Your experience mirrors mine when it comes to glass and installation. The mainstream installers like Safelite won’t touch a car unless they do it all, that’s installation, supply the windshield, etc., etc. I wanted a Mercedes OE windshield in one of my recent cars, maybe the 400E. I talked to all of the major windshield replacement places in town, and no matter what I wanted, even if I was paying out of pocket (“This isn’t insurance??”) they wanted no part of it. OK, one of them agreed to do it but they wanted some exorbitant price, no doubt one of those, “If you’re willing to pay for it, we’ll do it” sort of quotes.
For years I had a guy from a local independent installer who did all of my cars. His name was Mike and he was an absolute wizard with the older cars especially. The glass place he worked for got bought out by one of the national chains and he left them, and as a result I lost track of him, which really bummed me out. Fast forward to a few months ago when I was talking to my upholstery guy about the headliner for my 220 SEb. He knew that the windshield and rear window have to come out to do the headliner, and told me that, “I’ve got a glass guy who is the only person I trust to touch cars in my shop. His name is Mike.” Woo-hoo!!!!! Mike resurfaces! He’s been working independently by word of mouth for the last 10 years or so, he’s that good. He’s the one who will be pulling and installing the glass in my 220 SEb when it gets a new headliner next month. And now I have his contact information so I’ve got someone to do my auto glass in the future. Nice. -D > On Feb 19, 2019, at 8:42 AM, Meade Dillon via Mercedes > <mercedes@okiebenz.com> wrote: > > I've been storing the windshield from Wilton's 300D sedan for a few years, > finally got around to setting up the installation in my '95 E300. I'm > convinced that the factory glass is thicker and stronger than aftermarket - > the E300 had a cracked aftermarket windshield when I bought it, and the > replacement only last a few years before it cracked as well. > > Yesterday I went to the first place I'd selected, a local glass shop that > has an excellent reputation, only about a ten minute drive from home. > Turns out they've been bought out by Safellite in the last couple months. > The ladies behind the counter did not look to happy about that. I asked if > they could install my used windshield, answer was "I'll have to check with > new management" who said no. Probably a good thing, I suspect their > quality and reputation are going to suffer. All the Safellite places in > our area have bad reviews galore. > > I called the next place on my list, a different independent shop also with > a really great reputation, but about 35 minutes away. They won't do it > either. Hmmm.... > > Searched out yet another independent place, been in business for decades, > but about 45 minutes away. No online reviews, but everything else seems > OK. I call and ask, lady passes my request on to the owner who was out of > the office but said that he'd call me back later. > > A couple hours later the owner calls, he confirmed the details that I'd > told the office lady (year and make of the car, used windshield) and > offered to do it himself for $200, no warranty etc. He wanted to make sure > this was a urethane glued installation, not a gasket. I offered to remove > all the trim inside and outside to make the job as simple as possible, but > he didn't want any of that. I got the impression he enjoyed getting all > the little details right. The only condition was I had to deliver the car > to his shop and leave it overnight if I could not bring it in first thing > in the a.m. > > SWMBO followed me in The White Whale to the shop yesterday after lunch. > Owner was not there, which was a disappointment, as I wanted to chat him up > a bit. However he'd left instructions for me to pull my car right into his > shop. > > It will be nice to get this car back into daily driver condition. After > the "new" glass, I'm going to need the front bumper repaired and then > address the leaky evaporator to get the AC back online. Headliner also > needs to be re-glued. > ------------- > Max > Charleston SC > _______________________________________ > http://www.okiebenz.com > > To search list archives http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/ > > To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: > http://mail.okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com > > _______________________________________ http://www.okiebenz.com To search list archives http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/ To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: http://mail.okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com
