard said $125 installed (how many of you go this route?).  I
would be up for it, but the junkyard said that '89 SR5 coupes use
different windshields than sedans.  None of the other shops said this
though, so hopefully the junkyard was wrong.  Does anyone have any
idea?  I don't want to have a shop rip out my old windshield and then
tell me "oops, we can't find one to fit."

4.   One independent shop said $195 cash, off-the-books.  Is it safe
to pay for a windshield like this?  Or do they often end up needing to
be re-fitted, re-sealed, in which being a cash off-the-books customer
may not be ideal?

5.   One shop with mobile service quoted a good price, said they'd
like to be paid in cash, said that if I'm at work, I can leave the car
in my driveway, unlocked so they can get in, with the cash payment
hidden in the car.  Didn't seem like a good plan to me...

6.  The lowest quotes I got were:
$195 cash, off-the-books, drive it to an independent shop.
$189.20, independent shop with mobile service, said they preferred
cash

Finally I called one of the chain glass companies, asked for a quote,
they said $254.  I said thanks but no thanks.  The girl answering the
phone asked me what else I was offered, I said $189.  She said she
could do $180+ tax and set up an appt for me at their closest
location.  I was quite surprised when she said this, as I didn't think
that they would offer a discount, let alone a $74 one.  How much
profit are auto glass installation companies making?

Do you guys usually ask shops to match or beat someone else's quote?
I didn't do this because I felt bad asking, esp if it was an
independent shop.  For auto repairs I go to independent shops and have
never asked for a better/different/lower price, because I figure
that's an insult to the mechanic.  At least I would be insulted if I
were the mechanic.

Is it better to get your auto glass done by a chain than by an
independent shop?  Maybe for warranty purposes at least?  Generally I
avoid chains (no Sears/Jiffy Lube/Firestone/etc for anything) but auto
glass is probably a different story.