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Replacement Windscreen With Toyota Insurance


t-spiritpete
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Hello again after a forum break,

I have my car insured with Toyota,

has anyone any comments to make on having a windscreen replaced on an Avensis T25 T-spirit 2007, I think I would prefer a genuine Toyota screen supplied by my local dealership rather than some glass company and yes I realise that a glass company will/may come to the dealership to fit it. I just seem to remember sometime ago a couple of members may have had problems with glass companies supplying screens that did not fit correctly OR had problems with the electronic bits and pieces mounted on the screen.

Thanks in advance,

Pete.

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Check your policy, but some insurers, if you don't use their contractor (ie Autoglass or whoever), will only pay up to a stipulated amount for glass replacement.

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Hi Pete.

This is a hard one to call.

As windscreens are laminated i have heard stories of 'double vision' on non OE equipment as well as various electrical equipment not working properly. I suggest you get a quote for a genuine Toyota one or the one that will be a copy by Auto Windscreens or whoever, it's all down to how much you value keeping the car in tip top condition or are ok with something that just might be 2nd best.

Incidentally i would like to read you final decision and if you are happy with the final product if you go for a non original screen.

'Copy' windscreen companies give a large discount to the insurance firms so the price between the two could be quite significant.

Regards Mike.

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Thanks everyone,

I have been authorised by the very nice people at Toyota insurance to have my windscreen replaced at a Toyota dealership and that makes me a lot happier and Mike ...... I don't do second best lol.

Regards Pete :thumbsup:

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Well since one of the headline points with Toyota Insurance is that they do everything with Genuine Toyota parts and techs, I should hope they'd use actual Toyota glass too!

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Hi Pete.

From things i know in the car trade please do not assume that if your car goes to a main dealer then it will get a genuine Toyota piece of glass.

Like you on many issuses i will not settle for 2nd best but i know from personal experience that a dealer may go for the 2nd option as it is cheaper and possibly greater profit for them or it may be they have their hands tied by your insurance company and have to go along the route of having to fit what your insurance company tells them to fit due to the greater discounts your insurance company may receive. It maybe adviseable for you to check on which piece of glass has been ordered for your cherished vehicle.

Regards Mike.

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I have had my windscreen replaced by Autoglass twice on my 2005 Avensis T Spirit. On both occasions to replacement was of OEM quality - no sign of any problems and rain drop sensor works fine.

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welcome back Pete!

I have just had to have mine re done by autoglass due to a leak, this time round it was at home with me watching & having a chit chat with the fitter.

I am confident this time round it was a better job,

he did tell me that you cannot beat the genuine screen.

I didn't realise but at the bottom of the windows it shows the make of the window maker. (just under where the tax discs used to go)

http://www.toyotaownersclub.com/forums/topic/166883-toyota-avensis-t25-water-leak-in-passenger-side-footwell/

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Thanks again everyone,

now I'm armed with all the good advice from you guys I wiil go forward with it but it will have to wait until next week as I have just come out of hospital after having under gone a spinal disc removal and fusion done to my lower neck so I won't drive for a few days ...... but worst of all No Cycling for at least 6 weeks :angry:

Regards, Pete. :thumbsup:

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The one Autoglass fitted to mine is branded Shatterprufe - http://www.bestofbelron.com/sponsors/shatterprufe

A long while back I was told by a fitter to always go to a depot for fitting rather than using a mobile fitter. They work where it is warm, clean and dry and have all the right tools to hand. Work is not rushed as they have several cars in at once so they can work on the next while the curing agents get to work.

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The one Autoglass fitted to mine is branded Shatterprufe - http://www.bestofbelron.com/sponsors/shatterprufe

A long while back I was told by a fitter to always go to a depot for fitting rather than using a mobile fitter. They work where it is warm, clean and dry and have all the right tools to hand. Work is not rushed as they have several cars in at once so they can work on the next while the curing agents get to work.

I disagree it all depends on the work of the fitter, the one leaking was the one fitted in the garage. the work outside my house was not rushed and I could see what he was doing, whereas the one in garage was behind closed doors.

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Shatterprufe are owned by the PG Group - a South African group: http://www.pggroup.co.za

The Belron website gives the impression they are linked to Pilkingtons - which they're not. Pilkingtons are owned by the Japanese NSG Group: http://www.nsg.com/en

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  • 7 years later...

Well, I've just had a crap experience with Autoglass. Stone chip-turned-large crack over the last few weeks. Tried ringing around - Toyota dealer quoted £880 all in for genuine glass / fitting by them so naturally I went via insurance and tried to get them to clarify that they'd use genuine glass at my request (even if I had to pay a reasonable amount). Not a single call back from Axa, who direct as much as the mention of glass windscreen repair straight to AutoGlass's general line....  Even left a message through their site requesting they ring me back. Nothing. not impressed with Axa. 

Had my doubts about Autoglass but used them, £75 excess. I really debated taking the financial shafting of paying the local dealer but then someone said to me 'it could crack again next month and you'd be out another £880' which is true enough. 

The guy was decent enough, and all seemed well when I got the car back. But then when I washed it a few days later I noticed the glass is noticeably up compared to the roof line... Not good. I mean, in this day and age, is there any excuse other than lack of attention to detail? ... I doubt it's rocket science to get right. 

I went to check the dash cam, which is wired into the car. I removed it from the glass myself before taking it in, but I wrapped the wires and camera around the sun visor so it was still able to come on...  Checked a couple of days later and found that actually, he had wiped my dash cam. With no permission to do so.  What's annoying is, I needed to review footage on it as well from a week before... 

Called AutoGlass to complain, offered £20 then £30 compensation. Told them I wanted the excess back, they all out just said no. The guy on the phone said that's all they'll do and told me he'd escalate it to someone else. What he didn't tell me, is the email he sent essentially says 'we offered you this, you mentioned declining here's the number of the financial ombudsman'..........  

Absolutely ridiculous in my opinion.  It seems hard in my part of the country to get a decent manual workman these days for anything. I truly wish I lived in the mainland in bigger cities where perhaps competition has it that doing a good job matters. 

Going to see if Axa will help me resolve it, if not I'm going to cancel insurance with them as it's their stupid partnership to use Autoglass.  

I'm going to enquire about Toyota Motor Insurance but I can't seem to get through to their sales / quotes team to ask the question and they didn't reply back to me two weeks ago either, to confirm that for windscreen claims, they'd supply and fit Toyota glass and at least not use Autoglass to do the fitting. 

Sorry to revive a dead thread, but relevant to my issue. Glad to hear one of you had the genuine glass supplied.

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Toyota car insurance is provided by Aioi Nissay Dowa Insurance UK Ltd, and according to their policy booklet (October 2021), like most insurers, contract with a number of glass replacement companies to repair/replace vehicle glass.

See page 19 of the attached:

Toyota-Policy-Booklet.pdf

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2 minutes ago, FROSTYBALLS said:

Toyota car insurance is provided by Aioi Nissay Dowa Insurance UK Ltd, and according to their policy booklet (October 2021), like most insurers, contract with a number of glass replacement companies to repair/replace vehicle glass.

See page 19 of the attached:

Toyota-Policy-Booklet.pdf 1.79 MB · 0 downloads

Hi Frosty,  I found this online too a short while ago. Other than 'our list of approved glass companies', I can't find any more info, or even said list.  

I emailed them a couple of weeks ago, still no reply. Just sent it again. Could very well be cancelling my insurance with Axa tomorrow if they take a not interested in helping tone 😕 

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Well, few weeks ago same thing happened to me, auto glass technician turned up, fitted a new screen in less than 30 min, all seemed good on first sight but guess what., the windscreen seats 6-10mm higher, even when is raining collects water on top and water stays there. Later I found two broken clips and pins on the Wiper Blades gutter, I did replaced those myself. There is also a large gap between windscreen and roof lining , I can literally stick my fingers there and touch the windscreen seal, btw that thing was very soft after insulation and turned harder few days afterwards. Anyway, no extra mouses or water leaks and I have no intention to go further and rise complaints against them and taking all the hassle as a result. But when if next windscreen replacement happens I will make sure I stay next to the guy and watch his every single step. The windscreen is made by Pilkington and also has the dreaded image projection at the bottom as many new Yaris has. Here it is new and last two photos shows the original seats lower as it should. 

521A18BC-916B-4F83-BEC4-056955AE728B.jpeg

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A6F8F1B8-FF43-4EEB-94F4-2292E1626165.jpeg

A2E9ACF8-6D3B-4300-B1BB-EAE347B159AC.jpeg

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21 hours ago, TonyHSD said:

Well, few weeks ago same thing happened to me, auto glass technician turned up, fitted a new screen in less than 30 min, all seemed good on first sight but guess what., the windscreen seats 6-10mm higher, even when is raining collects water on top and water stays there. Later I found two broken clips and pins on the wiper blades gutter, I did replaced those myself. There is also a large gap between windscreen and roof lining , I can literally stick my fingers there and touch the windscreen seal, btw that thing was very soft after insulation and turned harder few days afterwards. Anyway, no extra mouses or water leaks and I have no intention to go further and rise complaints against them and taking all the hassle as a result. But when if next windscreen replacement happens I will make sure I stay next to the guy and watch his every single step. The windscreen is made by Pilkington and also has the dreaded image projection at the bottom as many new Yaris has. Here it is new and last two photos shows the original seats lower as it should. 

521A18BC-916B-4F83-BEC4-056955AE728B.jpeg

F5995CC0-FE44-49E9-902D-2541CD990DB8.jpeg

63AC9EF5-F0AC-4F9A-AE1F-66C757364CDF.jpeg

A6F8F1B8-FF43-4EEB-94F4-2292E1626165.jpeg

A2E9ACF8-6D3B-4300-B1BB-EAE347B159AC.jpeg

Mine looks the same!  Glass higher than the roof line. 

 

Autoglass washed their hands of it, so have Axa. So I'm going to report another claim now, specify I want Toyota / Pilkington glass - and they can take their time, so long as I hear back. I'll call them everyday. Get them to replace it, then cancel my policy and go elsewhere - even though there's a cancellation fee, even though I'll probably pay £100 more elsewhere per year. F*** it, I want it done right, with the right parts.  Hardly teaching anyone a lesson in reality but it p***** me off that there's no such thing as a good job anymore. 

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29 minutes ago, SB1500 said:

Mine looks the same!  Glass higher than the roof line. 

 

Autoglass washed their hands of it, so have Axa. So I'm going to report another claim now, specify I want Toyota / Pilkington glass - and they can take their time, so long as I hear back. I'll call them everyday. Get them to replace it, then cancel my policy and go elsewhere - even though there's a cancellation fee, even though I'll probably pay £100 more elsewhere per year. F*** it, I want it done right, with the right parts.  Hardly teaching anyone a lesson in reality but it p***** me off that there's no such thing as a good job anymore. 

You are right. There is no more properly done job in pretty much all business. Unfortunately I had even worse experience with windscreen replacement, very likely to be same auto glass fitting. My gf auris which is same as mine had poorly filled windscreen as a result water ingress into the cabin near the drivers sun visor, wet roof lining, broken sun visor, and even water down the footwell. Complain made to the dealer, they actually supposed to change the windscreen prior to car delivery, used car purchase, but they didn’t. Ok they took the car back , called auto glass, they did second windscreen fitted, this time no water in but a huge gap left bottom left corner, a lots of engine noise and even wind at higher motorway speeds , horrible experience. Well, she couldn’t deal anymore and left it like that. Two years later she sold the car , now someone is driving a great auris but with some extra ventilation 😂

Auto glass technicians seems to rush a lot and do as many windscreens as possible per shift and likely they didn’t clean properly the existing seal from the car body and just stick on top the new windscreen with new seal on. That’s perfect explain the raised position. The windscreen can not be with such a large tolerance not to fit properly, but extra seal can indeed lift the screen position up. My one at least doesn’t let water or wind inside and I am ok ish for now. 

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Yeah, Autoglass is a sham of a company. Their complaints procedure refers you to the financial ombudsman, and when I went on their site to do just that, they advise that they only assist with disputes involving financial companies or a financial agreement - not automotive work, or disputes like that... Total sham. 

I'll speak to my insurer this week, explain it was a bad job and that I expect them to put it right, ideally with a Toyota part fitted by Toyota or anyone else who will let me watch or be on premises.  failing that, I'll get it in writing from Toyota that it needs a Pilkington panel (this is the company who only advise 17" alloys as even their 18" on other models isn't technically intended for my spec). Then it is within the realm of possibility that a chip, or crack might occur...in which case I'll contact my insurer with Toyota's document. If they dispute it I'll use it as grounds to exit my insurance contract early without penalty if they won't follow the manufacturers instruction.  Then I'll go to the next cheaper insurer or maybe Toyota insurance for what it's worth. And should they not do any better, I'll just pay Toyota themselves the £880 to get it done properly, and make a rule to myself that if it cracks I'll only do that once per year max. It'd be one hell of a motivator to keep a large gap from vehicles in front at least. 

What else can I do? If I keep this car for another up to 10 years I want it to be right. no leaks. no misalignment. no poorly aligned sensors. no glass poking above the metal roofline.  

I don't care what any two-week-programme trained "technician" (read: franchised Bosch wiper salesman) says, there's a difference between factory original and 'just as good as OEM, 'same thing'' piece of glass. Just like there's a difference between £18 brake pads, and £80 brake pads, they meet the same safety standards and look the same to the naked eye perhaps, doesn't mean they'll perform quite the same, last as long, wear as gracefully, or avoid squealing... Even if they're 'made in the same factory' too, means absolutely nothing as to why one has a Toyota stamp and the other appears to be a no-name. One manufacturer can produce two very different products and results. I can forgive the fitters for not covering that on the two week programme... but it's a damn shame for the odd person who cares. 

I really, really wish I could fit it myself. I wonder if I were to do so, after getting the glass from Toyota (they said they can supply it) and taking my time, could I do it right (taking ages to clean the old seal / gasket) and using proper alignment tools.  And then pay Toyota at the dealer to do the alignment on the ADAS system (or even an alternative local independent company who can do that part). 

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The problem is more down to workmanship than the windscreen quality. Yes indeed there maybe a slight difference between windscreen bought from Toyota and one from the supplier directly but the quality of the fitter is very important here. The glass I had installed looked very well packaged with all the necessary seals and hooks and everything for the accessories attached. Two Toyota models with same issues after installation, definitely it’s the man who had installed it at fault. If you want to do out yourself you will need to buy an suction arm holder, seal and a cutting cord, some alcohol cleaner. No need a new windscreen imo. 
Good luck 

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