5th Gen 4Runner Rear Window Replacement - OK to use cheap option?

Someone decided to take a look inside my parked 2023 4Runner last night by smashing the rear window. My local Toyota has quoted $1700, local glass repair (and insurance reimbursement) is about $300... I'm slightly nervous about not going with Toyota given the mechanism but that's a big difference in price...

Does anyone have experience with a non-OEM replacement and if it's worked out OK?

 

I’d like to think that since it’s like replacing the window on any power window door it shouldn’t be particularly difficult.

Dealers like to mark up their prices too, I’d give the local shop a go.

 

Get a quote from a good independent glass shop, I'd bet their price would be a lot better than the dealers. I recently replaced the windshield on my rig, went with OEM Toyota glass, my insurance picked up the entire tab.

 

If you choose to go with an independent local shop, you can still ask them about the cost of OEM glass. The shop might be able to get OEM cheaper. I have done that in the past.

 

In 2017 I replaced my front windshield with safelite generic glass. Total was $310 or something like that. It was very weak compared to original Toyota glass. Even the tiniest dirt /sand/rock would leave a dot on the glass vs original glass was very forgiving to very small dirt/sand/rock.

 

When I had my hatch sandblasted and repainted for the garnish rust issue, the body shop accidentally blasted a penny size circle of my existing Toyota glass and just went ahead and replaced it with generic glass on their own dime and time. Before I picked it up they told me about it, and my first question was "did you use Toyota glass?". They said "no", I said OK fine that sucks, I'll only make a beef of it if I have issues with the generic glass.

So far I can't tell the difference and I've had no issues with it. I did cover up the Generic glass makers window marking with a Cat Fuji sticker though, so I never have to see that 'not Toyota' marking from the outside.

 

Thanks all! @Yotaco that's great to see.

I've booked it in with an independent repair place this afternoon so fingers crossed. I also realized that if this happened where I park once, it may well happen again and if I spent $300 to repair vs $1700 I won't be quite so upset...

 

Ebay is your friend. Someone decided to break my front drivers side window a couple months ago and there wasn't a single used window in my state. I was able to find a used OEM window on eBay for $150 shipped. Didn't like the thought of having a cheap Amazon window.