Athermic Glass Windows - My Experience

I have a 2011 Warwick Duo which has 'athermic glass tinted windows', but this will apply to all those with this type of glass on all AS products.

The first things to note are AS published descriptions 'Athermic Glass' or Athermic Tinted Glass', and you could be forgiven for believing that the glass is indeed specialy manufactured to have the athermic qualities but this is where marketing and the real situation part company.

I found out by a series of investigations as I'd accidentally smashed one of my rear glass panels (unintended reversing!!) and needed to get it replaced as initially the AS sales agent assured me it was 'athermic tinted glass'.

The truth turned out to be the glass isn't tinted neither is it athermic. So on both counts there was a mismatch between what was claimed and what actually existed.
Peugeot assured me they could supply plain glass or tinted glass but NOT athermic glass. So believing it to be tinted glass I ordered tinted.

In the mean time I'd spoken to AS again to finally be told I was correct, the glass itself ISN'T athermic. So what they do is have a special plastic film applied on the inside to give it athermic like qualities. What I didn't realise, given to believe that the vans come into AS already tinted, was that this plastic film also gave it the tinted finish.

So I had arranged to have installed a tinted window glass which should have been plain glass (thanks AS).

Having had the tinted window installed I then went off to Telford to have Autoshine and Tinting (the company AS use) to install their plastic film. Fortunately for us they managed to find a very light tinted film so that the difference was hardly noticeable once applied. [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

The effect of the plastic film reduces the chance of moisture condensing on the cold glass surface while at the same time offering an improved insulation. The tinting reduces the effect of sunlight heating up the interior.

It would have been very helpful if AS staff and sales agents were properly informed about their own product so that I could then have been given the necessary correct information to effect a repair.

So please don't be mislead. The glass on your vehicle comes into AS as plain glass. They then have it treated with a tinted plastic film.
This film is very thin but it is possible to detect its presence by using your finger nail at the edges of your window glass. Its easiest to detect on your rear windows rather than the side windows where bodywork makes detection more difficult.

Please be careful as the plastic film can be prone to scratch damage. Tap it and it feels and sounds like glass, mark it with a sharp object and it will have scratch damage. There have also been reports of bubbles (see links below) though I haven't had that problem.

The best solution is not to reverse onto an 'open up and over' garage door ..... oops!!

Take a look [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] .... and [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] ..... Peugeot's own glass windows .. yes plain glass!! ... don't you find it missleading?

Furhter interesting related reading:
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That's useful to know,thanks for the post. This is our first winter in a van with the glass and so far so good.it often gets a light haze of condensation but so far no more than that. For me the benefits of having glass rather than plastic more than outweigh the minor negatives. Our old Nuevo (08) used to get condensation on the side windows occasionally-I guess there's no perfect answer.

That's useful to know,thanks for the post. This is our first winter in a van with the glass and so far so good.it often gets a light haze of condensation but so far no more than that. For me the benefits of having glass rather than plastic more than outweigh the minor negatives. Our old Nuevo (08) used to get condensation on the side windows occasionally-I guess there's no perfect answer.

I find that the best place to see the presence of the film, is around the connectors for the heaters on the rear windows, it is very obvious there.

Overall I find the 'Athermic' glass very good, with no downside up to now, but I agree with Wigley in that AS should be more honest about the true nature of the product. It should be stated upfront in the owners handbook exactly what the glass is and where replacements can be obtained.