Broken windscreen - autoglass

[London GT3]

mybrainhurts said:

I've had new screens from Autoglass in two cars recently. It never even occurred to me they might be inferior and nothing struck me as different by way of appearance.

Much has been said on this thread, but nobody has pointed to any differences. Please explain, are they made from compressed grass and dung, or what?

Any how many dealer mechanics are skilled at fitting screens?

I had a non OEM screen fitted to my BMW X6 and the difference was that up near the top of the screen, in the middle, around where the rear view mirror was fitted there was a distinct and very large but "gentle" bulge. The wipers worked fine but looking through from the inside there was a distortion to the sky and when viewed from the outside it was very noticeable once I knew it was there. The glass had a major glass manufacturers badge on it (can't remember if it was Pilkington or Saint Gobain).

I would avoid non OEM glass in the future and more importantly I would select my fitter with great care.

[mybrainhurts]

London GT3 said:

I had a non OEM screen fitted .... The glass had a major glass manufacturers badge on it (can't remember if it was Pilkington or Saint Gobain).

I would avoid non OEM glass in the future and more importantly I would select my fitter with great care.

There can't be many manufacturers. Do we know the names of the duff ones?

[crossy67]

London GT3 said:

I had a non OEM screen fitted to my BMW X6 and the difference was that up near the top of the screen, in the middle, around where the rear view mirror was fitted there was a distinct and very large but "gentle" bulge.

Very common.

mybrainhurts said:

So nobody fits OE screens, then..??
[/mybrainhurts]

No no one ever.

Given the choice I would have fitted nothing but OE but the vast majority customers only see the £££££'s or their insurance companies restrict what you can get paid for a job an OE screen is just too expensive. There is a different market in France where almost all garages fit their own glass. This means you take your Peugeot into a Peugeot garage the have a Peugeot glass fitted by a Peugeot mechanic. Here the insurance companies seem to be able to dictate the price a job is worth, to windscreen companies it's usually half the Thatcham approved rate.

[Glassman]

mybrainhurts said:

There can't be many manufacturers. Do we know the names of the duff ones?

Potentially, they all can be, and it gets quite complex in an industry where even the manufacturers aren't being transparent - pun intended.

For example, Guardian (Spanish) will do a production run for Audi and ship the Audi branded windscreens to Bratislavia. A load more will be made for the Audi parts network. Another run will be for the non Audi branded version and this may even be in a plant elsewhere, sometimes in a completely different part of the world. Do the Pepsi challenge between the two and you'll see the differences, such as the absence of the four rings; the word 'Guardian' will be in smaller/larger font; hardware (such as mirror brackets or trims) won't be the same as the 'genuine' counterparts and may not be on as straight. Many fitters (or even the call handlers) will state that the non-OEM windscreens "just haven't been stamped", which is total bks and there are very few exceptions to this.

Some genuine OEM branded BMW, Land Rover, Fiat and Seat windscreens have had the (car manufacturer) logos removed by laser and overlaid with a black Pilkington emblem. These few/rare examples excepted, generally speaking, if the glass does not bear the car manufacturer's logo on it, it is not as good as one that has.

In my opinion, Saint Gobain (Sekurit) is the best quality overall. It used to be Pilkington, but they've become a bit inconsistent in recent years. Here's a little clue why that might be: if you have a Pilkington windscreen, have a look at the word itself (usually bottom right of the screen). Somewhere around it will be a dot. This is an internal marker for where that glass was manufactured:

A dot below the P = Sao Paolo;
To the left of the P = Cacapava;
Below the I = Shelbyville;
Above the L = Aken...

The Automotive Glass Replacement industry is huge, worldwide; it's a massive market and fiercely competitive. Which of the two types of glass do you think sells the most? The better quality (and more expensive) OEM ones, or the not-as-good (but cheaper) copy versions? This is why you have so many brands to choose from in the AGR supply sector: XYG (China) Fuyao (China) Nordglass (Poland) Shatterprufe (South Africa) and even the slightly better non-branded Guardian, AGC Splintex, Saint Gobain Sekurit, Pilkington, PGW, Lameks... there are too many to list. None of them are genuine (and probably not even the same plant as the OEM versions despite being under the same glass manufacturer name).

Edited by Glassman on Thursday 17th April 22:03

[Glassman]

London GT3 said:

up near the top of the screen, in the middle, around where the rear view mirror was fitted there was a distinct and very large but "gentle" bulge.

oi oi saveloy

[mybrainhurts]

Glassman said:

Stuff

Blimey, thanks for that info, I had no idea.

So, what happens to the OE screens that are not used in car production? Does the car manufacturer keep them in stock forever if insurers won't specify them?

[Glassman]

mybrainhurts said:

Blimey, thanks for that info, I had no idea.

So, what happens to the OE screens that are not used in car production? Does the car manufacturer keep them in stock forever if insurers won't specify them?

Car manufacturers are very keen to get around 10 years worth of parts when a new car is launched.

If the heated rear window on an Audi cabriolet breaks, you're looking at around £3k for one (and it comes with a new roof BTW). Windscreens and glass for many new cars will only be available from main dealers for a while and even with a bit of trade discount you'll be in for a few quid. The 997 windscreens are a classic example.

[mybrainhurts]

Strewth

[crossy67]

Another good example is Nissan Navara sun roof glass, just the glass, no roof. £1200 with my discount including vat!