Wednesday, September 29, 2010 - 07:09 am, by: Daniel Arndt(Darndt)
Short story. My windscreen was broken, all covered under shannons glass replacement. They use Obriens. Called Obriens and they couldn't find my car. Told them every name under the sun I thought it was. Eg Toyota soarer. Lexus soarer, SC400, UZZ31. Even gave them my VIN number. Anyway thought they found it, and are ordering it in from sydney. I had a bad feeling as i remember they said GS300. Did a google this morning and a GS is a chaser I think, 4 door lexus. So thats no good. I'll call them back when they open up today. But what else can I tell them so they can find my bloody windscreen? Surely our soarers are not that uncommon?
Wednesday, September 29, 2010 - 08:12 am, by: Ken Yo(Khangz)
Hah, that's happened to me at The Tyre Factory. They couldn't find any Toyota/Lexus Soarer/SC400/SC300. So yes you will come across this from time to time.
Not sure how to get your windscreen sorted though sorry
Wednesday, September 29, 2010 - 08:57 am, by: Daniel Arndt(Darndt)
All sorted. I think Rang them again and asked exactly what they ordered. There was a bit of confusion. looked as if they ordered a supra window. But then he quoted Uz31 which I said bingo. So I think we are on a winner. Fingers crossed. I hate having an unroadworthy and unsafe car.
Ben Lipman Goo Roo NT Soarer TT manual, plus TT track car
Wednesday, September 29, 2010 - 02:25 pm, by: Ben Lipman(Ben12a)
Daniel, don't be suprised if they rock up with glass labelled 'Camry'. I had two done earlier this year through Shannons (via O'Briens). They both fitted perfectly with no hassles.
PS: with shannons you can go to whoever you want to, but if they have to organise it they go through O'Briens, which makes it easy for you as you don't have to do a thing with the billing.
Wednesday, September 29, 2010 - 02:40 pm, by: Daniel Langridge(Daniel_langridge)
I live in Townsville QLD, they had the right one but tried to charge me over $500 for it, so i had a shop around and it cost me $240 installed at my work, nice and cheep, but if your not paying for it, thats even better.
Wednesday, September 29, 2010 - 02:47 pm, by: Daniel Arndt(Darndt)
All booked in now. the glass seems to be the right one. Tomorrow it will be at the shop. I'm sure they will have no major dramas. So far Both Shannons and O'briens have been a pleasure to deal with. Only problem was them finding the right screen in the first place.
Wednesday, September 29, 2010 - 05:06 pm, by: Scott Wilkes(Scottywilkes)
make sure its the right colour glass as well, different colour soarers have different tints in the glass, blue, green etc.
Make sure its a decent glass as well, a mate just got 1 done down here through obriens and once in was all wavey and distorted. Just cheap crap
This is the reason i was so dam annoyed when i got a chip in my windscreen but got it repaired via ikins in launceston for a price obriens couldnt get close to haha
Wednesday, September 29, 2010 - 06:36 pm, by: Shane Haverkamp(Havabeer)
i'd love to get a new windscreen, mine has 1001 mini little chips all over it. it makes me sad when i look out my gf's brand new lancer window and its perfect.
Thursday, September 30, 2010 - 06:42 am, by: Daniel Arndt(Darndt)
I had heard that about the colour. But then I thought windscreens had to be clear. Are you referring to the colour of the top tint? Mine is a white car. So guess it has to be brown tint? I'll see what it looks like this afternoon.
Also if it is all wavy I'll be taking it back. Mark my words.
Thursday, September 30, 2010 - 07:08 am, by: Matthew Sharpe(Madmatt)
Wow, I had no hasstles at all over here - the biggest problem was getting it booked in as they were so busy (NZ roads - corse chip must make NZ a dream for glass companies)
Sometimes I'm astounded at how difficult it must be owning an import in Australia compared with NZ.
Thursday, September 30, 2010 - 07:40 am, by: Daniel Arndt(Darndt)
I think you hit the nail on the head Matthew. Imports in AUS are pains in the arse for parts. As most dealers/mechanics here are used to working on falcodores. And then ALL cars in NZ are imports in a sense. So you guys are used to rare and exotic breeds.
The stretch Of highway between my town and the next used to be sealed with stones from the Avon river quary.( I live in Stratford upon Avon. not the UK version but in OZ) The Avon river is a sand and stone based river and the stones are all round. Therefore when put on a highway as you could imagine very bad for windscreens. In fact this stretch had it own name. The CRYSTAL HIGHWAY. Because there was so much glass on it, it shimmers in the sun like crystals!! No joke!
Friday, October 01, 2010 - 06:05 am, by: Matthew Sharpe(Madmatt)
Yeah, sometimes its best to go to a smaller company for glass replacements - owner operators often give much better workmanship as its more than just a job to them.
Smith and Smith did mine, and they did OK, but they did leave some glue on the paint in a couple of places. Came off easily enough, but still... Next time I might try one of the small places.
Friday, October 01, 2010 - 07:33 am, by: Daniel Arndt(Darndt)
Lucky I live in a small town so even the Obriens is owned and operated by the same guy, or a limited few, who as you explained take pride in their work.
Picked up last night, very happy. It is the dark blue green colour tint. But its so dark its almost black, so I don't mind at all on my white car. There is no distortion so far I can see.
There is one thing I can pick is the rear view mirror is now about 5mm lower than original, so when the little visor is down (which I always have down) there is a good gap for the sun to get through. This in NOT an installation fault, rather a glass design fault, as the screen has a matt black "pad" for the installer to glue the mirror back on. And its perfectly on this pad. I'm not too fussed about it though.
Also he found a bit of rust all along the top metal support (not in the roof thank god) and said the old glue was about to come off under the rust. So he cleaned it up and applied rust converter. Something he wasn't required to do so I am very happy with his extra work here.
All up very happy, cost me nothing, and now I have a new sandblast free, clean screen.
A tip to all, get the glass coverage on your insurance policy, If your with Shannons this is standard inclusion anyway. You never know when you will need it.
Friday, October 01, 2010 - 08:01 am, by: Callum Finch(Sigeneat)
I would love to recommend O'Briens for glass on Soarers but i have not had very good experiences with them. The worst was when it took almost 10 weeks to replace the drivers side rear 'triangle' window. It started with the guy saying that he couldnt locate the glass for the car and "in the 15 years i have been doing this i have never had this problem". It continued with me providing him the exact part number required for my car and where to buy it from. It ended with the moron still ordering incorrect and SECOND HAND glass (instead of the brand new part i stuck under his nose) which had to then be modified so that it would at least look "ok" when mounted on my car.
It may be worth smashing the window again and arranging my own glazier instead of dealing with O'Briens again so i can get the correct bloody glass. =S
Saturday, October 02, 2010 - 07:04 am, by: Matthew Sharpe(Madmatt)
Thats why when you find a good tradesman, stick with him. My tyre guy for example - as soon as I saw how fussy he was getting the wheel alignment right, and actually bothering to torque the wheel nuts I knew I had someone who gave a damn about his job - so I will always go back to him now, even if I can get the same tyre somewhere else a little cheaper (though his prices are pretty good too)
Same with the guy that does my warrant of fitness checks - I could get it done $15 cheaper somewhere else, but I know he does a proper check, so I'm happy to pay a bit more.
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