Anybody with TPS account

[Dave McB]

My company has a proper 'trade' account with TPS

However

Jim (Laird) appears to get a better discount than we do (Motor factors)

[sarg]

Our Mini is on its 3rd windscreen in just 2 years (they are quite susceptible as they are quite upright) and last time I insisted on an OEM screen because both OE ones had cracked from only relatively small impacts. Eventually got my own way after a couple of weeks arguing about it - no extra excess (it's already £125!) and they gave us £35 compo for it taking so long.

Not sure having Audi fit the screen is necessarily a good thing though, I'd rather have somebody that does it all day every day, Audi won't have had much practice at it.

Oh, I also refuse to deal with AutoGlass as they scratched the bonnet of the previous Mini fitting a new screen to that one, AutoWindscreens got our job instead

[ainarssems]

To be honest I don't know if Audi will be doing the job itself, more likely they will have third party in to do the job. But because it goes through the dealer there is hope that correct materials, accessories and procedures will be used, like spacers, primers and 2 component adhesive which is not guaranteed going elsewhere.

[Dave McB]

You tend to find that certain windscreen companies use a cheaper quality screen.

Our company vehicles (mine in particular) had 3 screens in the peiod of a few weeks.

The original cracked,
The replacement lasted a week
The second one was also poor & cracked
The third one was a different OE spec brand

[Goran]

Its a shame the auto industry won't move on. I'm sure there are now versions of lexan/polycarbonate which are scratch resistant enough to serve as a windscreen.
And as a bonus if someone off a bridge throws a brick at your windscreen or a brick falls off a truck, it is unlikely to go through the windscreen and hit you. Unlike with standard windscreens they use now.

[HPsauce]

I don't know what standard windscreens are like nowadays, but I remember way back in the dark ages buying a Triumph Dolomite and one of the features of that was a triple-layer laminated windscreen which was supposedly very shatter-resistant.

I do recall a crow flying into the windscreen once when I was doing a "considerable" speed and there was an almighty bang, a very bloody mess but no damage whatsoever to the windscreen.

[snapdragon]

These screens are made in the same factories, but are very difficult to make, so they are graded into different qualities. The best go to VW/Audi, the next will be branded the glass company's name such as SEKURIT the distorted ones that are not bad enough to scrap will be unbranded or branded with a faux brand. If the Audi factory ordered a batch of screens they would be inspected and the whole batch rejected and the supplier told to collect them if they did not meet their standards, but Autoglass et al are more bothered about a deal on the price.

[ainarssems]

Got the windscreen fitted on Monday at Audi Northampton, they did not do the job themselves but had Corby Windscreens in to do the job. Only problem is that there was some corrosion under old windscreen so they did not provide any warranty for the job because of that. They cleaned it up and put some primer before new windscreen but there is no guarantee that it will not start to corrode again. Audi 2K adhesive was used as it's meant to be by Audi while going to the windscreen fitters directly they would most likely have used single component adhesive.

Audi was once again cheaper then TPS providing bigger discount with the list price of £330.74 including VAT, TPS price being £304, and Audi price including discount was £252.43, not that I care much as insurance is paying for it anyway. Other costs were £85 +VAT for Corby Windscreens for fitting and £39.98 +VAT for the 2K adhesive so you can see why windscreen fitters usually use 1K adhesive which is under £10. Total cost £450.73, all the paperwork sent to insurance, just waiting for £350 cheque to arrive.

[Goran]

Thanks that's good info, next time I need a windscreen fitted I will make sure I ask if they use the 2K Audi adhesive.