Car windscreen fitted badly?

[Steve Jones2]

I had my windscreen replaced by Autoglass when it got damaged by a stone chip.
3 months later I am driving my car over a "sleeping policeman" hump in the road, and a crack appears in the middle of the screen.

There is no stone chip damage- the hump has caused the fault.
Surely this can only be caused by a badly fitted screen?

Autoglass has a lifetime guarantee on its screens, but I'm worried they'll inspect it (they're coming in 3 days time) and try to claim it wasn't due to any fault on their part.
I paid £95 excess to have it fitted 3 months ago- what do I do if they ask me to pay the same amount again to fit another one, when I believe the fault is theirs?

 

[Mr D]

Is the fault theirs?

Have you spoken to any professional in the car industry about it?

I'd first find whose fault it was.

Has your windscreen by any chance had any hot temperatures in past few days?

 

[smallclaimsassistance]

Has your windscreen by any chance had any hot temperatures in past few days?

If they dispute fault you have no chance of proving the fault is theirs without expert evidence. If you're sufficiently concerned about this, postpone the Autoglass inspection for a few days and get your own appointed expert to look at it first. Any other major windscreen fitter will do. If the independent report comes out in your favour, get Autoglass back, and get them to replace, and pay the cost of the independent report.

Dean

 

[Awinner2]

Going over the hump has flexed the bodywork and in turn the screen. It is not likely to be caused by the fitting of the windscreen.

 

[smallclaimsassistance]

We all may have opinions about what might have caused this to happen. The only opinion a Court will attach any weight to will be that of an expert in car body repairs or specifically the field of vehicle windscreen replacement and repair.

Dean

 

[The Byre]

I would not worry too much - this is a very typical installation and-or manufacturing fault and I am reasonably optimistic that Autoglass will honour their guarantee.

Edge cracks account for about three-quarters of these windscreen failures and occur mostly because the first two inches around the perimeter of windscreen have a manufacturing defect known as 'residual stress' which is created during the annealing process, in which it is heated up and cooled repeatedly to gain strength. The edge is the weakest part of the windscreen and fractures more easily than the main body.

The cracks are more likely to start all by themselves during extreme changes in temperature and replacement screens are more likely to fail than the OEM as the replacement has the additional stress of not being such a perfect fit. Also some makes of car flex more as a result of just being poorly manufactured and cracks can appear after a bump or a door being slammed.

 

[Blaby Loyal]

Read what it says on the job form/receipt thing you'd have signed or been given at the time of installation.

That might give you some pointers on what to do in the event of a defect or dispute etc.

 

[Steve Jones2]

update- guy turned up.He looked at the crack and said he thought it was a stone chip. I said I disagreed (anyone with eyes could see there was no chip at all).In the next breath he said "But i'll fix it for no charge"
ie. he knew it was fitted badly, but wanted to spare the firm's blushes

 

[Awinner2]

That worked out alright then. Good for Autoglass.