Windscreen polishing and scratch removal

[Glassman]

PoleDriver said:

Glassman said:

Meaning? Smash the windscreen and claim on your insurance?

The repairer/replacement company is obliged to make an assessment on behalf of the insurance company as to whether or not a repair/replacement claim is warranted/justified.

In the real world, the chap representing the nominated supplier has little time or inclination to think beyond getting the job done and bonus bagged (and getting home at the end of his run which could be way before his scheduled shift end).

IMPO

[familyguy1]

well the snake oil has worked well for me, only limited by the fact I only had a cordless drill, limited time and some scratches were too deep so suspect I need the kit for deeper scratches, but for all the minor one on my drivers window are now hardly noticeable.

Yes the kit says mains powered drill, but I don't have one but my dewalt 18.8v seemed to cope... just about.

HTH

Paul

[lord trumpton]

liner33 said:

xjay1337 said:

I had a horrific windscreen on my GTI. Loads of marks and swirly and crap in the light.
This was after washing, claying, hand polishing.

IMG_5725 by Fat Bear Photography, on Flickr

After attacking with the Ceriglass and rotary.

IMG_5726 by Fat Bear Photography, on Flickr

IMG_5722 by Fat Bear Photography, on Flickr

IMG_5724 by Fat Bear Photography, on Flickr

Someone has to say it , all that crap in your view and you worry about light scratches on the screen , go figure

It's the dub scene though. A faction of VW owners that go out of their way to make their cars different and stand out from the crowd by all doing exactly the same thing...
Collapsed suspension, some rusty stuff, bunch of flowers in the windscreen, stickers down the lhs of the windscreen, numberplate plate in the windscreen, beards and tyres too small for the rim.

Maybe if the scratches were left in the screen it could spark a new 'must have' scene modification?

All in a light hearted banter intent - please don't get upset

[anothernameitist]

Jewelers rouge as a cheap first option

[Blue Oval84]

So I had a first crack at the car this PM and I'm over the moon!!

Sorry the pictures are terrible but it's the best I could get with my phone outside. I'll be honest I only spent about half an hour on the whole screen as light was failing me, and probably didn't use enough polish on the pad (I applied two lines of polish in the shape of a cross on the pad) as it more or less disappeared after a few passes.

That said, in the area I focussed on most heaily in front of the driver, the improvement at night is massive. I can now see clearly, oncoming cars don't cause the screen to light up in a haze and the scratches are not a distraction. The passenger side isn't quite as good but that's where I started (didn't want to risk starting out where I look through it the most!) and I don't think I'd quite got the knack.

Anyway, I think when I get the chance to give it another go I'll restore it to more or less new, but this will definitely do for now. I can see clearly and want to focus on removing some horrible suncream staining from the paintwork as my next little job.

Big thanks to everyone who recommended Ceriglass, it's a great product!

Before-


After-

[pits]

I'm too clumsy to polish glass, a few summers back I tripped on a really hot day and spilled my ice cold water all over my hot windscreen, cracked instantly which was annoying.

Then last winter, had a big cup of boiling hot tea on a frosty morning, went out to de-ice the car, tripped and basically threw my tea all over the screen, and it cracked.

I've also fallen on one with an automatic centre punch, because I'm.so God damn clumsy, had to have all those screens replaced for £70.


Would hate to have tried polishing them only to bloody crack them, then get someone out to replace it, really inconvenient. *wink wink*

[Blue Oval84]

pits said:

Would hate to have tried polishing them only to bloody crack them, then get someone out to replace it, really inconvenient. *wink wink*

I could have done something like that, but this polishing kit cost way less than an excess and it means I don't need to risk someone who may not be very good changing my screen.

It's got the factory one in at the moment, the last time I had a screen changed the results were, disappointing. The aftermarket replacement also had most of it's heating elements fail within 12 months

[Glassman]

pits said:

*wink wink*

[Toyoda]

How is that supposed to be better?? You've now got that significant diagonal glare which reminds me of driving at night with an old pair of glasses on that are finely scratched. Every streetlight or headlamp will cause the diagonal glare.

[Speed addicted]

pits said:

I'm too clumsy to polish glass, a few summers back I tripped on a really hot day and spilled my ice cold water all over my hot windscreen, cracked instantly which was annoying.

Then last winter, had a big cup of boiling hot tea on a frosty morning, went out to de-ice the car, tripped and basically threw my tea all over the screen, and it cracked.

I've also fallen on one with an automatic centre punch, because I'm.so God damn clumsy, had to have all those screens replaced for £70.


Would hate to have tried polishing them only to bloody crack them, then get someone out to replace it, really inconvenient. *wink wink*

I just called my insurers and told them that the screen was excessively pitted and scratched so that driving at night was becoming a problem, and that I wanted it to be replaced.
After a bit of confusion (no it's not broken, just worn out) they agreed to change the screen.

No tea needed!

[Glassman]

Speed addicted said:

I just called my insurers and told them that the screen was excessively pitted and scratched so that driving at night was becoming a problem, and that I wanted it to be replaced.
After a bit of confusion (no it's not broken, just worn out) they agreed to change the screen.

No tea needed!

No doubt you were talking to your insurer, but this is not always the case; the inbound call is usually redirected to the nominated supplier (if it isn't its own dedicated number for glass claims).

A few weeks ago a chap with a leaking windscreen called his insurer to see if they would entertain a claim for a replacement screen (rather than him fork out for the removal and refitting of it). He came back to me and said that they 'would honour it' but he had to use their nominated repairer.

As it turned out, he did not speak to his insurer at all. It was 'the windscreen people' speaking on behalf of his insurer.

[Blue Oval84]

Toyoda said:

How is that supposed to be better?? You've now got that significant diagonal glare which reminds me of driving at night with an old pair of glasses on that are finely scratched. Every streetlight or headlamp will cause the diagonal glare.

What do you mean? I had massive amounts of diagonal glare before, now I have a lot less, and in some patches none at all (I obviously didn't do it totally evenly).

Next attempt will have it sorted properly.

I've driven it at night twice now and believe me the difference between before and after is massive. The pictures don't remotely capture the improvement.

[xjay1337]

Toyoda said:

How is that supposed to be better?? You've now got that significant diagonal glare which reminds me of driving at night with an old pair of glasses on that are finely scratched. Every streetlight or headlamp will cause the diagonal glare.

It will just be the angle of the camera.

I've done several glass panels and never had any glare issues.

[pits]

Glassman said:

pits said:

*wink wink*

Cracked screen is a cracked screen and £70 is a bargain for a new one, not my fault I'm clumsy, Autoglass do a sterling job as well, especially when you accidentally spec the green sun strip.

Just hope I don't trip this winter, that'll be 3 new screens in 2 years

[Glassman]

pits said:

Glassman said:

pits said:

*wink wink*

Cracked screen is a cracked screen and £70 is a bargain for a new one, not my fault I'm clumsy, Autoglass do a sterling job as well, especially when you accidentally spec the green sun strip.

Just hope I don't trip this winter, that'll be 3 new screens in 2 years

A lot of the motoring fraternity will feel like they've helped you with the rising cost of their insurance.

pits said:

So I've just got my Defender back from the body shop, and very lovely it is, however I no longer need it as I no longer live in an area that floods every three minutes.
I partly don't want to sell because they're only going up in value, but at the same time I can't have it just sat there doing nothing, the truck is lovely and I stand to profit greatly from it
90 County
Galvanised chassis
Polybush
Fancy shocks and upgraded springs (no lift though)
Wading kit
Safari Snorkel
Freshly painted
All the bolt extras powder coated
87k miles on clock
Big tyres

Hoping to get around £14k for it, and well I have a few options
Use money to pay off credit card and loan (had to use it for business) which would leave me with about 4k
Or spend 10k and use the 4k on credit card.

Option 1 leaves me with 4k for something fun but classic which will be
Restore my old VW to a certain degree
Mk1 Golf GTi in Mars red completely standard

• something else*

Option 2 is unknown really, got so many ideas for this but want something that will appreciate
TVR Chim
840ci
Lancia Delta (I know proper bottom end of market one)
Jensen Interceptor, so I've been looking and it is possible, it would need work obviously but at the same time I have an Interceptor
M5, as much as I love them is out, I can't have two E39's on the road and I hate saloons, so will end up hating it because it's a saloon
V8 conversion into my old E34 Tourer possibly?

Still a while away from this, but just can't decide

Couldn't you just trip with a can of petrol and a candle?

[xjay1337]

hah

[pits]

Glassman said:

Couldn't you just trip with a can of petrol and a candle?

I could do, but then I'd have to insure it for on the road, and really it would be better with like a creme brule torch, candle could go out in the fall, but fail to see what the relevance of that post has to do with a windscreen though, then again that did have a new screen last year, didn't need Autoglass for that though, easy enough to fit.

Surely though, as Glassman, you should be in favour of people having new screens, I mean is it not what you do? Or do you not want people to get you to do broken screens?

[Glassman]

pits said:

Surely though, as Glassman, you should be in favour of people having new screens, I mean is it not what you do? Or do you not want people to get you to do broken screens?

No, I am, but I'm not a fan of people bragging about deliberately breaking windscreens to dupe their insurance companies into coughing up for them. You're alright through, because you're extremely accident prone.