They dont make 'em like they used to - windscreens

[sparkzer]

My daily driver Golf suffered a whack to the screen last year (not exactly sure what hit it, it wasn't a stone but I was just about to overtake a scaffold lorry, so assumed a bolt or something bounced off the back as the damage was not typical of a stone) the car was 5 years old at the time, and covered about 65k miles. had the screen swapped out through insurance and thought no more of it....until later in the year a stone flicked up, initially a chip but after about 30mins of driving, that chip became a crack which proceeded to grow all the way home. at that point the car had covered 72k miles, i put it down to pure bad luck, and again got the screen swapped out.

You can imagine my delight where yesterday another stone flicked up (other half was driving this time, so dont exactly know the details) which again caused a little chip but is now a foot long crack across the screen. car has now done 77k.

Basically, I find it hard to believe that the VW screen lasted 65k miles, but the 2 non OEM screens lasted about 5k each. driving style/commonly used roads etc have not changed since I've owned the car basically from new). It seems the lightest of stones causes a crack now, where as the original would have had loads of stones bounced off it over the years without issue.

I've not contacted insurance again, but suspect they wont give me a VW screen regardless of the evidence the replacements are sub-standard.

 

[JOG]

This is an all too common tale with replacement windscreens. Insurance companies just don’t seem to use OEM replacements at all. It’s reached the stage where I just budget £100 a year for a new windscreen!!!

 

[Pete C]

I managed to scratch my replacement windscreen just scraping bits off it. I have never done that in 30+ years of motoring.

Pete

 

[Ayjay]

That all cheers me up as I've got an ever growing crack in my screen resulting from a stone hitting it on the autostrada near Bari which has got to be sorted out IDC (but the van's going into the bodyshop next week to get the drivers side rear quarter panel, rear bumper and light sorted out first!).

 

[sparkzer]

Oh, i completely forgot to mention the T6 also got a crack in the OEM glass a few months back, (36K miles) and also got replaced, dreading to think how long that's going to last

Silly thing is up until last year, in over 27 years of motoring and at least a million miles, I've only had one prior cracked window....perhaps now its payback for all the previous good luck!

 

[Crazymind]

mine cracked as well after 45k miles. It’s all down to quality. My 1987 Saab 900 Turbo has got several chips in the windscreen none of which in 37 years beacame a crack. Can’t be just good luck…

 

[Higgidav]

I’ve found that the OEM screens crack very easily. I’ve never had a replacement screen until I got my T6. I was rather hoping that aftermarket were better than OEM but is sounds like that’s not the case.

My current screen has been repaired as the ‘spider’ is outside the driver’s view and met the repair criterial. That said at the MOT VW still marked it as an advisory but I’ve decided to wait for the inevitable next stone before replacing again.

 

[JOG]

I’ve found that the OEM screens crack very easily. I’ve never had a replacement screen until I got my T6. I was rather hoping that aftermarket were better than OEM but is sounds like that’s not the case.

My current screen has been repaired as the ‘spider’ is outside the driver’s view and met the repair criterial. That said at the MOT VW still marked it as an advisory but I’ve decided to wait for the inevitable next stone before replacing again.

Ha ha ha! Had one that was a potential repair rather than a replacement. Couldn’t be faffed with that. Lucky for me, the stone chip’s bigger brother that fell out of the sky ensured that it made the “replacement” criteria.

 

[DXX]

One factor that all drivers have control over is how close you drive to the car in front.
If you are within range of the debris being thrown up in front of you the greater the risk of a damaged windscreen.

I had a new budget (cheapest available) screen installed on my car a while back by an independent installer, it’s a Pilkington. I’m no windscreen expert but I believe Pilkington know a thing or two about glass.