Windscreen replacement

[Fairyvan]

This afternoon someone's car( he was going fast!) coming towards me,  threw up  a stone which hit my windscreen with some force. Just phoned Autoglass and from my description, centimetre cut and two or three grazing marks around it, the lady on the phone said it will be a replacement windscreen, not a repair. Gutted to have this happen at only six weeks on the road. :(

 

 

Some years ago when I had a windscreen replaced it really spoilt the inside trim - really worried this will happen again.  I have a somewhat vain hope that she is wrong and the guy will be able to repair it.

 

Are Yeti windscreens easy for them to replace?

[wakev]

Worry not if its replaced you will not know it has been done, a fair few have been done for members of the forum. 

[fatwomble]

Unrepairable chip on mine after 3 weeks of ownership :( leaving mine until it cracks as knowing my luck I will end up with another as soon as I get it replace. I had 5 windscreens replaced over a 2 year period a few years ago (4 cars)

[bilun777]

I've had 2 Yeti windscreens replaced ...No problems .

[wakev]

Unrepairable chip on mine after 3 weeks of ownership :( leaving mine until it cracks as knowing my luck I will end up with another as soon as I get it replace. I had 5 windscreens replaced over a 2 year period a few years ago (4 cars)

You been taking lessons of my wife, she had 5 in 4 years on an MG,  told her it's easier to clean them than replace them       

[manxskoda]

Fairyvan I have just had the rear windscreen replaced and the hardest part of the operation was the extraction of the rear door plastic covers (2 parts top and bottom) to get rid of the glass shards.The lads who did it had never done a Yeti on island before so it was a bit of a learning curve for them. Touch wood all glass was removed and it was a job well done.Hope your replacement goes well.

Tony

[freedie]

Fairy! I read the post that someone made whose car had been hit and needed a new windscreen side panel. I said to my wife how lucky we were having driven 500 the previous day and no probs. Went out to move car to garage ~ windscreen cracked. Just had autoglass here to replace it. Perfect job. Immaculate result. Don't worry!

[Fairyvan]

Thank you so much guys! You have made me feel so much better! It's the first one I've had go for at least 15 years- hope I don't get a spate of it!!

[TMfSR]

If you have rain sensing wipers, just make sure these work properly after the replacement. I had problems with the wipers after a windscreen replacement on my previous work car (VW Golf Wagon).

[jonceebee]

Similar problem myself last Sunday. Driving down the A64 towards York a large van travelling in the opposite direction on the dual carriageway threw up a large stone which smashed into the passenger side of the windscreen. I could not believe it had not cracked it, but it has left about 5 pit marks on the screen which are pretty deep and ruin the appearance of the screen. I am tempted to buy and try one of these kits that are available on ebay which they claim can help reduce glass pit damage. Has anyone any experience of these?

[gcp]

I am really surprised at how big an issue stone chips / cracks on windscreens are in the UK. In my 17 years of driving in Greece I have covered more than my fair share of miles (or, rather, kilometers!) in a number of cars and a variety of urban and rural roads, and have never had any chipped windscreens. As far as I know, the same applies for the majority of the people I know. Given the dire state of the roads over here compared to the UK I would have thought that the problem would be much more common, but apparently it is the other way around.

 

Of course, having said all this, I guess I should now expect stone damage on my windscreen over the next few days!

[Frenchtone]

^ more traffic about in the UK? also a stupid sense of urgency with speed in UK!

[jonceebee]

^ more traffic about in the UK? also a stupid sense of urgency with speed in UK!

 

Agree totally with this, it was the speed the van was doing that caused this and I would say in all my years of driving it is usually some speedster overtaking and then swinging back in very close to the front of my car that has usually caused the damage.

[gcp]

^ more traffic about in the UK? also a stupid sense of urgency with speed in UK!

Interesting points both of these... I would be surprised if speed were the only reason. Speed limit enforcement is much more, shall we say, "relaxed" in Greece compared to the UK, and judging from my experience in both countries I am quite sure that average speeds are at least comparable.

 

Traffic density outside city limits might be a better explanation, as traffic in the UK is indeed much more "decentralized". It is my feeling that A- and B-roads outside the main urban areas in Greece do carry far less traffic than their UK equivalents.

Edited 12 December, 2013 by gcp

[33q]

I guess its down to the quality of the individual fitter on the day. My wife had a repair done on her 12 day old Mini but you could always see it (behind the mirror) Similarly a repair lasted for years on her Astra but still visible and annoying.

 

I had stone damage on a an almost new Focus about 3 miles from home. Pick up truck going too fast kicking up stones on the edge of a country road. On that occasion the damage spread across the screen and it was full width in those 3 miles.

 

Fitter said that damage near the edge nearly always means a new screen.

 

Mine have always been replaced without issue.  

[Fairyvan]

If you have rain sensing wipers, just make sure these work properly after the replacement. I had problems with the wipers after a windscreen replacement on my previous work car (VW Golf Wagon).

I don't have this refinement- a good point though and one of the questions the guy from Autoglass asked me this morning when he rang to confirm the appointment.

[octavia55]

Some advice from a freelander forum, if you have a heated windscreen and it's in manufactures warranty insist it replaced by a genuine Skoda screen, if it's replaced by a pattern part and there is a problem with the heating bit Skoda will say its down the glass company, who will say its Skoda leaving you in the middle until it's proved who fault it is. Apparently you can insist companies like autoglass fit a genuine windscreen rather than their own.

[Fairyvan]

I personally don't have a heated windscreen (I don't like them-always see the lines!) however that is very interesting information and an important point for those who do. I must admit I have never thought about the windscreens they fit not being the same as the original, can/should one ask for the genuine article if it is not a heated one?

[octavia55]

I don't think it would make much difference if it's not a heated screen, if there is a fault with the glass the windscreen company will fix it and they should come with a years warranty. The heated bit in the screen will come with a three year warranty as the rest of the car. If a heating element goes or the screen de-laminates after eighteen months and it's not genuine Skoda won't cover it. It happened with a freelander, many of which have heated screens, it stopped working landrover said it was the screen, the screen company said it was the car electrics, result car owner stuck in the middle and having to pay for investigations to establish where the fault was.

[Fairyvan]

That's awful! I hope there is an industry standard on screens, makes me wonder when there are people having so many replacements!!

[Fairyvan]

I am very happy to report that my windscreen was repairable!  Very nice man understood completely why I would prefer a repair and said so would he on such a new car. He explained he would try the repair but there was a risk it would badly crack and have to be a replacement.

 

Fortunately it worked and the good news is, the repair is guaranteed for as long as I own the car. If it should crack out from the same spot, I would get a free replacement with no excess. My £75 excess for this incident is being refunded.

 

He did say that Yeti screens can be more prone to stones cracking them as they are a more upright screen than for example my Focus (which has never chipped or cracked from a number of hits) and they replace more screens in cars with upright screens .Apparently they are more likely to glance off the sloped screens.

[bilun777]

Result !

[g6zru]

My windscreen was repaired at 2 weeks old! The chip was fairly close to the edge but the fitter said he thought it would be OK but it'd be covered anyway. Two and a half years on and it's still OK.

 

Fred  

[andyspan]

Well, after nearly 3 years of ownership the dreaded cracked screen has happened to me! A bleeding great artic hurtling along in the opposite direction threw a stone up which chipped the screen near the lower edge. At first I thought a repair would be possible but parked overnight in the garage the chip extended to a 10 inch crack! Booked in to Autoglass on Tuesday morning for replacement, just hope they don't make a pig's ear of it   

[freedie]

Don't let them sell you windscreen wipers at £20 a set...

Buy OEM ~ cheaper and they won't whistle!