windscreen advice
 

hi, my windscreen is very badly scratched and has numerous very small chips all over it, so that when the sun or headlights shine on it, its like looking at glitter! it makes it very difficult to look through when light is shining on it. there are no proper chips that are repairable, its more like someone has gone over it with a grit blaster!
i called autoglass for a quote, if my insurance cover it, then its only going to be £60 excess, but if they dont then it will cost £500 fitted!!! my insurance company said that it is wear and tear and wont cover it unless there is a crack or a serious chip that could lead to a crack.
is this the sort of price windscreens cost for these cars? or am i best off following around a big lorry in the hope that a large rock bounces up and conveniently cracks my windscreen, or parking my car in a less than desirable area and hope some little scrote bricks it!! ;);)

Get a quote from an independent, should be half the price of Autoglass.

Agreed. Autoglass are notoriously expensive compared to the local glass specialists out there. Ring around for yourself and see. I had a 306 with 170k on the clock and looking through the windscreen with the light on it was like looking through frosted glass! :getmecoat:

Rik.

I am certainly not going to suggest that you use a hammer and a centre-punch to put a chip in it, in front of the driver's face and then call autoglass and claim a new windscreen under your insurance policy, because that would be wrong.

Instead, I am going to whistle and look nonchalent.

Any help ?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Rover-75-M...item2ea553b082

I got mine fitted for ~£225 from one of the national chains (NOT AUTOGLASS! They are stupidly expensive!). An independant can do it for ~£175.

Thats WITH a rain sensor - without will be cheaper still.

It appears to me that Dan has already mentioned it to his insurer.
It would look a bit dodgy if he now claims for a smashed screen.

Col mustard, the thought never crossed my mind! Lol
I didn't actually give any details to my insurer, I just called and asked as a general question, she didn't ask my name or reg. not that i would do that of course! (would that work? Theoretically of course!)

I am pretty sure that any claim goes through the back office of the insurer, so even if he did give his info, it seems unlikely that anyone would put two and two together. I am sure that the insurance comapny doesn't really care about a piddling claim for a windscreen.

I am absolutely not endorsing this idea. But I cannot see any reason why it would not work. Insurer won't care about a simple windscreen claim, autoglass won't care, as long as it gets paid and in the worst case, as long as no-one witnessed you doing it, it wouldn't matter if they were suspicious anyway, as a chip is a chip.

Sounds like it need a "chip" from a ball pein hammer! ;)