Screen Chips

[Dr_Rick]

So, just picked up an 07 RRS TDV8. First off, very nice car, loving the sound and the power. Now, I'm not looking to reject or anything like that, but, having picked up the car last night I did the usual walk round and checked they'd fixed what they said they were going to fix, plus spotted a paint chip that they'd missed. The response was to drop the car off and it would be touched up.

On the way home I noticed a number of ships in the windscreen from stones. The last time I looked it was daylight and they didn't catch my eye, but in the dusk the oncoming lights 'caught' the chips. The car has a new MOT so I would assume their outwith the MOT failure zone. And now the question ...

If you were picking up a used car from a franchised dealer who brought the car in from another branch, would you expect the chips in the screen to have been sorted?

I would have thought Autoglass would have been called in to fill the chips as part of the pre-sale check. Maybe I'm just expecting too much.

Dr Rick

[ruaricoles]

Sounds a bit much to expect to me, to be honest, assuming they're all fairly small (which if you didn't really notice them in daylight I assume to be the case). MOT guideline is 10mm max diameter in front of the steering wheel, and I think you can have up to 30 or 40mm outside of this area.

If any of the chips have damaged any of the heating elements (?) then I guess you'd have more of a case to go back to the dealer. If they're repairable you may well find it's completely free for you to sort anyway, depending on your insurance.

Enjoy the car!

[shunter V8]

I would have thought the garage would have a company that does windscreen repairs,be careful about claiming on the insurance as i have heard they can increase your premium the following year because you have had a claim even although it does not affect your NCB.I am not talking from experience but was told about it.

[Glassman]

Dr_Rick said:

I would have thought Autoglass would have been called in to fill the chips as part of the pre-sale check. Maybe I'm just expecting too much.

Your LR dealer will have a guy/company they use for PDR, another for wheel refurbishment; someone for glass repair (or replacements) and someone for painting in chips and polishing scuffs and dull spots.

IME, they give the car a good going over and anything obvious will be dealt with before anyone is invited to view it. That said, some things will and do get missed, while sometimes the sales team are simply taking a chance to see if they can sell the car without replacing a pitted windscreen for example.

I service three Land Rover/Jaguar dealerships and from what I have seen, windscreens will be checked for chips (and subsequently repaired). Scratches will be polished but if either is deemed beyond repair, they usually will replace the glass.

From what I can see, it sound like your screen is pitted. If this is the case, I doubt it is heavily pitted. This kind of surface 'wear and tear' will only show up more in direct light. Most vehicle windscreens will show surface pitting after x-amount of miles.

[Dr_Rick]

56k miles. There are probably 4 chips and maybe 10 'pits' across the screen. The chips wouldn't give an MOT man a headache, but are visible enough now to catch my eye each time I drive. The chips include a crack of sorts as past of the chip, not something extending away from the chip itself, but part of it. If that makes sense.

I just thought I'd gauge opinions on whether this sort of defect should be picked up in the pre-sales checks by a main dealer, and if noticed, rectified.

Dr Rick

[Glassman]

Check how the chips look from outside the car - the may have been repaired.

Another way is to get a metal scriber (or something small, metal and pointy) and very gently tap the glass around the chip - this should give you a clear metal-to-glass tapping sound. Now gently tap the centre of the chip. If the sound is a dull/dampened/softer noise, the chances are, it's been repaired.