A young couple recently returned from a road trip with an unexpected souvenir: A cracked windshield. Their misadventures trying to get it replaced show why technicians have to pre-inspect both the car and the new part before doing a job.
Lynchburg, Virginia, residents Alyssa and Aaron Pope returned from a two-week trip on June 30. Aaron is a local high school coach, and Alyssa is a part-time substitute teacher, so the two decided to use some of their free time during summer break to tour National Parks and famous landmarks as far west as Wyoming.
A rock hit their windshield on June 28, the second day of their drive back home. Alyssa Pope says the impact almost instantly created a four-inch crack on the driver’s side. The two purchased a windshield warranty when buying their 2023 Honda Pilot, so they called iA American Warranty Group the same day the windshield cracked.
When Alyssa and Aaron Pope arrived home from their road trip on June 30, the crack on their windshield had expanded slightly.
“They told us we could get in touch with a repair shop of our choice, or they could call Safelite to schedule the replacement for us,” says Pope. “We figured Safelite was pretty reputable and we weren’t really familiar with any other repair shops in the area … We thought Safelite would be the best choice, especially since the warranty company said they’d call them and handle all that.”
The Popes kept a close eye on the crack, which Alyssa said expanded about 2 inches per day. When they returned to Lynchburg, their local Safelite shop called to schedule the replacement, and the couple brought the Honda in on July 3. After waiting for about 90 minutes, Alyssa Pope says a technician came to get them.
He took the couple back into the workspace and explained that after they’d removed the damaged glass and disconnected the car’s Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) sensors, they realized that the “manufacturer had sent them the wrong part.” So, the technician reinstalled the cracked windshield.
“He told us that was standard procedure, and that ‘In the rare event this happens, they have to put the cracked windshield back on,’” Pope says.
The windshield cracked a bit more during removal and even more during reinstallation, the technician told the Popes.
“I was extremely upset and asked how this had happened and what the next steps were,” Alyssa Pope says. “He told us his manager was on the phone with the manufacturer trying to order a new one for us.”
By the time the technicians had removed and reinstalled the broken windshield, the crack had branched out and expanded to the passenger’s side of the windshield
Pope says when she looked at the windshield they were originally going to install, she could immediately tell it wasn’t the right size or shape. When she looked more closely, she says she saw the manufacturer’s label said it was for an Acura MDX.
“The technician told us that it didn’t necessarily matter because the product number was correct,” she says.
Because it was right before the Fourth of July weekend, he told her the shop wouldn’t be able to get a new windshield until the following week.
“He said the windshield probably wouldn’t break on our drive home unless we hit something, but we should drive a different vehicle until we could get this one fixed.”
The couple drove the car home, only stopping to get gas, and used their other car for the long weekend.
“We figured it wasn’t safe to drive, and we were also concerned about getting pulled over for having our windshield so messed up,” Alyssa Pope says.
The Popes drove their car for the first time since the failed replacement on July 7. They brought it to Safelite to have the proper part installed.
Though not familiar with this particular case, Jeff Olive, Auto Glass Safety Council (AGSC) director of quality and training, says that, in general, technicians can avoid this happening by following general installation best practices and the Automotive Glass Replacement Safety Standard™ (AGRSS).
“The very first thing you do before starting a job is check to make sure that the new part is correct,” he says. “Then you can do the rest of the pre-inspection.”
If a cracked windshield must be reinstalled, Olive says technicians should recalibrate the windshield-mounted ADAS parts before returning the vehicle.
The Safelite shop called the Popes the morning of July 7 and asked them to come in that afternoon to replace the windshield with the correct part. When they arrived, the technician working on the vehicle told Alyssa Pope he planned to examine and measure the new windshield before starting the job.
After replacing the windshield and recalibrating the car’s windshield-mounted ADAS parts, the technician delivered it back to the Popes. Alyssa Pope says he also changed the windshield wipers without charging them and instructed them not to wash the car for a few days. She says she’s grateful they had the iA American warranty because, with the recalibration, it cost more than she and Aaron had anticipated.
The Popes’ windshield was successfully replaced with the correct part on July 7.
Customer figured “Safelite is reputable” warranty seemed to have steered based off verbiage. Hate that they further compromised the integrity of an already damaged glass because technician didn’t do due diligence of verifying correct part prior to removal. Is Safelite still refusing to become AGSC certified?
Cant let this one go by, to many years in the industry. Twice installed busted windshield compromises everything, lucky to calibrate a warped windshield. Safety just went down the toilet, no crush and roll over FMVSS to protect. Not checking part is STUPID. Can’t trust “nobody anymore ” to do their job correctly, especially vendors, they sell chipped, cracked,warped, scratched, delam, broken electronics, broken mount brackets ect.