I've managed to put a 600mm crack in my windscreen (from the inside whilst carelessly loading long lengths of wood) and I've been pricing up a new one. From Autoglass: £791. (Fitted). From a one man band on the local industrial estate £126 (genuine OEM screen, includes fitting).
I don't understand how Autoglass can get away with such a huge mark up.
As it happens the screen is covered by my insurance, so it will cost me £75 for the excess, and the Autoglass sales person insists it will not affect my NCB or renewal premium. The sales person also told me that the insurance company will probably pay 'well over £500'.
I don't get this either, the insurance company are happy to shell out over £500 and not get this money back through higher premiums. I only pay £175 a year fully comp.
Surely there's a catch some where? And if Autoglas are really making that much money on each screen, what are my chances of getting them to contribute towards the excess?
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The screen for my Passat cost Autoglass £58 for the Pilkington screen, (my excess was £60)
The screen for my Omega cost Autoglass £126, excess was £50 in those days.
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You could make the same observation with body repairers - first question normally asked is whether it's an insurance job?
If it's not then the quote will almost certainly be lower.
Mind you after learning how comparatively little the biggest known insurance companies are paying such outlets per hour for working on vehicles I'm not surprised that they are getting thoroughly fed up and, in the case of one of my mates, whether it's worth running his business at all.
It's much less than you'll pay your local main dealer for labour charges.
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What\'s for you won\'t pass you by
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I have had 3 or 4 windscreens over the years. Being totally selfish in these matters I note that they 'cost' me whatever my XS is (£50). If there is some other astronomical sum involved that is a matter between my insurer and Autoglass and I don't know or care what the answer is!
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i was talking to my friend who runs a bodyshop the other day and he ran me through his costing cd
he works for a large insurer
the bottom line labour rate he is paid was disgraceful,he works on volume through,he has to,but if he had to paint everything in this new water based rubbish he would be bust in a year,you should see the hoover type parts he has to speed the stupid drying time up
to windscreens
its a closed shop the major glass players will not sell you a trade glass of any type unless you are a bono fido windscreen fitter, ive tried, they wont even discuss it
a large importer of body panels used to sell imported windshields and they came at approx £40 to £50 a piece ,cheaper if you bought 3,the only problem was they didnt travel well in the back of the vans so the idea was shelved
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I've never understood where the Autoglass numbers come from. I remember about 15 years ago repairing an accident damaged Rover 216 EFI. I needed a new screen and Autoglass quoted something like £180 to supply and fit (this was probably £300 in today's money). I managed to get an OEM Rover one for about £25 and a bodyshop tech I knew fitted it for about £15 inc. the adhesive. I really cannot believe that the insurers actually pay the prices ordinary punters see listed on the Autoglass invoices.
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Some insurance companies count a windscreen replacement as a claim. Also some don't tend to weight the next insurance premium for a single claim of this type. I've had several windscreens replaced, had to pay the excess on all but one occasion and that a few years ago when an excess wasn't charged. One windscreen was as a result of a crack that appeared from the bottom of a newly fitted windscreen, Autoglass changed it with no worries.
The cost of a windscreen varies a lot, for screens with heating elements inside expect to pay a fair premium over a normal windscreen.
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The cost of a windscreen varies a lot for screens with heating elements inside expect to pay a fair premium over a normal windscreen.
Exactly. Windscreens can vary from completely plain pattern parts of dubious quality and strength from dubious sources to genuine spares made to precise standards and incorporating heating elements, tinting, rain sensing elements, sun-shading areas etc etc. And don't forget that a windscreen makes a significant contribution to the structural strength of a modern car.
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L\'escargot.
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Exactly. Windscreens can vary from completely plain pattern parts of dubious quality and strength from dubious sources
>
>>>>>>>>
bit of sand
bit of wire
bit of heat
what have you got ?glass
very expensive
all this bonding and strength thing sometimes is a bit far fetched even down to the piffling adverts on the radio where the customer has a little crack
yes they do add torsional rigidity to the shell but so does shutting the tailgate on a trip to the dump
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>>he ran me through his costing cd he works for a large insurer>>
This is exactly the experience I had. Seems that about a dozen of the top car insurers are, in fact, all linked and all pay the same rates.
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What\'s for you won\'t pass you by
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That looks suspiciously like a cartel!
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