That's been my experience too. Of course, they usually pull the glass and put in a new one but if the shop's any good they'll handle your request w/o hassle. If the shop is NOT any good you don't want them anyway!

The reason it's so hard to get these out - they're held in with a REALLY tough adhesive (no, it's not RTV like bathtub caulk) that was especially invented for this. I'm not sure if they were the first but Morton Thiacol (sp?) was early in this game and the adhesive is often called "Thiacol". Remember, the glass is expected to stay in place even in the even of an accident. They went to this because the glass stays in place better and is much less likely to leak though of course everything ages.

Anyhow, the only way to get these out is to cut ALL THE WAY THRU the adhesive which is not as easy as it sounds. The pros have an assortment of tricks and tools to get this done including a heated knife that is often pretty helpful. I've bought some of the tools but still had mixed results and I decided that it was cheaper to have the pros do it if the glass was worth saving.

EDIT: The best paint durability requires that the windshield and back glass are out anyway. It's the only way to clean and get paint into the window channels which will protect those areas against rust. If you pull the trim and try to paint up to the glass the rust WILL come back. So you're doing the right thing!

Dan

Interesting, and indeed sounds like more effort and risk than is worth it to try myself. I'll just get someone to pull it off for me and then I can take my time on the rust. I had put a little POR15 on it a few years ago which staved off major spread but I have no doubt it will need work under the glass ... maybe even new metal welded in. I'm trying to do really thorough repairs all-around on the rust on this car so I definitely want to do it right.
I do recognize the name Morton Thiokol from reading about the space shuttle Challenger ... they designed the rocket boosters and were at the center of the fallout after what happened. Did not know they also did the window glass adhesive. I'm assuming that's the same company though.

Thanks very much for the info, everyone. Definitely helped make my decision.

__________________
1987 300D, arctic white/palomino--314,000 miles
1978 240D 4-speed, Euro Delivery, light ivory/bamboo--370,000 miles
2005 Jeep Liberty CRD Limited, light khaki/slate--140,000 miles
2018 Chevy Cruze diesel, 6-speed manual, satin steel metallic/kalahari--19,000 miles
1982 Peugeot 505 diesel, 4-speed manual, blue/blue, 130,000 miles
1995 S320, black/parchment--34,000 miles (Dad's car)

Searched eBarf (windshield removal tool) and found a few options. My neighbor across the street does glass. We replaced the windshield in my 4Runner earlier this year and he used a tool like this to cut the old seal:

BLUE POINT TOOLS YA 109 - A WINDSHIELD REMOVAL KNIFE & PULL HANDLE | eBay

Blue Point is good stuff and that's probably a good price. The one I bought was an off-brand and it just didn't work very well - I'd expect this to be better.

Dan