windscreen crack advice please

Hi all, had a nice drive in a mini convoy from bath via stonehenge in to london. unfortunatley i managed to pick up a crack on the windsceen. :-( i am covered via insurance for a new windsceen via autoglass. has anybody had any experience with them or have any top tips? thanks in advance.

I'm having my windscreen and all new seals (front and rear) replaced this week - do not go with Autoglass! I'm getting it done by JZM.

I have read alot about people who said about the bad service they have got fron Autoglass... :nooo:

oh dear. :-( do you know the ballpark cost for just the front windscreen Adrien? thanks

Not sure exactly, but it's quite a few hundred as the labour is a good 5-6 hours for a proper job. At least the process is being done correctly and without damage to the car. Mine needed replacing after it was cracked, and the replacement by JZM is covered by my glass insurance (I still pay the glass excess).

With A Manning, £50 excess for Autoglass, £100 with OPC. I had mine done by OPC (who actually got a contractor in to do it, but at least I had the recourse that comes with paying an OPC). IIRC it was about £600 total But of course, I only paid £100, and the car was collected and delivered back - spotless - very important for me, as it's the only time the car ever gets a proper wash :lol: (Too busy driving it the rest of the time)

I had my windscreen changed by Autoglass through the insurance and I was very happy with the service. I made sure I got a technician who knew what he was doing when I booked the repair. As I needed to sort out some rust around the windscreen they removed the screen one day, very well done no damage to the car. Then a week later I got them to come back after I had repaired the rusty area. When I was talking to the guy he commented on how the windscreen hadnt been fitted properly previously (before I had bought the car) as the seal wasnt sitting correctly. Seemed to have all the right answers under my subtle interrogation so I was quite pleased with the work when it was finished. Ade

Thanks. so far i have found autoglass(hendon) to be be very good. they have been very helpful in getting elephant to authorise paying for OEM glass. (which was like drawing blood from a stone, but after threatening to cancel the insurance on both my cars with them, they agreed!) They have communicated to me well and without me even asking they have said when the glass comes in there might be a slight delay on when they can fit as they want their best guy to work on this job.... so, so far i have been happy with the service, will see how the important bit goes!

IMO and as with all these situations, it is the quality and skill of the technician performing the work rather than the company they work for that really determines the quality of the job. There are probably great technicians that work for Autoglass as well as poor technicians working for OPC's. The company they work for only really comes in if there is an issue etc which is seldom the case.

auto glass replaced mine under insurance and they did a very good job. had to wait 3 days for it to be done as their "porsche specalist" was on other jobs, turned out all to be 911's. work was top notch and they clearely new exactly what to do and what order to do things in and they even got the right top tint first time would have no worries to use again, but already stated, it depends more upon person doing job as oppose to which company used

Haran, did elephant approve it straight away? I dont have any cracks, but do have loads of scratches/swirl marks that make it horrible if driving at night in the rain. When I asked elephant about replacing it cos of this, they said no. I'm now with Admiral, so might try again, I just wondered how they make their decision?

haha, i would not say it was easy. at the risk of name and shame, but i assume all their calls i recorded to back this up. Phone call 1 E:we will not approve it H: i feel very strongly i want original glass E, Ok i will get back to you Phone call 2 E:sorry we definiltely will not be able to provide OEM glass, its against policy H: i don';t think you understood me, i will not accept non-OEM glass, I insure 2 cars with you and have done for many years. i expected that the premium i pay for the Pork reflects that Pork parts are more expensive, i do not put non-OEM parts on my car, the windscreen is no different, happy to speak to your manager if this will help E: OK, let me pass that on and get back to you. Phone call 3 E: i have spoken to my manager, this is now approved H: thanks, that's great. Phone call 4 (from autoglass head office) A: hi sir just to let you know Elephant have not approved OEM glass, are you happy to proceed with our glass? H: No, let me get back to you Phone call 5 E: We cannot approve OEM glass H: this was approved E: that was a mistake H: i have a job and it does not entail being on the phone to you. <repeat all arguments from Phone call2> E: Ok i will get back to you Phone call 6 E: we cannot approve as autoglass will not fit Pork glass H: you mean they will not fit at price you are willing to pay E: no, they will not fit Pork glass H: Ok, now you are lying to me which as a loyal customer i find very offensive. E: they will not fit Pork glass H: I suggest you speak to Mr X at the branch who is more than happy to fit Pork glass, just waiitng for 2 days now for your approval to order, or speak to Mrs Y at Autoglass head office who again is more than happy to have their branch fit the glass once approval has been obtained or 20 Pork owners i can provide you with who have had autoglass fit Pork glass. And can i re-iterate i do not appreciate being lied to or wasting my time speaking to your staff E: we will get back to you H: finebut the next conversation i have with yuu will be the last one on this matter, it needs to happen in the next half an hour and if it does not result in OEM glass for my car being approved, i will be cancelling my insurance on both my cars. Phone call 7 E: this has now been approved, sorry for confusion, blah blah blah H:thanks. The autoglass guy tell me he spoke to about 8 people from elephant as well... so Josh, no not easy, but after phone call 3 i was annoyed! :evil:

Mother of god that sounds painful. I only meant getting it approved to be replaced in the first place, never mind getting it approved to be a Porsche screen! Last time they refused to do anything, saying scratches arent bad enough, it has to be a crack. Elephant & Admiral are the same company, so I doubt I would fare better on Porsche vs standard Autoglass. Will see how I get on. Dare I ask, whats wrong with non-OEM glass? or is just on principle that you wanted Porsche glass?

On most modern cars with bonded screens the windscreen itself is a structural component of the car - especially critical in the case of cabriolets. Would you want to take that risk with non-OEM glass?

Fair point - good thinking. I also know that Porsche screens are triple layered, autoglass might not be, or might be made of a chocolate/cream based filling or something else cheap. So, does anyone know if the windscreens are coated in anything? I ask cos a 993 user suggested Jeweller's Rouge as a polish for the screen, as it worked on his 993 side windows. I was just thinking if the more modern 996 screens are coated in anything fancy, the rouge might not go too well with that.