After only four weeks of ownership the windscreen has taken a stone to the top edge which has produced a 4 inch long crack.

Has anyone had a heated windscreen changed ? Will it be the same cost as changing a standard screen. I remember years ago when these screens were only found on Fords, they were not covered by insurance in the same way. It was a lot more expensive to get changed. Is this still the case ?

Crikey. Mine too. I gave up holding for my insurance company ("your call is important to us" Grrr) to try to find out the excess, this afternoon.

Presumably it's a whole load more expensive so the excess may be too. Do you think they might be more prone to failure? my car is only six months old and there is no conclusive evidence that I can see that it was a stone.

Dill

Unfortunately, this is the downside of the heated windscreens, they are much more susceptible to stone cracks than the standard windscreen.

I had 3 windscreens replaced on my last Mondeo. (With heated screen)

There was no need to ring the insurance company, just called AutoGlass directly, they take your insurance policy number, check with the insurer and the pop round to replace it.

I just had to pay the £50 excess (also handled by AutoGlass) and everything was fine.

Just make sure that your policy no claims bonus is not affected by a glass claim as i think I was limited to 1 claim per year.

I did not have to pay a higher premium or larger excess because it had a heated screen but for sure it costs more than the standard glass if you have to replace it yourself.

Edited 31 March, 201412 yr by Gabbo

I've had a screen on my Mondeo, normal glass xs only.  When they fit watch out for dropped out elements in the new screen.

Over the years, since mid-eighties, I've had several heated front screens replaced (in Ford Granadas & Scorpio). No extra excess (just £50 or £60), and no effect on the insurance premium. I don't think that the screens are more susceptible to damage than unheated screens, but I did find that some of the heating elements broke with time (vibration and expansion/contraction of the glass, I guess). So a replacement screen from time to time, because of stone chips, was a pretty cheap way of getting a new, fully functional heated unit