Windscreen replacement & re-calibration.

e36Adz

e36Adz

e36Adz

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Manchester, UK
Anyone ever had this done before?

I discovered a crack on my windscreen not long ago and it was a definite replacement job. Rang my insurance and paid the excess, and they booked me in with Auto Windscreens. I took half the day off work and made it for the appointment only to find they had the wrong windscreen in. Had to re-book for the following week and another half day off work, this time though it was sorted. They did mention however I may need to take it back to the dealer for a re-calibration.

A few days later I receive a call telling me I need the re-calibration (even though everything seemed to be functioning absolutely fine) so they book me in with Nissan. Another half day off work and I leave the car with Nissan only to find out 4.5 hours later that they couldn't re-calibrate it for some unknown reason, and they want the vehicle for a full day now. I just don't think I can get the time off work if I'm honest, they seem to be wasting a lot of my time and at no point whatsoever have I been offered a courtesy car so I can least get to work!? Now I've never claimed on my insurance before in almost 15 years of driving, is this normal procedure? Do I need to take this up with Auto windscreens or with my insurance company? Is a re-calibration that complicated? There's no question I have to take it back to Nissan because since I got it back from them, the dashboard has been lit up like a christmas tree with warning lights.
 
Psycho Sonny said:
why did you need a re-calibration if everything was working fine?

it's a windscreen not some sort of gauge for monitoring something.
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Lots of the modern assistance systems, eg speed sign reconigtion etc is all done via sensors behind the windscreen, which when replaced needs recalibrated.
 
Psycho Sonny said:
why did you need a re-calibration if everything was working fine?

it's a windscreen not some sort of gauge for monitoring something.
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Modern auto braking, lane departure warnings, road sign recognition systems all require a combination of RADAR, LIDAR and cameras that are part of the windscreen now.

I'm assuming you have a Quasqhi as you've mentioned it's a Nissan? I don't have a great deal to do with the ADAS side of things but IIRC static calibrations usually take 45 mins to an hour where I work
 
Most of the time a re-calibration isn't really needed. If everything is properly fit in place then nothing has moved out of calibration. But if the insurance company is paying the windscreen repairer or dealer will certainly want to re-calibrate it anyway.

I had to replace my windscreen a few years ago. Asked the dealer (had no idea what I was talking about) who then had to query the manufacturer themselves who confirmed that because all the sensors actually sit behind the windscreen in its own housing (next to the rear view mirror) that it didn't require any re-calibration.

To this day, rain sensors, AEB and lane departure all work fine.
 
muon said:
Most of the time a re-calibration isn't really needed. If everything is properly fit in place then nothing has moved out of calibration. But if the insurance company is paying the windscreen repairer or dealer will certainly want to re-calibrate it anyway.

I had to replace my windscreen a few years ago. Asked the dealer (had no idea what I was talking about) who then had to query the manufacturer themselves who confirmed that because all the sensors actually sit behind the windscreen in its own housing (next to the rear view mirror) that it didn't require any re-calibration.

To this day, rain sensors, AEB and lane departure all work fine.
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Those sensors although in their own housing are attached directly to the windscreen
 
Frozennova said:
Those sensors although in their own housing are attached directly to the windscreen
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Not from what I saw. You can just lift the windscreen and nothing is attached. The windscreen just acts as a window. Only the rubber seals touched the windscreen. The sensors aren't using the windscreen as some kind of transmitter or receiver.
 
muon said:
Not from what I saw. You can just lift the windscreen and nothing is attached. The windscreen just acts as a window. Only the rubber seals touched the windscreen. The sensors aren't using the windscreen as some kind of transmitter or receiver.
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Here's an example from a Jaguar XE. Rain/light sensor clips in on the central trapezoid with the rear view mirror sliding over it onto the bracket, then the camera/radar module clips in along the top edge just above the two triangular cutouts

yPXnf52.jpg
 
Why would that need calibration? It is all fitting in place.

It's almost been designed that at the manufacturing line you fit everything and it is ready to go.

In my case, you are right, there may have been clips (I thought you meant it was plugged in some way).
 
It does but the windscreen is never going to be in exactly the same place.

Half a millimeter difference in the height of the adhesive for example can change the angle that the glass is sat, which results in the camera also being at a slightly different angle. That minor difference could easily be a couple of meters 5 car lengths ahead.
 
Makes sense Frozennova and yes it is a qashqai. It's all coming out of the excess I paid so I may as well get it done but I'll be giving them a call tomorrow and asking for a courtesy car so I can at least get to work! Just a lot of wasted time on what I anticipated would be a straight forward job.
 
It is fairly straightforward... At least for us, takes under an hour for one of our guys to calibrate a qashqi IIRC.

Be glad you weren't asking Renault to calibrate a Kadjar. We could do them in house while the dealers would send you to Calais at one point :eek:
 
I do wonder how long the typical insurance £75 windscreen excess & no NCD reduction will remain in place - the average cost of a windscreen replacement across all vehicles must be approaching £1k now?
 
Tom_ed1987 said:
I do wonder how long the typical insurance £75 windscreen excess & no NCD reduction will remain in place - the average cost of a windscreen replacement across all vehicles must be approaching £1k now?
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They aren't. As far as I've seen recently Admiral have no moved to a £95 excess, with a few others being £100 too.

The average hasn't reached £1k yet but it probably won't be far off, especially when you factor in things like calibrations which alone is ~£150
 
I have a massive crack in the M5 windscreen and asked my insurer for a BMW branded replacement. Autoglass will still be the ones to fit it. They seem confident it will take an hour or so at my place of work. I didn't even have to pay anything on top of the £75 excess which I was surprised at.
 
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