Day 23

They shop manager said he'd send a particular guy out to do the work. The installer is here, working on it as we speak. This guy is being very tedious, he's been here for over 2 hours already just working on the weatherstrip and moldings. He's obviously getting paid by the hour and in no hurry. I have to give Safelite some credit, someone in their company has a little pride to have sent this guy out. It's enjoyable to watch knowing they put themselves in this position and are now paying this guy for half a day's work plus the cost of parts, and getting $0 in return, and missing out on other work he could be doing.

He went over the car with me before he started with a checklist of anything he didn't want to be held accountable for.

Getting a look at the original moldings, they are trashed and they did nothing to seal them to the frame or replace the factory foam seal. There was also old weatherstrip foam still on the frame that they just left there, causing the new stuff to bulge out. Plus they didn't paint over the window frame scratches, so we got those taken care of. I'm really not seeing how the factory stuff was ever glued into place. It has adhesive backing on it that comes off easily.

This guy thinks the Willcox weatherstrip might also be a problem. He brought a GM weatherstrip just in case (I would need to pay for that of course, $270.)

The Willcox stuff feels pretty firm around the corners where the top needs to compress into, the GM stuff is really soft. I called Willcox and of course he said the installer must not know what he's doing.

I'll let them figure it out, either the weatherstrip fits right or it doesn't. I'm not going to be stuck in the middle and pay for both. Problem is I paid for the Willcox stuff over 6 months ago.

 

Sounds like you are getting some satisfaction and more than I thought you would. Going to do a happy dance for you... Ok back and still happy for you.

 

Day 23, hour 4

He broke the new windshield.

I missed it since I went to get lunch. The girl working the front desk said the guy was pissed of and cussing and punching/kicking the side of his van afterwards.

He got the new GM moldings on there and it still looked like nothing was fitting right, the glass is nowhere near being under them all the way. So I did a water test and it just poured into the car behind the weatherstripping retainers or new molding. The weatherstripping still doesn't seem to fit right, overlaps with the targa side weatherstrip too much.

Now he's heading back to get a new piece of glass. Since he broke the glass which was the only thing I owe them for so far, I'm contemplating telling them to quit while they're ahead, leave the new moldings with me and I'll cancel the charge and find someone competent to do the install.

But another shop isn't going to like cleaning up after someone else's botched install.

Any suggestions?

 

Unreal.

 

Day 23, hour 5-1/2

Since the windshield has to be replaced again, I'm going to have them get the inner seal that should have gone in to begin with. He said the glass looks like it's offcenter too, maybe 1/4 inch.

He also tried just putting goop in between the original retainer and new molding, but with the torn up factory foam tape still in there it didn't work. I think the retainers need to be cleaned off and new doublestick foam tape applied.

They say they won't guarantee any of the parts if I supply them, even if in GM packaging.

So after 5-1/2 hours of effort, we're back to square one and reschedulng everything again. I'm out most of next week on business trips, so it'll get dragged out past the 30 day mark, which I think might mean I could no longer cancel payment.


I asked him why from a business standpoint they haven't just cut their losses and told me to get lost. I said it's not like I'm going into a Maaco and expecting a showroom paint job. He says many dealerships sub out work to them, and paying more somewhere isn't going to get you better work. And that they're a big franchise and can afford to take a hit every now and then and see it through until the job is done right, instead of hurting their reputation.

Frankly at this point, I don't know what reputation they have left to salvage.

 

 

Another parking lot job?

.

 

I offered to take it to the shop, it's only 5 minutes away, they said it didn't matter. I think now after this b.s. they'll do just that.

They probably didn't want it taking up valuable shop space that could be used to turn a profit.

 

CC, as long as Safelite is still willing to work on the car until the job is done to your satisfaction, I'd let them continue.
Starting over at square 2 with another installer would scare the living daylights out of me.

Your situation makes me so thankful that my own windshield-replacing experience (also with Safelite) was only a two-day/two-replacement-windshields situation.

I take it your C4 is still at your house??

Larry
code5coupe

 

Yes it's sitting here, I've got enough greasy fingerprints on the car and windshield to keep CSI busy for awhile.

It looks like this guy was using silicone on the molding. If I wanted a Home Depot special I would have went to Tijuana (or Home Depot).

I also have the original moldings. It looks pretty obvious to me that they didn't remove all the screws before they pried them off.

 

I've been following your thread from the beginning with disbelief. I have been thinking of having the windshield on my 96 replaced due to minor sand sparkle. After reading of your problems I'm scared to death of having it done.
Does anyone know of any glass shops in N.Ca. that can replace just the windshield and not ruin the car in the process?

 

wow....that's crazy, I was contemplating getting mine re-done I have one very small pit that might at some point travel, after reading this when it does split maybe I'll try it myself

 

When I wanted to change one in my 96 I talked to the local Chevrolet dealer's body shop manager about it and he told me who they used to do Corvettes. I called the guy who turned out to be so busy it was about a month before I could get him to work on my car but when my scheduled appointment came up he drove out to my house and replaced it in my garage. The job took about four hours but it was obvious he knew what he was doing. I had some preliminary work already done as I wanted new weatherstrips, retainers and mouldings and I had new parts from GM ready to go at the time. He was happy I bought weatherstrips from GM; he said some of the aftermarket stuff is OK but that he preferred to work with original GM. He took the time to explain each step he did and the installation went well. The job turned out nice and his bill was $349 which included the windshield. He told me C4's were the most difficult windshields to replace and that he had done many of them. He said you don't want just any glass shop doing one. The newest C4 is now 11 years old and with the turnover in help it might be difficult finding someone with C4 experience.

 

Day 31

Install attempt #2 (and 3). After 5.5 hours, I heard a familiar fist-hitting-van sound.

Tech broke the new windshield again.

 

They may want to cut their losses on this one now and will probably locate someone who can do the job and just pay to get it done.

 

 

If this story wasn't so sad it would be so much funnier. I can't get the image of some poor windshield installer hammering away at the side of his van...

Sorry for your agony.

 

What a bunch of clowns! Hammering away on the side of his van is just an added display of more non professionalism that has been present throughout the discourse of this entire job. But then it is getting harder to find competance every day no matter what you are trying to get done.

 

Wow, I just read through this thread, and to see the job that was done was, well, disturbing. Here is a picture of my 1991 that I put a windshield in two weeks ago. The same shop installed one for me in October, and I didn't notice a small line between the laminents on the passenger side, so they replaced it again, no charge, in my garage. I removed all the weatherstripping, and reveal moldings myself, and the put it back together myself for the same reasons. I trusted the installer, I just like to take my time, and get everything perfect when installing the reveal moldings, and weatherstrip, which is all brand new from GM, and Wilcox Corvette. You can see the the foam piece that goes at the base of the dash in the lower left corner of the picture on the blanket, and this is, as stated above, still available from GM.

 

He actually installed it twice. Tried doing it the first time with no blocking at the base, and got it too high for the moldings to go on, and the whole glass slid down while he was pushing on it, so the upper corners were exposed.



What screws are used on the molding? He's trying to put these stupid tapered head interior screws in there and they just spread out the holes on the molding without pressing it down. I'm thinking some sort of pan head screw would work better. I have no idea what screws came out of it.