Autoglass - exceptionally poor glass

Horizon81

I recently had my windscreen replaced by Autoglass. They used a Pilkington windscreen for the replacement which I always believed was a quality manufacturer. How wrong I was! The glass is (mostly) ok when looking straight ahead through it, but when you look through it on a slight angle (such as sitting in the drivers seat and looking through the passenger side half of the windscreen) then you can see huge ripples in the glass, which distorts whatever you're looking at. It's present throughout the whole windscreen and if you feel it closely you can actually feel the ripples in it. The whole thing's like funhouse glass!

So... what to do next? I really don't want another Pilkington windscreen putting in as they're obviously poor poor quality. What I want is an original Toyota branded screen putting in. Do Autoglass have to comply or are they likely to tell me where to go. Any advice/previous experience welcome.
Thanks

Hintza

Sure if you pay them more money they will put in whatever you want.

How do you know Pilkington windscreens are poor? On the basis of one faulty screen?

Have you spoken to Autoglass yet? What do they say?

steveo3002

had a similar thing with my golfs , the cheap screens seemed to chip at the slightest chance , after 2 cheapies i asked that they use a genuine vw one and its lastest well ...couldve been coincedense but i dont think so

one of the cheapies also had some wierd marks on it that wouldnt clean off

your car came with a genuine screen so i cant see why they can refuse to use a genuine replacement

Hintza

The original was very possibly made by Pilkington anyway.

Horizon81

Hintza - I have fully comp insurance so paid the windscreen excess and Autoglass fitted the screen of their choice. It's not a case of if I pay for a better screen then I get a better screen. They promise high quality so I didn't insist on a Toyota screen at the outset, but having seen their standard replacement I wished I had done.

Horizon81

The original was branded Toyota and manufactured by Nippon I do believe. In any case, it didn't have any optical defects.

Hintza

Being a bit bored I have done some further research and although that particular screen might not have been made by Pilkington they certainly manufacture screens for Toyota.

I have found an American (unfortunately) thread that might be of interest.

I think you just have a bad screen and you should get them to replace it. If it happens again then you could argue that there is a bad batch or similar.

Anyway have a read:-

http://www.toyota120.com/forum/showthread.php?t=3736

Horizon81

Can't say I trust Pilkington glass whatsoever. If they do agree to a replacement I'll be examining it carefully before they rip the old one out.

maninthestreet

OP, are you in the RAC or AA? If so, ask them if they will inspect the windscreen and can give an independent professional opinion on it.

thescouselander

Interestingly I just had my windscreen replaced by Autoglass yesterday. The glass was made bt Saint Gobain which is the same manufacture as the Audi original and it is identical in every way. There is quite a bit of distortion in a 5cm strip at the very bottom of the screen - it looks like a big magnifying glass.

Also I noticed the original screen had very slight distortion in this area so I can only assume all the glass comes off the same line and the Manufactures get first dibs on the least distorted ones for their branded glass.

I'm in two minds about what to do in my case - I don't notice the distortion unless I look for it but if you get in the right position to see the distortion is quite extreme. There is always a risk of damage to the car when replacing the windscreen and what if the next one is worse the the one I've got now - I might just leave it as it is.

Horizon81

thescouselander: Well thats my main worry too - always the risk of damage/rattles/leaks when replacing a screen. Plus no matter how closely you inspect the next screen you can't actually tell what the quality of it is like until it's all in position and you're sitting in the car. But I'd probably live with yours if it's only 5cm at the bottom of the screen. Mine's all over the screen!