Question for the replacement guys

[mafsu]

First a little history on the situation. My wife had the windshield in her 2003 Impala (company car) replaced about six months ago while she was out of town on a business trip. A piece of steel flew up out of the road and punctured both layers of the windshield. The car is leased through PH&H so when she called it in they sent out Safelite to do the replacement. Being as she was in Baltimore and I was out on a dealer lot and unable to ask anyone for a referral to a local glass shop, she really didn't have any choice but to have them do it. The car wasn't driveable in it's condition.

We bought the car and are selling it to my stepmom. The moulding was curling up allthe way around the edges of the windshield. Started at the top corners and progressively worked it's way across the top and down the sides. I had her calll Safelite to get it fixed under warranty. I assumed they would need to replace the windshield to alleviate this problem (Actually I must not have been thinking). She took the car in yesterday morning, as I was unable to make the appointment she had set up with them. When she got home she informed me they had only replaced the moulding. I was very skeptical that this would produce a satisfactory result. Well I pulled the tape off this morning and it looks like ^%$^. They used adhesive to hold the moulding down and it is protruding from under the moulding in places. It just looks horrible.

Now the questions. Is it worth my time to pursue this further? Is this a sign(as I guess it is) of an improper installation or just a bad looking installation? Is the correct course of action to have the replace the windshieldd while I watch to make sure they do it correctly (treating them like 3 year olds)? My real concern about this is safety, but I would also like it to look like it should. Thanks for the reponses guys.

[StarQuest]

Mafsu,

It was an improper installation and a improper fix to the problem (windshield molding goes on glass prior to installation for that vehicle) Call your agent back (not safelite) and demand a new replacement! I doubt if you'll have any problems getting it replaced.

[mafsu]

That's what I thought, just wanted to have my facts straight before calling back. Thanks

[sunshine wr]

cheap brand mouldings won't relax and they curl up , better brand names don't .They are softer and more plyable.

[StarQuest]

Sunshine wsr,

I'm almost sure that one of two things happened with Mafsu's windshield replacement with Safelite. The first is that the tech may have used the right molding but during installation pulled it off the glass while setting or the second was that he tried to use a universal molding which wouldn't work well with that install because of the tight corners. As far as the ripples, I've seen both OEM and Precision OEM replacement moldings have this same problem. I'll just apply some heat and they smooth out just fine. The installer in this case simply did things wrong and should have never tried to fix his mistake by trying to glue in a molding fix without complete removal and reinstall of glass. I wouldn't have!

[sunshine wr]

Not trying to argue you down there SQ , just stating what I've seen.

[StarQuest]

sunshine wr,

My response wasn't against you buddy;) It's just everytime I read something about Safelite my blood pressure goes up!!! When Mafsu mentioned that trim molding was curling up, the first thing that entered my thoughts was that the tech knew what he did wrong the moment he set glass but just didn't give a hoot about fixing it before delivery. What even bugs me more...is they came back a 2nd time and still didn't care enough about the consumer to provide a proper fix to the problem.

Give me a break Safelite! Just add some more glue (urethane) to hold molding in place and hope problem goes away. If I followed those procedures as a independant installer, I would have been out of the glass replacement business years ago. After venting my opinions I feel much better now:)

Good luck Mafsu, hope they take care this for you without to much stress or conflict.

[mafsu]

Hey guys this is supposed to be taken care of. I just got off the phone with Safelite. They tried to give me a runaround at first. After I explained that I was in the autoglass business and that their work to this point was unacceptable they agreed to install a new windshield and moulding. Thanks again for your help StarQuest.

[glasssgod]

I would bet anything Safelite shaved the molding, reused it by just glueing it down like I have seen countless times before when we go to fix their workmanship, and I am sure they billed the insurance company for a new molding also.

[StarQuest]

Mafsu,

Not sure if your going to be present during this next installation but wanted to share a few things with you. You already know they loaded up pinchwell with additional amounts of of urethane to hold down 2nd molding replacement. The unfortunate problem is they will have to restrip by scraping much of that away. When they do that your going to have new scratches all along the upper painted pinchwell surface.

If your present during this reinstall, just make sure they fully primer every scratch they've made. Without being present you wouldn't be able to tell. It will be hidden because trim molding covers that area. If they don't thoroughly primer this area, within 2 years you'll start seeing piant bubble and rusting. I'm sure you've seen this on cars while repairing sometimes.

If you can't be there for reinstall, wait one day and then pull outside edges up of molding around pinchwell and carefully inspect. If you see any signs of painted surface showing scratches into the metal without black primer call them back to reinstall a 3rd time. (that would be a improper repalacement)

Hopefully they do it right this time.....but just wanted to warn you in case they haven't.

Lets us know how things turn out;)