Broken windscreen

[The Skud]

Had my 2017 L& k Superb estate since April, a couple of weeks ago a stone hit the windcreen  and cracked it badly, spoke to Autoglass who informed me that there is a European shortage of glass for cars and it could take months! Anyone else experienced this, been waiting two weeks for word back from them on availability but not a peep so far.

Edited 11 August, 2018 by The Skud

[BriskodaJeff]

Sorry to hear that Skud. Will follow this one with interest as I too picked up a stone chip yesterday. Only a 1cm crack,  down toward the bottom right corner of the screen, so i hope it can be repaired. Will give Autoglass a call on Monday. 

[boydeee]

Sorry to hear that. My dad got a large chip which started to crack 2 months ago. I was surprised that he had to wait 2 weeks to get a replacement. He also mentioned autoglass seem to only be mobile now. I remember driving to their workshop in the past.

Hope you don't have to wait too long and that their time estimate is a worst case scenario

[xman]

Anyone due an MOT will be ferked then...

[The Skud]

I might try ringing the local Skoda dealer to see if they can get them easily or whether it's just BS on the behalf of Autoglass.

[Boxerdog1]

8 hours ago, The Skud said:

Had my 2017 L& k Superb estate since April, a couple of weeks ago a stone hit the windcreen  and cracked it badly, spoke to Autoglass who informed me that there is a European shortage of glass for cars and it could take months! Anyone else experienced this, been waiting two weeks for word back from them on availability but not a peep so far.

Must be due to Brexit ... everything else is  

[xman]

Shortage of sand don't you know

 

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/08/08/sardinia-cracks-tourists-pilfering-sand-briton-fined-930-souvenir/

[BriskodaJeff]

So here is a picture of mine.

Autoglass seem happy to repair it, and it's booked for Wednesday. Hope it doesn't get any worse before then . I'll ask the technician if they know anything about screen shortages and report back (hopefully with an "after" picture showing a successful repair).

[xman]

That coin must have been going at a hell of a crack for it become embedded! 

 

Nice clean finger there, obviously a white collar worker....

[BriskodaJeff]

16 minutes ago, xman said:

That coin must have been going at a hell of a crack for it become embedded! 

 

Nice clean finger there, obviously a white collar worker....

I superglued it over the chip, to help out Autoglass. I'm sure they will appreciate it. And I always scrub up for a photo of course...

[JackySi]

I have a lot of hits like that and I don't see why repairing that would have any effect? At least on mine I can't see the hole getting to 2nd layer of the window (which is what is concerning). The chips otherwise are slightly visible but not annoying. Window should not break further if first layer is not penetrated. These windscreens can handle a lot of crap, but a right angle and bye...

I have really A LOOOOT of experience with broken windscreens, on previous 2 cars we changed about 14 screens. Sooo unlucky. Most were not even repaired, just replaced.

[BriskodaJeff]

4 minutes ago, JackySi said:

I have a lot of hits like that and I don't see why repairing that would have any effect? At least on mine I can't see the hole getting to 2nd layer of the window (which is what is concerning). The chips otherwise are slightly visible but not annoying. Window should not break further if first layer is not penetrated. These windscreens can handle a lot of crap, but a right angle and bye...

I have really A LOOOOT of experience with broken windscreens, on previous 2 cars we changed about 14 screens. Sooo unlucky. Most were not even repaired, just replaced.

 

You might be right JackySi, but over here a repair is the usual course of action where possible, since repair is cheap and replacement is expensive in relative terms. To give you an idea, the cost to me of the repair is a princely £10.00, with my insurance company picking up the rest of the tab (c£120 IIRC). A new screen, with the recalibration of the camera etc would run to several hundred pounds and put the car off the road for longer than I can afford to be without it. Sorry to hear about your screen damage - 14 screens in 2 cars is horrific!

[JackySi]

1 minute ago, BriskodaJeff said:

 

You might be right JackySi, but over here a repair is the usual course of action where possible, since repair is cheap and replacement is expensive in relative terms. To give you an idea, the cost to me of the repair is a princely £10.00, with my insurance company picking up the rest of the tab (c£120 IIRC). A new screen, with the recalibration of the camera etc would run to several hundred pounds and put the car off the road for longer than I can afford to be without it. Sorry to hear about your screen damage - 14 screens in 2 cars is horrific!

I understand. Didn't mean it like that, if its possible to repair its of course better course of action. I just think that these really small chips are not going to do any difference if you glue them/repair with the "standard" repair methods. It doesn't do much difference to windscreen hardness unless you actually get chip in same existing chip, but how much chance is for that

[xman]

That photo shows what looks like a tiny sub surface crack in one of the lower layers. The glue repair is not about strengthening but vacuuming out moisture and sealing. Once water is in, then a large temperature change and certainly freezing will see that tiny defect crack the windscreen. Been there, seen that.

[JackySi]

4 hours ago, xman said:

That photo shows what looks like a tiny sub surface crack in one of the lower layers. The glue repair is not about strengthening but vacuuming out moisture and sealing. Once water is in, then a large temperature change and certainly freezing will see that tiny defect crack the windscreen. Been there, seen that.

I see. I did never think about that. I'll get my tiny chips looked at too then. Perhaps I have the same issue. Thanks :=)

[BriskodaJeff]

10 hours ago, xman said:

That photo shows what looks like a tiny sub surface crack in one of the lower layers. The glue repair is not about strengthening but vacuuming out moisture and sealing. Once water is in, then a large temperature change and certainly freezing will see that tiny defect crack the windscreen. Been there, seen that.

From the outside it looks like a chip, but from the inside you can see a 1cm crack. Obviously it hasn't penetrated completely, but I do suspect sub-surface damage. As xman says, moisture and temperature changes are the big risk - hence getting it fixed asap.

[The Skud]

....well up date on this, 2 weeks down the line and not a peep from Autoglass so I rang them to be told they do not have an ETA for the glass for my car! so I phoned the local Skoda dealer who said that there were 21 showing on stock in the UK. Phoned Autoglass back and explained this to be told they do not have an account with Skoda so cannot order off them! Phoned my insurance company back and they gave me the number for two other companies they deal with, phoned Auto Windscreens and it is booked in for replacement on monday....no problems and will be calibrated as well. Just goes to show don't take their lame excuses for granted...shortage of glass...only for Autoglass it would appear.

[BriskodaJeff]

Hope you got your replacement screen done @The Skud. Don't suppose you could let us know the name of the other firm your insurer gave you apart from Auto Windscreens?

 

FYI mine was repaired on Wednesday. It isn't completely invisible, but at least I can be confident it won't spread now. I'm averaging a chip per year, so I might go for replacement if the inevitable happens again. 

[CoolC]

On 14/08/2018 at 14:26, The Skud said:

....phoned Auto Windscreens and it is booked in for replacement on monday....no problems and will be calibrated as well.......

 

Not for a few weeks it won't. They don't have any calibration equipment, so you will have to make a separate journey to the dealer on a different day when they can fit you in to get that done.

 

I look after all things ADAS for the company I work for and have had my Superb calibrated 15 times already since May, as I use it when training the techs on the equipment we use (it was calibrated 4 times on Thursday alone )

 

 

[The Skud]

On 24/08/2018 at 21:58, CoolC said:

 

Not for a few weeks it won't. They don't have any calibration equipment, so you will have to make a separate journey to the dealer on a different day when they can fit you in to get that done.

 

I look after all things ADAS for the company I work for and have had my Superb calibrated 15 times already since May, as I use it when training the techs on the equipment we use (it was calibrated 4 times on Thursday alone )

 

 

Sorry Coolc I beg to differ, re-booked with Autoglass who rang friday to say the glass was ready,  all done and dusted with a cert of calibration in 90 minutes! they have all the kit to do it in house ( I checked as the previous company said I had to go to the dealers to have it done ) original Skoda monogrammed glass as well! The manager did say that the screen was an absolute top of the line screen though!

Edited 26 August, 2018 by The Skud

[CoolC]

1 hour ago, The Skud said:

Sorry Coolc I beg to differ, re-booked with Autoglass who rang friday to say the glass was ready,  all done and dusted with a cert of calibration in 90 minutes! they have all the kit to do it in house ( I checked as the previous company said I had to go to the dealers to have it done ) original Skoda monogrammed glass as well! The manager did say that the screen was an absolute top of the line screen though!

 

Yes, AG have the equipment, AW don't. The company I work for have even more locations with ADAS calibration equipment that Autoglass, but I don't want to turn this into an advert for that company (I don't come on here to do that)

 

Glad it's all sorted for you now. 

[BriskodaJeff]

1 minute ago, CoolC said:

 

Glad it's all sorted for you now. 

+1. @The Skud did AG give you any explanation as to how they went from weeks of silence to "nothing in the country" to fixed in 90 minutes? Was it booking with AW that caused a re-think? I'm sure I'm not alone in worrying about being potentially off the road for something like this, so any insight you can give would be really helpful. Thanks in advance. 

[The Skud]

No, no explanation, they did say when I rebooked it that it would be generic glass as well but would be to the correct spec, however when I picked it up it was the Skoda monogrammed glass so OEM spec as well! the centre manager was raving about the glass in my car being a VERY high spec windscreen either way they did a good job of it and the calibration, just returned from a 1K round trip on holiday in Devon and it has been faultless, the ACC working perfectly and making progress very easy on the miles of M5 and M6 50mph zones.

[Gwynalynne]

This is what happens when a pidgeon hits your screen at speed! Serves me right for being in a hurry.

Screen is heated and has sensors for wipers and lights. Only 5 day turnaround by Autoglass, hopefully the fitting will be straightforward.

Knowing my luck I'll pick up a chip within the first month!

[JackySi]

That's really really bad luck! WOW!