Had a respray and cars back with cracked windscreen. Advice?

[robm3]

Had my car resprayed at rear and got them to do the front bonnet and bumper.

Just jumped in and driving home and see windscreen has large crack on passenger side from bottom up!

Can't think how this is caused except maybe over zealous use of heaters on bonnet???


Oh, the airbag light is on too but presume that's just a reset (2005 BMW 6 series).

Any advice fellow PH'ers?

[mneame]

Not sure where you stand legaly or what has caused it, but my opinion is that if it wasn't like it before it went into their care and it's come out damaged, then surely they have some sort of responsibilty over it.

Hope you manage to get it sorted.

[Old Merc]

If your positive the crack was NOT there before the paint job its the garages responsibility,proving it is another matter.Go and have a quiet word and see their response? Most insurance policies provide a "free" windscreen with out affecting the no claims.One of the nationwide outfits will fit the screen and you/the garage? pays a small excess of £40-£50.If your policy has this,suggest that the garage pays your excess.

[Squiggs]

robm3 said:

Had my car resprayed at rear and got them to do the front bonnet and bumper.

Not that it has much bearing on the fact that the screen may have been damaged - but if the car was resprayed 'at the rear' and the front was a sort of after thought, then how much of a 'rear' was resprayed to make 'the front bonnet and bumper' a 'got them to do' job?
Just asking.

[zap mc]

In all likelihood it is the coming together of both a small chip that you never previously noticed and the extreme heat of the oven that caused the crack and the paint shop were not actually liable but acted as the catalyst for the two conditions to combine resulting in the crack you now see. To satisfy yourself check along the length of the crack and you will probably see a chip in the surface of the glass at some Point along the glass probably a couple of inches from the edge. If the spray work was an insurance job then try to get the new screen fitted as part of the job to avoid paying two excesses, however an excess will typically be £75 nowadays and be recorded as a claim so consider whether it is cheaper to just sort yourself if it is a cheap screen. Aftermarket screens are more prone to cracking than o.e. screens because they are not left to cool slowly to the manufacturers spec after being formed in the kiln and hence the edges cool more rapidly and are under tension which is released in the form of a crack when it is chipped. When windscreen companies claim that their aftermarket screens are "made to the same standard as the o.e. screen" they refer to the dimensional properties of the glass and not this key property which only comes to light when the glass is chipped.

[Squiggs]

zap mc said:

In all likelihood it is the coming together of both a small chip that you never previously noticed and the extreme heat of the oven that caused the crack and the paint shop were not actually liable but acted as the catalyst for the two conditions to combine resulting in the crack you now see. To satisfy yourself check along the length of the crack and you will probably see a chip in the surface of the glass at some Point along the glass probably a couple of inches from the edge. If the spray work was an insurance job then try to get the new screen fitted as part of the job to avoid paying two excesses, however an excess will typically be £75 nowadays and be recorded as a claim so consider whether it is cheaper to just sort yourself if it is a cheap screen. Aftermarket screens are more prone to cracking than o.e. screens because they are not left to cool slowly to the manufacturers spec after being formed in the kiln and hence the edges cool more rapidly and are under tension which is released in the form of a crack when it is chipped. When windscreen companies claim that their aftermarket screens are "made to the same standard as the o.e. screen" they refer to the dimensional properties of the glass and not this key property which only comes to light when the glass is chipped.

Very imformative post - thanks - I've learnt something today.

[Glassman]

When did you spot it and how long before telling the bodyshop?

[Craikeybaby]

zap mc said:

In all likelihood it is the coming together of both a small chip that you never previously noticed and the extreme heat of the oven that caused the crack and the paint shop were not actually liable but acted as the catalyst for the two conditions to combine resulting in the crack you now see. To satisfy yourself check along the length of the crack and you will probably see a chip in the surface of the glass at some Point along the glass probably a couple of inches from the edge. If the spray work was an insurance job then try to get the new screen fitted as part of the job to avoid paying two excesses, however an excess will typically be £75 nowadays and be recorded as a claim so consider whether it is cheaper to just sort yourself if it is a cheap screen. Aftermarket screens are more prone to cracking than o.e. screens because they are not left to cool slowly to the manufacturers spec after being formed in the kiln and hence the edges cool more rapidly and are under tension which is released in the form of a crack when it is chipped. When windscreen companies claim that their aftermarket screens are "made to the same standard as the o.e. screen" they refer to the dimensional properties of the glass and not this key property which only comes to light when the glass is chipped.

That'll be why the replacement screen on my last MX-5 cracked within a month of being fitted