991 Windscreen Fitting - Fail! - Page 2 - Porsche General - PistonHeads UK

I wonder if anybody can offer a recommendation for a good independent windscreen fitter in the South East area? Having had a new windscreen fitted by somebody who I previously thought was reputable, I now need to find somebody else who can resolve a badly fitting screen.

Why not try your OPC?

arcamalpha said: Why not try your OPC? Could do I guess, but I'm pretty sure that they sub the work out to autoglass or similar.

Had mine done by auto glass through insurance and they did a great job. Replacement 991 glass had the antenna built in, shade along the top etc. No issues at all. Original screen was scratched to hell from a broken wiper. What happened with yours?

Isn’t there someone called Glassman on here. Sorry couldn’t find forum search!

Beware Autoglass! OPC is your best way to maintain warranty. Some Porsche screens are spurious unless correctly marked. The Porsche marking is meaningless btw. Glassman knows his stuff and should be along shortly.

Haribo Lecter said: Had mine done by auto glass through insurance and they did a great job. Replacement 991 glass had the antenna built in, shade along the top etc. No issues at all. Original screen was scratched to hell from a broken wiper. What happened with yours? I have used autoglass in the past on other cars, but always thought safer to use a good independent on the Porsche's etc. My screen cracked originally so needed replacing, but the install of the replacement screen was very poor.

Autoglass messed me around recently; however, I will admit that the OE replacement was a good job. Glassman is recommended around these parts if local https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/profile.asp?h=...

Recently had Autoglass fit an OE windscreen on our mini and I must say the job was done very well, I spent the time with the fella as he did the job and couldn’t fault his work, and I am super fussy! I suppose it all depends on the fitter!

Autoglass replaced my Macan windscreen while it was in for an MOT at my OPC. There wa an issue with the camera working afterwords but the OPC dealt with it on my behalf and actually treated it as a warranty item

barryrs said: Autoglass messed me around recently; however, I will admit that the OE replacement was a good job. Glassman is recommended around these parts if local https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/profile.asp?h=... Throughly recommend !

Autoglass replaced my Macan windscreen while it was in for an MOT at my OPC. There was an issue with the camera working afterwords but the OPC dealt with it on my behalf and actually treated it as a warranty item. Also I insisted on OEM glass citing it was necessary to maintain the warranty. I have a good informal arrangement my with my OPC, I get cars serviced there and pay handsomely for it and in return I get good service and anything that might be a problem becomes a no problem.

Glassman all the way, would never trust Autoglass or any of the large windscreen companies to replace a Porsche windscreen.

My recent experience with Autoglass was 2 screens, 6 visits and a trip to the body shop for paint. Just to replace 1 cracked screen, the early fitters left the drains off and a big gap in the rubber at the top. The next set broke the screen sorting out the rubber problem. The next chap came and replaced the vertical screen trims they damaged. The last chap seemed to know what he was doing when he refixed the lower screen surround that was waving in the breeze. In their defence though they did keep sending people out to fix it whilst apologising and the bodyshop did a good job. If you use them you might want to watch them do the job and check carefully.

jcosh said: arcamalpha said: Why not try your OPC? Could do I guess, but I'm pretty sure that they sub the work out to autoglass or similar. My OPC did it in-house themselves. Perfect job.

jcosh said: I have used autoglass in the past on other cars, but always thought safer to use a good independent on the Porsche's etc. My screen cracked originally so needed replacing, but the install of the replacement screen was very poor. Up to you of course but I think that’s an unfair assumption. In my case they guy took extra care because it was a Porsche and he wanted to do a good job. With a big business like auto glass you’ve always got the power to request someone comes right back out to do it again if you’re not happy.

As mentioned above, the chap on here called Glassman, his business is http://www.glasstecpaul.com/welcome/ Highly recommended. He has only fixed a corrected a couple of windscreen chips, but top quality workmanship and attention to detail. I would describe him as a car glass specialist, as opposed to people like Autoglass that are just fitters.

I worked for both Autoglass and AutoWindscreens for 10 years or so as both a fitter and management. I can guarantee it depends on the fitter who is sent to do the job. OPC could very well sub the job out to whoever they deal with locally. We did all the main dealers except for Mercedes. One fitter at Auto Windscreens accidentally slipped with the cutting tool and sliced the roof of a (i think it was a 355) Ferrari.. They pledged to put it right... and decided to order a new shell from maranello and re-shell the car. That took quite a number of months to be delivered, the customer wanted a rental car whilst he waited... a Ferrari, fair enough. In the end it cost more money to re-shell the car and supply the rental, than to have just buy him a brand new car. I have lots of stories of f k ups when fitting glass by both companies... fitters writing cars off when 'wind testing' and even one case I had to personally deal with, was to replace a customers fish...and pond. The fitter had been to do a replacement drop glass on a car on the customers driveway at night, he'd walked across his lawn to get the customer to sign the job off and not seen his garden pond and fell in, damaging the liner. The customer woke up to dead fish and no water. 'I wondered why the fitter was wet' he said Good luck! Edited by JustGREENI on Wednesday 29th September 11:09

av185 said: Beware Autoglass! OPC is your best way to maintain warranty. Some Porsche screens are spurious unless correctly marked. The Porsche marking is meaningless btw. Glassman knows his stuff and should be along shortly. My OPC uses Autoglass . . .

av185 said: Beware Autoglass! OPC is your best way to maintain warranty. Some Porsche screens are spurious unless correctly marked. The Porsche marking is meaningless btw. Glassman knows his stuff and should be along shortly. Why do you need a OPC fitting to maintain warranty? Replacing a screen does not affect the warranty.

When I had Autoglass fit our windscreen I had in interesting chat with the fitter, I told him I was thinking of having BMW dealers to fit he replied ,most dealers out source but if their guys fit it’s not something they do everyday and he had been called out to sort some of their cock ups! But did say the other big glass fitters are not recommended! So as mentioned it all depends on the fitter! I certainly would use Autoglass again but something high end might be worth using a good bodyshop

Baz99 said: av185 said: Beware Autoglass! OPC is your best way to maintain warranty. Some Porsche screens are spurious unless correctly marked. The Porsche marking is meaningless btw. Glassman knows his stuff and should be along shortly. Why do you need a OPC fitting to maintain warranty? Replacing a screen does not affect the warranty. Don't be silly.

Npporsche said: Glassman all the way, would never trust Autoglass or any of the large windscreen companies to replace a Porsche windscreen. Thats such a large blanket statment and somewhat silly! Autoglass fit windscreens day in and day out! As far as I know pretty much ALL main dealers outsource glass fitting to a place like autoglass or national glass. Majority of people are quite happy with the fitting and some of them are super super fussy. I have had to get two fitted at different times in my car ownership - one was a BMW M6 with all sorts of tech and it was as spot on as it could be. Again it depends on the fitter but if you make a point of saying look I really need it done by your best guy please they usuall send out the person with the most experience with that mark or shape. I fully agree glassman is great - has a great rep. I am not disputing that at all, not to mention he is super helpful and if hes available then yes go with him but if not then the other should be fine too!

I would absolutely recommend Tim at Gold Windscreens Ipswich. He's personally done a few jobs for us and most recently replaced the screen on our Focus RS Edition with an OEM one collected from John Grose Ford. RS owners are notoriously particular and I wanted one with the Ford stamp. He negotiated with the insurance company for them to agree to pay £900 for the OEM part. I wouldn't hesitate to get him to replace the screen on our 992 which no doubt will be required at some stage. I don't know if it would work logistically but he's linked below. http://goldwindscreens.com/Goldwindscreens.com/Wel...

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JustGREENI said: I worked for both Autoglass and AutoWindscreens for 10 years or so as both a fitter and management. I can guarantee it depends on the fitter who is sent to do the job. Applies in every trade and every sector of it. There are some very ropey independents out there too!

Some interesting replies here especially regarding AutoGlass. It does seem that there is an element of luck with the fitter allocated on the day. On my 'lesser' cars AutoGlass have seemly done a good job, but I'm sure a good independent would find fault in their work. Although, some of the AutoGlass 'horror' stories do suggest it's gamble. However, in my recent experience, an independent fitter with an apparent good reputation is also no guarantee of either good work or good customer service. In my case, a so called good independent installed the windscreen incorrectly. This was pointed out to him at the time of fitting, but it took a further 9 months to get him back to refit the windscreen. Unbelievably, after a prolonged wait he proceeded to refit it in pretty much the same position as the first attempt. It didn't look right the first time and still doesn't after the second attempt. And when compared to the exact same car with its unchanged factory fitted screen, it's way out. What happened after this was pointed out to him, is almost unbelievable. Let's just say that this well regarded independent fitter got so wound up and angry about my disapproval of his work that he actually turned to physical violence and was determined to have a punch up over it! I managed to avoid this - just, but I was truly fearful of both mine and my wives safety! He also managed to damage my leather dash by not protecting it whilst the windscreen was out. All in all a terrible experience from somebody who I previously regarded as one of the good guys. All I say is, be careful who you chose and just because they might have a good reputation, their work still needs checking. Maybe I'll try Tim at Gold Windscreens next time.