Autoglass Windscreen Replacement

[psglas]

I had a screen break when I got my first Taycan in July 2020. Stone broken the screen about 12 hours after I collected it. Insurance said Autoglass only. Dealer said they just send to the local windscreen specialist. Went with Autoglass who got an OEM screen. Fitter said it's no different to fit than any VW screen. They didn't have the alignment kit at the time so sent me to Porsche to get the cameras done. I wouldn't be concerned about Autoglass. I traded the car back to the OPC after a year and no issues.

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[Lobbus]

I've also used Autoglass without any issues.

Had to drop the car to them for fitting and calibration. They used St Gobain glass and told me that this is all they can supply for a Taycan. Had no issues since it was done about 18 months ago.

 

[Sijmcc]

I had a new screen with Autoglass for my Taycan. It was a Chinese screen and the quality was poor but my insurer Direct Line wouldn’t authorise a genuine screen. In fairness to Autoglass, they got another screen in but knew I wouldn’t be happy with the quality as it was the same Chinese make. Their technical team looked at it and referred it further up the command chain and a genuine screen was then authorised. All fitted and calibrated with no issues. It took a couple of months but I now have a genuine screen fitted. Service was very good from them.

 

[Jayyvr890]

FYI most dealers will not do glass work themselves. Even if you drop off the car at the dealer they will most likely sub-contract out that work and charge you a hefty premium for it.

Also, the camera will need re-calibration at the dealer so will need 2 trips if you go elsewhere.

 

[darth_maul_80]

I had my windscreen replaced this year after only having the car for a couple of weeks. Autoglass confirmed they had ordered OEM windscreen as the insurance company (admiral) had authorised it.

They couldn’t do a mobile repair as it needed calibration so had to go to one of their repair centres to get done. They did a great job and not had any issues with it. The repair guy did say the day prior another taycan owner had come whose insurance company didn’t authorise OEM glass and had third party. In his opinion it didn’t fit as well but said I should always ask if OEM is being fitted. If not offer to pay the difference and ask them to order OEM

 

[Moonstone]

Have used them twice. Both times they were able to calibrate the relevant sensors and cameras on the car.

Belron who own Autoglass are one of the biggest procurers of automotive glass in the world. The glass you get comes from a mix of producers to the same specs as the glass supplied to the OEMs. It’s not marked as OEM glass as that would infringe trademarks but some of Belrons suppliers are the same companies that supply the OEMs. That said you can request OEM marked glass.

If the right spec of glass is used and the work down correctly, there will be no difference in functionality or performance from the glass supplied by a dealer or glass marked with the OEMs symbols. Glass isn’t that complex an item to produce.

The idea of a dealer refusing a trade-in due to the original windscreen not being present is quite frankly absolute nonsense.

Another question to ask is how often do Autoglass technicians replace windscreens versus dealer techs? Who’s had the most practice? Will your dealer actually do that work themselves?

It never ceases to amaze me within the Porsche community as to how readily owners are willing to pay an over-the-odds premium to their dealer for services that are better carried out elsewhere for less money. Especially when your dealer doesn’t actually do half the work tou think they do! Most of it is subcontracted out.

 

[Moonstone]

Yep, I had to go to BMW dealer and insurance accepted that. Autoglass said they had so many problems with hud as calibration required dash to be dismantled they would not touch another one

There is no scenario where the HUD would need to be physically accessed for calibration. It’s entirely a coding operation which resets the x&y axis positioning of the hud to zero at the proper adjustment points in the user settings. It’s not even a proper calibration when compared to what they do with the ADAS camera on the screen.

 

[Speuk]

There is no scenario where the HUD would need to be physically accessed for calibration. It’s entirely a coding operation which resets the x&y axis positioning of the hud to zero at the proper adjustment points in the user settings. It’s not even a proper calibration when compared to what they do with the ADAS camera on the screen.

It might be now but back in the day, on the E60 5 series it was 2 x 18mm nuts and 2 x torx screws to manually move the unit. Two access them it involved taking a fair bit of the dash apart. Alternatively replace properly and make sure it was positioned accurately before it set.

 

[JaseH84]

I have just picked up my car from Autoglass and I’ve had this lovely stuff installed:

I’m not entirely sure how I feel about this. From what I can gather from a quick search they appear to be an OEM supplier to a number of major manufacturers, but it may niggle at me that it's aftermarket.

I was assured it would be exactly the same spec so sure it'll be fine. Hopefully...

 

[JaseH84]

I have just picked up my car from Autoglass and I’ve had this lovely stuff installed:

I’m not entirely sure how I feel about this. From what I can gather from a quick search they appear to be an OEM supplier to a number of major manufacturers, but it may niggle at me that it's aftermarket.

I was assured it would be exactly the same spec so sure it'll be fine. Hopefully...

Now that I’ve looked a bit closer it also appears to sit higher than the glass roof. Not sure if this is inevitable as it’s not original, poor installation, or if it’s normal. Can anyone with a glass roof CT and original screen confirm if the top of the windscreen runs flush with the glass roof? This looks high to me.

 

[BigBob]

Now that I’ve looked a bit closer it also appears to sit higher than the glass roof. Not sure if this is inevitable as it’s not original, poor installation, or if it’s normal. Can anyone with a glass roof CT and original screen confirm if the top of the windscreen runs flush with the glass roof? This looks high to me.

I’d say shite installation.

 

[JaseH84]

I’d say shite installation.

Thanks. Yep as soon as I spotted it I thought that's not right. Never thought to take a photo before to compare. I've been trawling through autotrader looking at others tonight. If anything it should be slighly below the roofline.

I'll feel pretty shitty going back to them to complain, but don't think I can live with that. May just ask them what it will take to put an OEM screen in, even if it means coughing up some more cash.

 

[BigBob]

Thanks. Yep as soon as I spotted it I thought that's not right. Never thought to take a photo before to compare. I've been trawling through autotrader looking at others tonight. If anything it should be slighly below the roofline.

I'll feel pretty shitty going back to them to complain, but don't think I can live with that. May just ask them what it will take to put an OEM screen in, even if it means coughing up some more cash.

Pretty sure autoglass have a no quibble guarantee on work, so they should do it again properly. I guess you’ll find out when you ask/tell them it’s wrong. I doubt it’s anything to do with glass as that’s just down to the shape of it, unless you got the glass from a different generation car (if it’s different?) or just a badly made bit. Prob just a crap installer. Complain.

 

[W1NGE]

One of the reasons I went with my current insurance provider – is they explicitly mention in their policy that you can take your car back to dealer for OEM glass replacement.

As @bn8959 mentioned – the days of a windscreen just being a bit of glass are over. For example, I had insulated glass on my first Taycan and just went with the default option on my current one (mostly due to phone signal issues on insulated) and I was surprised to see a totally different "dot" pattern near the rear view mirror between the two glass types.

Dot pattern will be different I would expect given their purpose is to aid heat dissipation. Insulated glass is different and therefore different heat properties so a different dot pattern.

Sad but true!

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