Windscreen replacement

Our 67 plate Warwick XL got hit by a large stone today and the windscreen needs replacing .  I have called Comfort who put me in touch with Autoglass Specialist Team who are coming out a week on Friday.

I was wondering if another members have been down this route and if there is anything I should be looking out for.

Many thanks

Nick

Yes. I lost a windscreen by stone from a lorry. Comfort were and are my insurer with Aviva.

My NuevoES has a Luton top. That meant that the new screen couldn't simply be slid down into place but had to be lifted from the bonnet. It was therefore a 2 man job. Autoglass sent 1 man. He couldn't do it safely, so another appointment had to be made.

So if you have a Luton, make sure Autoglass know..

They send a van with an awning to protect against rain - useless in my case as my roof was much higher than their awning. Luckily it was dry.

Job done satisfactorily..

Cymro

We had ours replaced by autoglass in the spring of last year. One man, specific to vehicles bigger than cars. Did it on the drive but I had to put the cab alongside the lawn to give him extra width to work in. Very impressed by the kit he had to do the job. You can't move the van for a few hours afterwards to allow the sealant to set.

Justus2 wrote:We had ours replaced  by autoglass in the spring of last year. One man, specific to vehicles bigger than cars. Did it on the drive but I  had to put the cab alongside the lawn to give him extra width to work in. Very impressed by the kit he had to do the job. You can't move the van for a few hours afterwards to allow the sealant to set.

Thats good to know, thank you.  I will move the van and cars around before he / she comes to. are sure there is ample space to work.   Did you chap have to interfere with the remis blinds across the front  or  were they ok?

The blinds are not a problem, the mirror and our camera screen were transferred to the new windscreen too... I found it all interesting to watch actually

They didn't do too well on my last van,sent one man but he cracked the new screen whilst fitting,they decided to send 2 men from their cab/rail division,they fitted it ok but it leaked like a sieve the first time it rained.had to take it to local depot for resealing they caused damage to the paintwork with the scrapers used to remove the screen and didn't want to know about rectifying the paintwork ,best of luck

Had a new screen fitted to our Harmony some years back. The fitters struggled with the proximity of the rubber screen to the sealing of the hi-top, and some damage - mainly cosmetic - did result. Similarly on the inside the proximity of the underside of the bed platform also caused them problems.

Overall, changing a screen with an AS van can be a non-standard task for which extra care is clearly required.

Bartfarst

I had Autoglass specialist out a fortnight ago to my Amethyst,after I had a long crack after a car had passed me,  they did an excellent job and know all about AS motor homes,   my two did. they are called specialist as they send two vans to do the job on motor homes. normally only one van with one man.


M

daisy mae wrote:I had Autoglass specialist out a fortnight ago to my Amethyst,after I had a long crack after a car had passed me,  they did an excellent job and know all about AS motor homes,   my two did. they are called specialist as they send two vans to do the job on motor homes. normally only one van with one man.


M

Thats great to know and very reassuring .  Thank you

bobby b wrote:They didn't do too well on my last van,sent one man but he cracked the new screen whilst fitting,they decided to send 2 men from their cab/rail division,they fitted it ok but it leaked like a sieve the first time it rained.had to take it to local depot for resealing they caused damage to the paintwork with the scrapers used to remove the screen and didn't want to know about rectifying the paintwork ,best of luck

Thats not so good,  clearly will need to keep an eye on them

Cymro wrote:Yes. I lost a windscreen by stone from a lorry. Comfort were and are my insurer with Aviva.

My NuevoES has a Luton top. That meant that the new screen couldn't simply be slid down into place but had to be lifted from the bonnet. It was therefore a 2 man job. Autoglass sent 1 man. He couldn't do it safely, so another appointment had to be made.  

So if you have a Luton, make sure Autoglass know..

They send a van with an awning to protect against rain - useless in my case as my roof was much higher than their awning. Luckily it was dry.

Job done satisfactorily..

Cymro

Interesting, the chap on the phone asked me a couple of times if there is an overhang at the front. On my van there is no overhang as it is a panel van conversion - he did seem pleased with that information, I can imagine any sort of overhang does make the job harder.

I was asked if it had a Luton when arranged fitting, I have, the first time both men came and the windscreen the firm ordered was the wrong one, not their fault, it was Fords, most windscreens now have a clip on  fitting to take the rear  view mirror, the mirror on mine is stuck on , so new windscreen was ordered, also I had a trim to fit to the top. which came with the screen,

I cannot praise them enough, very professional, 
, why didn`t you take it up with head office?.if you had problems,  ?   they are a reputable firm I had them as my insurance company uses them, as they insure motorhomes, wouldn`t do so if they were not capable of  doing the job,

 I had to fill in a satisfaction form, also received a telephone call after a few days from the firm for my views.  

a very satisfied customer. 

M

Hi daisy mae like you the insurance recommend using them as they invoice directly and save paperwork.we could have a sloppy local branch as they cracked the new screen on a friend's nissan whilst fitting at work .I didn't take it further with their head office as it was easier to buy some paint and touch up the damage

I didn`t have a choice with my insurance company, I had to have them, pleased I did though.

Good that you have yours sorted now.

Autoglas replaced the screen on my Duo and although the actual fitting went well, two man team carried out the work, they had to undo the bonnet mounting bolts to do the work. Unfortunately the bonnet no longer lines up properly. It was perfect before they took out the broken screen and put the new on in. Autoglas have tried on  several occasions to re-align the bonnet properly but have failed to get it back into its original position. They have said that they cannot do any better and have never come across this problem before.

hat004 wrote:Autoglas replaced the screen on my Duo and although the actual fitting went well, two man team carried out the work, they had to undo the bonnet mounting bolts to do the work. Unfortunately the bonnet no longer lines up properly. It was perfect before they took out the broken screen and put the new on in. Autoglas have tried on  several occasions to re-align the bonnet properly but have failed to get it back into its original position. They have said that they cannot do any better and have never come across this problem before.

 I dont think your comment that they have never seen this before is actually true.  I have a friend with an Autotrail V Line and her quote on the AT facebook page was the same and she had severe angst getting it straight again.  I would suggest its a known issue.   That said, they did not need to remove the bonnet on mine, a mod to later Boxers I was told means the replacements can be fitted without this obvious hassle.

So just an update, new windscreen in, very pleasant chap came out in the heat and took about an hour to do the job.  He did say that our van was relatively easy being a panel van conversion, and that any form of overhang makes the job a complete nightmare.  Its not rained since it was done so no idea if its watertight, assuming it is.   My biggest niggle is that the French, German and Austrian emissions stickers would not come off the old screen and I have had to re-order them at additional cost.  Going to put the replacement stickers into a parking permit holder, other than directly onto the window - so that I can avoid replacing them if this were to happen again.  You live and learn

We had a damaged screen when the Warwick was only a few weeks old and AutoGlass came out and did it with no problems or mess

Outtheoffice wrote:My biggest niggle is that the French, German and Austrian emissions stickers would not come off the old screen and I have had to re-order them at additional cost.  Going to put the replacement stickers into a parking permit holder, other than directly onto the window - so that I can avoid replacing them if this were to happen again.  You live and learn

This may not be an accurate caveat, but I was told that the French (and possibly the others) want the stickers affixed directly onto the windscreen. This sounds probable, simply because they are deliberately made impossible to remove in one piece.

If this is so (and it might not be easy to verify until you get your collar felt!!) it might be better to stick them individually onto a thick bit of polythene and fix that to the screen.

I'm thinking of the floppy polythene, like that used for the ASOF windscreen sticker. It's not sticky in itself, but you moisten it and press it against the glass where it stays put, but it's easy to peel off later.

Just a thought. If you can bother to find out if the caveat is true, please post your findings. 

Certainly when I used to drive to Austria several times a year on business, their vignettes were designed to rip to pieces if you tried to remove them and the authorities there would penalise you if they weren't affixed directly onto the inside of the windscreen so that you couldn't then remove them to use in another vehicle.
However I found you could get around this by applying a thin smear of Vaseline to the relevant part of the screen first. Worked fine for me as I didn't always use the same company car for the trips.

I'm surprised the French are designed the same though as they have the individual vehicle index plate number printed on them so couldn't be transferred to a different vehicle anyway.

Thanks Roger.

I thought it was very likely to be true, but have never had it verified before.

Gromit wrote:

Outtheoffice wrote:My biggest niggle is that the French, German and Austrian emissions stickers would not come off the old screen and I have had to re-order them at additional cost.  Going to put the replacement stickers into a parking permit holder, other than directly onto the window - so that I can avoid replacing them if this were to happen again.  You live and learn

This may not be an accurate caveat, but I was told that the French (and possibly the others) want the stickers affixed directly onto the windscreen. This sounds probable, simply because they are deliberately made impossible to remove in one piece.

If this is so (and it might not be easy to verify until you get your collar felt!!) it might be better to stick them individually onto a thick bit of polythene and fix that to the screen.

I'm thinking of the floppy polythene, like that used for the ASOF windscreen sticker. It's not sticky in itself, but you moisten it and press it against the glass where it stays put, but it's easy to peel off later.

Just a thought. If you can bother to find out if the caveat is true, please post your findings. 

I suspect you are probably right, but quite honesty the risk of the rozzers spotting that you have not directly  applied the sticker Ito the windscreen is negligible not to worry about it.

Just an update and a further question if I may.  The new windscreen was fitted by autoglass, and all was fine until we drove through some heavy rain a few weeks ago and noticed that the roof lining ( by the passengers sun visor) was wet.  Agggh !!!

A could of questions if I may:

1. When the new windscreen went in - it was a very hot July day and at the time I did ask the fitter if the extreme heat on the day would effect the curing of the sealant used, I was assured no - but remain sceptical on this point. What do others think?

2. I wondered if this was not the windscreen if anyone has experienced leaks through the roof panel joints -- especially at the front of the van ( its a 67 plate  Warwick XL) 

Autoglass are coming out next week to take another look at it, not sure if they will try to re seal it in situ or replace the windscreen .  I am just hoping the source is not the vehicle panel joints as that could be a nightmare to resolve.

So a quick update, Autoglass have now stripped out the new windscreen, resealed it and replaced it.  This morning, the roof lining in the cab is once again soaking.  So it seems the leak must be coming from either the seals around the roof bars or sun canopy. or the actual panel joints.  

This van is turning into something of a nightmare and giving serious thought to just getting rid of it.  Hey ho

For a 2018 van, I think it should be taken to the factory to find the source. The roof lining should be replaced as part of the repair.