Windscreen Replacement
Discussion
Can anyone tell me, do you really have to loosen/remove the front clam to replace a cracked windscreen?
I'm with elephant who will charge me £70 if I take it to Autoglass in Bermondsey (London) but if I want to get it done by anyone I know and trust will only offer me £50 towards the costs.
At least it doesn't impact my no claims.
I'm with elephant who will charge me £70 if I take it to Autoglass in Bermondsey (London) but if I want to get it done by anyone I know and trust will only offer me £50 towards the costs.
At least it doesn't impact my no claims.
Seems a question that always arises and everyone has differing views. If they have to loosen the clam, then it would only take half an hour to do, as long as the fixings come undone !!! front of the car on stands, remove wheels and wheel liners, remove the door hinge panel bolts to front clam X4 undo pillar bolts and then the centre nose bolts under the inspection hatches.I took my clam off as a novice in just over an hour, although maybe better to get it done at a dealer rather than a let a windscreen monkey crash it around........
Had my windscreen replaced by autoglass under the insurance a year ago - they had to take the clam off but were not phased by it and did a great job. The only thing was it couldnt be done by a mobile unit and had to be taken into their premises, and took half a day, but was well worth it.
You may want look into having a heated windscreen fitted - I have seen a few people post about them and it doesnt seem to be much extra cost.
You may want look into having a heated windscreen fitted - I have seen a few people post about them and it doesnt seem to be much extra cost.
Sounds like Elephant have a deal with Autoglass - Elephant send them business, Autoglass charge Elephant much less than elsewhere.
Elephant are probably scared that if you go elsewhere it will cost silly money and (rightly) that a windscreen fitter with no fear or obligation towards them, will just tell you and Elephant to get lost if there are any problems afterwards.
Autoglass will not want to lose the contract with Elephant - so you can be sure any scratches or nonsense with your car will be dealt with.
Up to you of course, but I'd pay the £70 and let Autoglass do it. Either you watch them like a hawk throughout, or take dated and timed pictures of the car before you hand it over, if you are worried about negligence.
If your car does get damaged, it will be a million times easier to deal with your own insurance company's authorised repairers, as they (the insurer) are the customer, not you.....big, big money and business to risk.
Elephant are probably scared that if you go elsewhere it will cost silly money and (rightly) that a windscreen fitter with no fear or obligation towards them, will just tell you and Elephant to get lost if there are any problems afterwards.
Autoglass will not want to lose the contract with Elephant - so you can be sure any scratches or nonsense with your car will be dealt with.
Up to you of course, but I'd pay the £70 and let Autoglass do it. Either you watch them like a hawk throughout, or take dated and timed pictures of the car before you hand it over, if you are worried about negligence.
If your car does get damaged, it will be a million times easier to deal with your own insurance company's authorised repairers, as they (the insurer) are the customer, not you.....big, big money and business to risk.
It is hard to justify paying out of my own pocket when elephant will only charge me £70, so despite being very nervous I have booked it in with Autoglass. I might give them a phone a couple of days before and make sure they have the right part and that an experience mechanic will be available on the day.
Fingers crossed...
Fingers crossed...
It is taking them a couple of days to get the part in but I'm working out of town till the weekend anyway so that's not an issue. Apparently the job will be 4-6 hours including an hour to cure.
One saving grace is that it is due into track-club the following weekend for some upgrades so I can get them to check the job has been done right.
One saving grace is that it is due into track-club the following weekend for some upgrades so I can get them to check the job has been done right.
So, replacing the windscreen took 4 hours from drop-off to collection. The job was done by one person and while she said it was tricky it wasn't too bad (far better than having to do the rear glass apparently).
The hard top had to be removed, as did both front access panels, from there she said you could just loosen the clam to cut out the old glass and fit the new one in. The rear view mirror was fitted back in pretty much the correct place and there are no initial signs of any problems. It was a bit wet when I collected it so I couldn’t really tell if there were any scratches etc but there don't appear to be any major issues which is the main thing. Hat's off to AutoGlass Bermondsey!
The cost of the job on the sheet was £1085, although I was told it would be roughly double that if I had been paying without Elephants discount - quite hard to believe: surely around £50 an hour for labour for 4 hours... I can't believe the windscreen could have been priced at nearly £2k? Either way, at least I only had the £70 excess and no impact on my no claims.
The hard top had to be removed, as did both front access panels, from there she said you could just loosen the clam to cut out the old glass and fit the new one in. The rear view mirror was fitted back in pretty much the correct place and there are no initial signs of any problems. It was a bit wet when I collected it so I couldn’t really tell if there were any scratches etc but there don't appear to be any major issues which is the main thing. Hat's off to AutoGlass Bermondsey!
The cost of the job on the sheet was £1085, although I was told it would be roughly double that if I had been paying without Elephants discount - quite hard to believe: surely around £50 an hour for labour for 4 hours... I can't believe the windscreen could have been priced at nearly £2k? Either way, at least I only had the £70 excess and no impact on my no claims.
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