[Shanksta]

Who: Windshield Experts Chennai

Field Of Expertise: Anything related to Windshields.

What I got from them: Had my Toyota Innova's front windshield replaced due to excessive scratches.

Person to Contact: Suresh.M - Centre Manager(Adyar)
+91-9380110024,044-42114949
Address: Old no. 9/2,New No. 29, Adyar Bridge Road,
Adyar,Chennai-600020.

My Experience:
Well for a past couple of months I was finding it very hard to drive at night due to multiple concentric circular scratches on my front windshield, it came to a point wherein it became a safety concern. So rummaged around a bit on T-BHP and came across GTO's thread on winshield experts, gave them a call and their quotation was 4000 bucks cheaper than Toyota's After Sales Service. Since my car was no longer under warranty decided to go with Windshield Experts based on positive feedback. The store manager Mr.Suresh was helpful in answering all my queries and the technician Mr.Prabhu did a fast and efficient job. Overall was happy though please do not let the store manager Mr.Suresh to work on the car he is a bit too shoddy i.e. a little rough with the tools. Overall I paid 10,800 including labor and cost for adhesive plus they threw in a pair of Bosch Wipers for free.

1. They Removed the wipers and the plastic cladding.


2.Removing the beading.


3.Sawing off the old sealant with a wire.


4.After removing the windshield.


5.The old windshield.


6.The new Windshield.


7.In this pic the white marks on the left was done by the manager, on the right was done by the technician as you can see one is shoddy the other is neat.


8.Fitting the beading with Anabond adhesive,the old beading was used in my case since it was still in good nick.


9.The sealant Urethane base U-414 Betaseal.


10. Applying the sealant.


11.Fixing the new glass. The guy standing leftmost is a customer they asked him to help them. -1 to them.


12.taping and cleaning the new glass.


13.Windshield Experts.


Pros:
+ Good , Fast and Efficient.
+ Patient and they answer all queries.
+ Cheap and original windshields
+ Good Stock of many different models.


Cons:
- The place was a mess.
- Understaffed they had to ask a customer to help them.
- Need to be a bit more knowledgeable.

Verdict:
Would definitely suggest this place if your Friendly nieghbourhood A.S.S. is costly.

Regards,
Shanksta

[mints21]

How much time does it take for the entire process which starts with removing the original windscreen, cleaning the surface and putting a new glass. Do they source the windscreens from the same source from which the company buys.

Also, fail to understand why they had to throw the wipers. Did you use the existing ones or went on to buy new wiper blades.

[Shanksta]

Originally Posted by mints21

How much time does it take for the entire process which starts with removing the original windscreen, cleaning the surface and putting a new glass. Do they source the windscreens from the same source from which the company buys.

Also, fail to understand why they had to throw the wipers. Did you use the existing ones or went on to buy new wiper blades.

It takes around 1 hour to remove, clean and fix the new windshield. This is owned by AIS the company that supplies windshields as OEM part to many leading manufacturers all the windshields are LAMISAFE. My wipers have already seen a monsoon plus they also recommend changing the wiper blades if they are more than 3-6 months old at the time of replacing.
P.S. Forgot to add their standard warranty is 1 year for leakage and vision related problems. Breakages are not covered whatsoever.

[SRK72]

I had a bad experience with them recently when my one month old Liva Sportivo needed a windshield replacement due to a crack. While removing the cracked windshield they peeled off the paint in many spots. When i asked them for an explanation Mr Suresh said this was 'normal' and that there will not be any 'issue'. I wanted to take them to task, but had to leave town for a few days on work, and actually didnt think about the incident after that.

[nitrous]

Originally Posted by SRK72

I had a bad experience with them recently when my one month old Liva Sportivo needed a windshield replacement due to a crack. While removing the cracked windshield they peeled off the paint in many spots. When i asked them for an explanation Mr Suresh said this was 'normal' and that there will not be any 'issue'. I wanted to take them to task, but had to leave town for a few days on work, and actually didnt think about the incident after that.

Where did they peel the paint off?
Do you have pics?

They may be right in peeling off a little surface paint while removing the old winshield silicone sealant.

[Shanksta]

Originally Posted by SRK72

I had a bad experience with them recently when my one month old Liva Sportivo needed a windshield replacement due to a crack. While removing the cracked windshield they peeled off the paint in many spots. When i asked them for an explanation Mr Suresh said this was 'normal' and that there will not be any 'issue'. I wanted to take them to task, but had to leave town for a few days on work, and actually didnt think about the incident after that.

That was exactly my grouse with him too if you see the pictures in my post you'll notice some paint missing in the base. By any chance did Mr.Suresh remove the old sealant in your car?

[esteem_lover]

Originally Posted by nitrous

They may be right in peeling off a little surface paint while removing the old winshield silicone sealant.

Really ?

Where exactly did the paint peel off ?

[SRK72]

Hi nitrous & esteem_lover,

Regret delay in replying, the scratches were in the A-pillar and at the edges of the Hood. Attaching few pics for reference.

Attaching few pictures for reference. The scratches were in the A pillars and at the edges of the Hood. These scratches looked as if some sharp item like a blade caused it.

[Torino]

Got our Ertiga's windshield replaced due to a crack caused by a stone pellet when I was driving back from Coimbatore last weekend. I went to Windshield experts Adyar a day before replacement and inquired about the availability of windshield and suitable time.

I claimed insurance for the replacement. According to the Manager Mr.Kannan, they can do cashless replacement if you have any insurance except Royal Sundaram and Shriram General Insurance with which they don't have tie-up for cashless service. So if you have Royal Sundaram or Shriram Insurance you have to pay the total cost of the windshield during replacement and the difference will be credited back to your bank account after 10 days. Due to the tie-up with insurance companies they can inspect and approve the claim themselves and do not require a surveyor from the insurance company, so the entire process is instant.

Since our car had Oriental Insurance with zero depreciation I paid Rs1200 which is for consumables and labor. Actual cost of windshield for Ertiga is Rs 7200. Documents required for the process are RC, Insurance & Driving licence. I submitted the documents and filled the claim form and the work began. I reached the shop at 10am and drove out at 12pm. Total time required for replacement was one hour and another one hour for the glue to dry. The overall experience was smooth and the job done was clean and satisfactory. The replacement process is same as the first post in this thread.

For the glue to set properly I was advised to do the following for the next 3 days:

• Lower the windows a bit if parked under the sun.
• Drive with AC.
• Go slowly over pot holes, speed breakers & bad roads.
• Don't apply force to wash the windshield.