This is the single most important thing to understand before choosing a windshield shop.
Many vehicles built in recent years have a forward-facing camera mounted at the windshield, feeding systems like lane keeping, automatic emergency braking and adaptive cruise control. That camera is calibrated to a specific aim relative to the vehicle.
Pulling out a windshield and installing a new one removes and reinstalls the camera's mounting point. Even a small shift in aim is enough to matter, because these systems are making decisions based on precise assumptions about what the camera is looking at.
Recalibration is the process that confirms or resets the camera's aim after the glass has been replaced. It is not cosmetic and it is not optional on a vehicle that has one of these systems — it is the final step of the job, not an add-on to it.
There is no visible sign that a camera is out of calibration. The windshield looks fine, the car drives fine on a casual test drive, and the systems can still be aimed wrong. That is exactly what makes this easy for a corner-cutting shop to skip and hard for a customer to catch.
The right time to ask whether recalibration is included is before the windshield goes in, not after you notice the car pulling oddly on the freeway. A shop that does this work properly will bring it up without being asked.
Exactly which systems a given vehicle has, and how they behave, varies by vehicle. The principle — that a replaced windshield needs its camera checked — applies broadly across vehicles equipped with one.
Tell us about the damage and we will match you with a shop that treats recalibration as part of the job.
Get Matched With a Glass ShopA photo or a description is plenty — we will follow up to size the job and set a time.