Windscreens

[gavsdavs]

I've been ratther shafted by Autoglass.

Had an appointment Sunday 17th for them to replace my windscreen. They (said they) could source the correct, bronze tint, non-sunstrip glass that my car requires.

The fitter removed the existing screen, his main concern being the possibility of rust around the aperture - fair enough. My car's had a replacement screen a few years back and has had the rust round the aperture treated. No rust was found.

Unfortunately the replacement glass the fitter brought with him was rejected by the guy himself - it had scratches on it that we couldn't clean/polish out.

He spoke to his depot, who said they could get another suitable screen ready for tuesday when he could come back and fit it (after 6pm, which suited me).

Tuesday came, I was contacted by Autoglass central who said the glass hadn't arrived at their dispatch and they wanted to reschedule till today (friday).

I get a call from the fitter this morning saying "can you get home for 11.30 I'm going to be there early". (I work on a day rate, I have to forfeit half a days pay to meet this appointment). I get home at 12.30 and I'm contacted by Autoglass central again - the fitter has taken a closer look at the glass and it's been contaminated - it's had some fluid go over it which has produced a rainbow effect which he can't remove.

The fitter who asked me to get home early didn't actually contact me, he just didn't show up and got his dispatch to tell me that he wouldn't make it - who asked me to give them access on Wednesday when they will turn up with yet another piece of glass. (Another afternoon off work)

So i'm pretty pi$$ed off with Audoglass for making and breaking 2 appointments. They're asking for a third appointment (which will cost me income) and I'm not hugely confident they'll be able to source a windscreen without some sort of fault.

The car has been immobile, insecure and not weatherproof since last sunday, but thankfully hiding under a cover.

So - what are other people's experiences ? Are windscreens getting particularly hard to source ? Any recommendations for good experiences ? I accept that these sw20s are getting pretty old, but be warned if you need new glass, check the replacement glass before letting them remove the old one.

Gavs

[SonicSW20]

My experience of Autoglass specifically has been xxxx. Won't use them again out of choice.

[pbmr2]

Auto-fing-glass!!!

They screwed me in a similar way the other week and my car was 9 days without a windscreen.

Had it booked in for a tuesday they turn up and remove the window. found some surface rust and said "it's the worst rust I've ever seen, I can't fit a windscreen to that"

I took a quick look but if he wasn't going to fit it i'd have to sort it. off he went.

Sanded it back the next day in about 15 mins, was very light surface rust, much of it over the top of the black glue from the last windscreen and not even rust in that area.

Took my time and did a pukka job, primer and touch-up paint and all was ready. Rebooked on thursday hoping to get it done by the weekend for a meet. They had no slots till the next tuesday but did offer me a cancellation if ones came up, it didn't

Tuesday comes and about an hour after earliest arrival time the phone rings, they don't have the glass! They knew they needed it for 5 days!! wtf.
Pushed back to thursday.

Great, thanks autoglass. missed a meet, car without a windscreen for 9 flippin days! Never again unless it's the only option in an emergency.

[gavsdavs]

Tuesday comes and about an hour after earliest arrival time the phone rings, they don't have the glass! They knew they needed it for 5 days!! wtf.

This is the annoyance - the last minute change of plan/lack of preparation.
If the guy had looked at the glass before he called me this morning he could have phoned me and said 'look this glass is no good we have to defer'.
Instead he said 'can you get home asap' AND THEN they cancelled on me. I would have been disappointed but I could have stayed at work.

Still, looks like I could do the midnight run when rescheduled...

[rev3gtturbo]

As myself and others have found out, no matter which company changes the windscreen, always do the following before the old windscreen is removed:

* make sure the new windscreen is the correct tint
* make sure the new windscreen has the sunvisor if you want one (optional)
* make sure the new windscreen has no defects
* make sure the fitter has a new weatherstrip as there is a chance one that is over 20 years old wont be reusable once the windscreen has been cut out (and they will want to reuse the old one if they can).
* there is a chance (it happened to me) they will scratch the paintwork so consider taking close up pics before and after the job.

If you dont do the above, the delays to get it sorted can put your car off the road for days or weeks while they wait to get a part or have a fitter available (and it can be a different fitter on every call out - I had 3 fitters/callouts to replace one windscreen)

Some companies have a touchscreen device to record details of the job as it progresses, such as noting any other damage to the car before they start the job. Somehow mine gained paint scratches on the A pillar that were not there before but somehow managed to get recorded onto the device by the end even though the fitter said the system would not let him go back and change details. Difficult to argue without close up photos with timestamps just before the job was started. I did not have any pics as I did not think it would be necessary.

[rev3gtturbo]

The interior of my car looked clean after the windscreen replacement, but the next time I turned the aircon on I got blasted by old windscreen fragments out of the vents. (My old windscreen was cracked low down on passenger side from a stone impact and the fitter was going to cut the old screen out but he must have smashed it... he didnt want me to watch which is fair enough).

Glad I was wearing sunglasses to protect my eyes.

[rev3gtturbo]

I got more wind noise after the windscreen was replaced.

Really weird as I could not see an obvious reason.
Where the weather strip curves around the top corner there was a very slight gap that air could get by. Apparently the weather strip is cosmetic and not part of the windscreen bonding.

About a year later the weather strip peeled away in a storm from the base of the A pillar upwards and just around the top corner. Pushed it back in but it came out again in a couple of miles so taped it down til I could get it glued. Still noisier than it should be but it has not come out since.

Before someone says I moved the car too soon after the new windscreen was fitted, the fitter said dont move the car for 4 hours and I did not move it for a whole day (to be extra sure!) and it did not rain either so no excuse for a poor fitting.

[gavsdavs]

* make sure the new windscreen is the correct tint
* make sure the new windscreen has the sunvisor if you want one (optional)
* make sure the new windscreen has no defects
* make sure the fitter has a new weatherstrip as there is a chance one that is over 20 years old wont be reusable once the windscreen has been cut out (and they will want to reuse the old one if they can).
* there is a chance (it happened to me) they will scratch the paintwork so consider taking close up pics before and after the job.

Yeah these are pretty sensible.

I stood and watched (i.e. participated) in the removal of the current screen - they guy knew he was being watched and took his time doing it - it's come out without any damage.

As I have had a new screen in the last 2-3 years I actually have a surround/seal which is in good nick, it's pretty soft/pliable and was better than the one he turned up with (which was stiff even after an hour in the sun)

With regards to placement and noise - again - when they DO turn up to fit the new one I will be watching them do it. If it's too low down it will leave a gap at the top which the surround/seal won't cover - its not just more wind noise - this means it's not really weatherproof and you'll get rust round the aperture as water can get behind the seal. There are placement guides at the bottom which you can see once the scuttle panel is off - and you can put matchsticks/dowel on the placement guides to adjust how far up/down the glass is going to sit.

[Chumbaside]

Auto glass are awful in my experience. They replaced the windscreen on our 2011 C Class, which promptly leaked the first time it rained, saturating the seat. When they came out to rectify, the fitter said it had been fitted too low the first time round, and so he refitted. This was about six months ago.

Bizarrely, we've just had another new windscreen on the Merc as the Autoglass one cracked. No sign of impact damage and National Windscreens confirmed there was no obvious impact damage. They also found it strange the way it had cracked...

Wouldn't use Autoglass again, even if you paid me!

[danjama]

Another negative review fro me i'm afraid. I very recently had a huge crack appear in my import bronze screen, with weather strip.

Went through my insurance Zenith. Autoglass took 6 weeks to get an appointment in my area, but I badgered them every day for a week as they kept on saying nothing available!

I guess my issue is really with their customer service and availability. The fitter was a very nice chap, showed up on time after calling me in the morning, and the screen was a perfect match and he did a great job fitting it. So it was worth the wait in that respect.

[synXero]

As with most business who get automatic business, they're useless cnuts.

[SonicSW20]

Another negative review fro me i'm afraid. I very recently had a huge crack appear in my import bronze screen, with weather strip.

Went through my insurance Zenith. Autoglass took 6 weeks to get an appointment in my area, but I badgered them every day for a week as they kept on saying nothing available!

I guess my issue is really with their customer service and availability. The fitter was a very nice chap, showed up on time after calling me in the morning, and the screen was a perfect match and he did a great job fitting it. So it was worth the wait in that respect.

Was probably fitted by either the same guy who xxxxx mine up originally, or the 2nd guy who bodged the 'repair'

[gavsdavs]

I've heard from Autoglass this morning that they're struggling to source stock of this screen (the ones they have in their hands are in some way defective) and that Toyota have discontinued it.

Where does that leave us ? When the stock dries up completely, where do we get replacements ?

[thomp1983]

Probably a group buy from someone like Ricky Evans motor sports. Have you tried ringing any other glass companies and seeing if they can source it?

[fred130111]

I had a bad experience with Autoglass so went with these guys a few months back....

http://www.sussexwindscreens.com/

Think it was only £150, litterally called them and they had a choice of screens for me, bronze tint or blue tint and with or without the sun tint / strip thing at the top of the screen.

They got the screen within two days no faffing and fitted it perfectly!
The only thing is they used an aftermarket rubber as the oem was crap, still it looked fine

[gavsdavs]

So autotrader finally redeemed themselves - they turned up with a decent screen and fitted it without any headache. Existing surround was re-used as it was pretty new.

The checklist earlier in the thread seems decent advice - but sourcing screens is going to get harder.

[outrun]

Annnnnd another...

When I bought my current Mondeo during summer months, the screen was cracked. Being a Titanium X, it has the blue tint. They checked this over the phone, when booking.

When matey arrived, the tint was green.
Luckily, being a common car, they bagged the correct one from a local depot.
It was fitted, and all seemed fine.

Come the winter, I attempted to use the heated function and only one side worked.
As correctly assumed by me, he had not routed one side of the loom correctly, and the wiper linkage tore it out.

Cue (after them arguing the toss for a bit) another screen!