It's raining, and if you haven't noticed the precipitation hopefully, your rain sensor would have triggered the windscreen wipers into action. At that point, does the action become academic, or are you aware of how well - or not - the wipers are sweeping away the...
Glasstec Blog
Porsche 993 Windscreen Checklist
The 993 windscreen is fitted using three trims: a trim frame (which comes pre-encapsulated from the manufacturer) a cover seal (or outer) and an inner 'buffer' trim. If the trim frame is damaged, or perished, the outer trim will not fit. The trim frame is not...
Porsche 993 Windscreen Myths Explained
Of all the 911 models, 993 - and sometimes others, like the 996 - windscreens can be problematic, They're notorious for creaking or wind noise; and this is usually attributed to the after the windscreen has been replaced. A very audible 'pitter-patter of rain' noise...
Suzuki Jimny Windscreen 2019 – on
The history of Suzuki four-wheel drive cars began in the mid-sixties when Suzuki, embarked on a journey towards building a kei-class off-road vehicle. The first Suzuki-branded four-wheel drive was introduced in 1970 and after nearly three-decades of evolution, a Jimny...
What is a Rain Sensor?
Rain-sensing Wipers Car evolution and the advancement of technology might be successful, one day, to eliminate windscreen wipers. It's difficult to imagine how, but with hydrophobic coatings for glass gaining in popularity, the windscreen wipers' days might just be...
Greasy Windscreen?
Effective wiper blades are a crucial part of your car and car maintenance yet they are often overlooked. Windscreen wipers are repeatedly dragged across the glass countless times a year, in all weathers. If they're not clearing bird droppings, wipers are usually busy...
Doughnuts by Donuts.
This is what you would find after cutting a windscreen away from the adhesive which keeps in in the car. Huh? Note, there is an extra blob inside the 90-degree turn. There's another one on the opposite side: This windscreen had been replaced. To be fair, it wasn't a...
Claiming for a Windscreen with Admiral Insurance
Admiral is a UK based insurance company, set up in 1993 to specialise in car insurance. They’ve come a long way since and now offer a lot more than just car insurance. They are a popular choice in the insurance industry and have managed to rise to household name...
There Can Be Only One
When someone copies you, or something you have done, it can be a tad annoying. Cast your mind back to school and having to fence yourself in behind books (or cradling with your other arm or hand) to stop someone near you copying your work. Nobody wants their ideas...
The Stress Crack Myth
Bananas do not grow on trees. Bats are not blind. Duck quacks DO echo. Bulls do not become angry at the color red. Windscreens do not stress crack. Bananas grow on something the size of trees, but the banana 'tree' is not actually a tree. The banana plant, which can...
A Condemned Windscreen?
According to the repair criteria set out by a national and insurance 'approved' windscreen repair and replacement company, this windscreen is not eligible for repair: Why?There are too many chips. Whilst the windscreen isn't exactly peppered, there clearly are five...
Windscreen Condensation.
Have you noticed that your windscreen is fogging up more than it used to? It may just be something unavoidable, or it could be something much worse. First and foremost, water vapour in the atmosphere which occurs when your body heats the air inside the car – as does...
Lockdown Defiance and Ignorance
Why are we, the British public, so defiant? Is it just us? Yesterday I went to collect a couple of (pre-ordered) windscreens from a wholesaler. They're doing all they possibly can as a supplier and this is immediately apparent as soon as you approach the front...
Approved Windscreen Companies.
If you asked for advice, you would seek it from a reliable source. To go ahead without it is usually ill-advised. It pays to do your research. Due diligence. Just like asking for recommendations on a suitable restaurant, we trust the experience and opinions of others;...
Two Ways to Apply PUR
If you've watched your windscreen being replaced, you may have noticed the fitter reaching over and across the car to apply the adhesive (PUR). Or did he lay the bead directly to the glass? Only a few installers will extrude directly to the glass. Which way is better?...
Windscreen Wipers
American inventor Mary Anderson is credited with designing the first operational windscreen wiper in 1903. In Anderson's patent, she described her invention as a 'window cleaning device' for electric cars and other vehicles. The windscreen wiper has since remained one...
Leaking Windscreen Issue: Land Rover Discovery 5.
Third generation LR Discovery (L462; 2017–present) Images of a common issue with the current crop of Discos showing where the windscreens are leaking from, and why. Crackle Glaze This crackle-glaze patch indicates an issue with the substrate; this shiny appearance is...
Insurance Won’t Allow Genuine Parts?
Are you insured with Admiral insurance? Have you claimed for a cracked windscreen? Did they allow a genuine - OE - replacement? Did you know about the three year rule? Admiral's guide [under Windscreen Damage] states: "If your car is three years old or more, we may...
The Politics of Envy?
If you haven't passed a shop with a chalkboard displaying the message you might have seen it splashed across a viral message being passed around on social media: When you buy from a small business, you are not helping a CEO buy a third holiday home.You are helping a...
Fitting a Windscreen (or Glass) After Repaint
Whether it's a remedial (rust) repair, full body repaint or crash repair there is one small detail that many bodyshops - even windscreen installers - are overlooking. If there are remnants of the old Polyurethane adhesive they must either be masked before painting or...
Buying a Car with a Chipped Windscreen
You buy a car - a used car - and take it home. At some point you may have noticed a chip on the windscreen. The car seller may already have had it repaired, or will offer to have someone look at it should you bring the matter to their attention. Take this a step...
The Disparity in Windscreen Claims
When your insurer denies your request for a genuine 'OE' windscreen replacement, and insists that you might have to pay the difference between what they are prepared to pay for and what you want, ask them why they appear to be okay about paying for dealer parts if the...
It’s Just a Windscreen
. . . Whilst shaving the excess cured resin during this repair, the solar reflective coating became visible under the light in the workshop. Holograms This particular windscreen is heated (embedded within the sandwich construction of the windscreen is a mesh of very...
The Weather WILL NOT crack your windscreen.
The cold weather will not crack your windscreen. That chip you've had there for weeks or even months will not 'turn into a crack' because it's cold outside. Fast forward to the summer and the same windscreen repair 'experts' will be urging you to 'get that chip...
A Motor Insurance Rant
Not all insurance companies are bad, but the ones I have dealt with recently represent the industry. I've insured my van with the same insurer (broker and underwriter) for the last four years. No claims, no convictions and not even an enquiry which could be classed as...
Removing a Windscreen Intact and Without Damage
Windscreens don't break. Fitters break them. Time and time again the caveat or disclaimer is added to a windscreen-needs-to-be-removed scenario is that it 'might break' on removal. Some will even go as far as saying that it actually will break when you...
Aluminum Windscreens
Aluminum windscreens. Yes, you read that correctly, 'But aluminum is a metal, and a windscreen is made of glass?' I hear you ask. To help make this information easier to process, aluminum glass is actually, technically, transparent aluminum. A sample of transparent...
Audi A3 Windscreen Replacement
An Audi A3 windscreen replacement. This particular car was an RS3 (in Catalunya Red). A-pillar covers. I like to take them off. It reduces the risk of damage, and with them out of the way you can check that the bond is making good contact on both the glass as well as...
Dealer Approved Car? Check the Windscreen
Something to consider when buying a dealer-approved, used car. A returning customer got in touch after he bought an 'approved' car from a main dealer. He wanted the non-standard windscreen removed and replaced with a genuine 'OE' part. As an engineer, he's fastidious...
993 Windscreen Creak Down Under
A very common 993 windscreen issue as illustrated by a frustrated owner via email: "I was hoping you might be able to help me out. I am in Australia at the moment and just had a new original front window installed in my Porsche 993 (the windscreen was an insurance...
ADAS Recalibration After Windscreen Replacement
Have you had your windscreen replaced recently? Is your car equipped with an Advanced Driver-Assistance System? Were you advised (or even warned) about the need to recalibrate that device? Whether your 'smart' windscreen has been replaced or not, there is a realistic...
Unskilled Windscreen Fitters
Many windscreen fitters say they're experienced, but what kind of experience that really is will show in the end product or in the way they do their job. A windscreen fitter can be judged on how he or she fits a windscreen. Bonded windscreens: applying...
An Appetite for Claiming is Costing Us All
In the event that you should need a new windscreen, provided your policy indemnifies you for cracked or damaged glass, your insurer may direct you towards their 'approved' repairer. Opting for a repairer of your own choosing may not be so easy, and there may be a...
Helping You Understand the Ballocks and the Bullshit
Have you had your windscreen repaired recently? How did the attempt turn out? Was the repair good, bad or indifferent? Were you confused about what you were told (by the repairer) at any stage? If you were, the chances are you had the wool pulled over your...
Tailgate Glass Transplant
Some of the unsung work we, as windscreen fitters do, is in bodyshops, or accident repair centres. If you get injured in a car accident, contact the las vegas car accident attorney at Richard Harris Law Firm. Working as the subcontractor for a crash repair garage can...
Dealer Part Windscreens
Original Equipment Manufacturer Versus Original Equipment Equivalent Windscreens (and Glass). “Is the windscreen Original Equipment?” This has emerged as a common question for many motorists and a growing number of consumers. The availability of information via the...
Manufacturer Warranty: Windscreens
I replaced a windscreen for an Audi dealer, however, there was nothing wrong with the glass. I asked what the change was for, and it was pointed out that there was an issue with the automatic rain and light sensor. So why was the windscreen cited as the...
Annoying Sales Call Assassination
Mancunian bloke: "Can I speak to the business owner?" Certainly. What's your call in connection with? "My name's Gary and I'm calling from The Business Consultants. It's a quick business enquiry about..." [I interrupt his introduction] I can help...
Leaking Windscreens are NOT Covered.
A trade customer - an independent garage - had a car in for service. They were also asked to look at a water leak in the front of the vehicle which turned out to be a poorly fitted windscreen. Water was dripping into the cabin from above the rear...
Windscreen Claims: Know Who You’re Dealing With
When a windscreen repair or replacement company says they can direct bill insurance companies, or that they’re ‘insurance approved’, there’s something else you should know. Insurance companies do not like dealing with multiple suppliers. It’s far easier to deal with...
Buyer Beware: Glass Cover
Are you having difficulty getting your insurance company's preferred repairer to fit a genuine 'OE' replacement windscreen for your car? Is the windscreen company waiting to see if the underwriter will authorise your request? First and foremost,...
The Cost of Someone Else Paying Your Excess
Insurance companies implemented a policy excess system in order to deter gratuitous claims. However now there is a culture which could be using this deterrent to encourage the very thing it was designed to curb. How somebody else paying your excess could be costing...
Look Without Watching
Why watching your windscreen fitter may not be a good idea. The moment you have been fearing has arrived. You're about to have your windscreen replaced, and the thought of a stranger getting intimate with your car is making you feel uncomfortable. What...
To See, or Not to See
Now You See It... An illustration of Before and After stages of a typical windscreen repair. Have you recently had your windscreen repaired? Were you pleased with the results? Was there a discernible between the before and after appearances of the...
Insurance Questions: Windscreen Cover
Can I get my insurer to pay for this? Most comprehensive insurance policies will include windscreen cover as standard. As straight forward as this may appear, there are some grey areas, some of which has been misinterpreted or misunderstood, to cause confusion amongst...
It’s Only a Joint?
When butting up the PUR adhesive, most windscreen fitters are taught to run past the starting point and overlap the joint. This technique envelops the join, and is the easiest one to program the OEM robots with. Is this the best way? Why does it...
Paint it Black
A question often asked amongst motoring enthusiasts is, "I'm having my windscreen replaced today. Is there anything to look out for?" Generally, the advice will be pretty good, and mostly based on experience. However some responses are the work of...
Porsche 911 Windscreen: The 996
Headlights that looked like they were shaped from fried eggs, characterless exhaust notes and with an extremely soft suspension the Porsche 996 became known as the unloved series. Porsche wrote in their 996 brochure, "Over the years we have broken with many...
Misconceptions About Windscreen Replacement
Myths and Misconceptions about Windscreen Replacement. 1. It's windscreen (or windshield). It is not a window screen. 2. Mastic is not used to bond windscreens into a car. The correct product is a high performance, specific and automotive grade...
Wrong Windscreen Fitted to Car.
Some things are not seen as a problem until they affect us directly. Try to imagine how you would feel if, after buying the car you've coveted for a while springs a very wet surprise as you drive through the rain for the first time: a leaking...