No one wants to walk outside and see that one of the windows on their car has been broken. Regardless of how it happened, you need to get it cleaned up and repaired. Here are the steps you should follow after your car window has been broken.

Call Your Insurance and File a Police Report

If your car has been broken into, do not move or touch anything until you call your insurance company and file a police report. Some police agencies will come out and make a police report. Others will simply take the information over the phone. The same for insurance companies. You do not want to begin to clean anything up if the insurance company or police are going to come to write a report. If they do not come in person, be sure to take pictures of the scene that shows the damage done before you begin to clean or repair anything.

Clean Up the Glass

The easiest way to clean the shattered glass is with a shop vacuum. Grab a shop vacuum and begin to suction away glass from the car. Continue doing this until you have removed as much glass as you can see. Be advised that most auto repair shops will also vacuum away your car for glass so you do not have to take your time to remove all of the glass. However, you want to remove as much as you can see. Once you are done, empty out the contents of your shop vacuum so you do not have glass shards sitting in there.

Covering Up the Window

Once you have removed as much glass as possible, you will want to try to secure or cover up the window to keep outdoor elements out until the window can be fixed. Many people use cardboard or duct tape. But the best way to do this is to use clear packing tape. Take a strip of clear packing tape and run it vertically from the top of the window to the bottom while inside your car. Never attach the tape to the exterior of your car as it can cause the paint to peel. Overlap another piece of tape vertically over the existing piece while covering up more space. Continue doing this until the window opening is covered. Once you have run the tape vertically, run strips horizontally to be sure the window area is completely covered. Keep this in place until you can have your window replaced.

When your car window is broken, you will want to have the window repaired as quickly as possible. Glass helps to keep outdoor elements, like dirt, rain and bugs, out. When you need auto glass repair in the greater St. Paul, MN. area, turn to Only 1 Auto Glass. We are a vehicle glass repair shop that can help with windshield repair and replacement, auto glass replacement and auto glass resin repairs. Call us to schedule an appointment and one of our technicians can come out to you to make the repair as quickly as possible.