BubbaG
Member
- Joined
- March 18, 2019
- Messages
- 34
- Reaction score
- 29
- City, State
- Southlake, TX
- Year, Model & Trim Level
- 2018 Explorer Sport
So the wife smoked a large raptor with the windshield a couple weeks ago and cracked it up pretty good. I took it to a safelite in South Texas to get it replaced shortly after and have been having issues with the A pillar moldings fitting probably.
A little backstory to the problems:
When setting up the appointment to replace the windshield I told the guy that I wanted all OEM Ford parts reinstalled and not any aftermarket off brands and that I would pay the difference, if any, that my insurance did not cover. When I showed up for my appointment they had ordered a OEM windshield but aftermarket a pillar moldings. Naturally I was a little upset about this but the guy insisted that the aftermarket ones fit and stay on better than the OEM ones. Since I live 2 hours from the safelite location, I gave them the benefit of the doubt and had them install the aftermarket ones so that I didn’t waste a day off and travel/fuel costs. Right away the trim pieces did not fit correctly. The leading edge that has the long rubber piece that seals against the window did not lay flat like it did from the factory as well as the top of the trim piece did not match the body lines where the plastic ended and the metal/paint started. I pointed it out to both the tech and manager before I left and of course they still insisted that that’s how they are supposed go on and that the aftermarket ones had better clips than the OEM ones and that the OEM pieces had a tendency to fly off going down the road and if I wanted them to they could pull them up and then “glue” them down for extra security. Now I’m no rocket surgeon, but these trim pieces are not “glued” on at the factory and worked/fit just fine snapped on before so why the heck would you “glue” them on after replacing them. I told them no you are not going to “glue” anything back on to my car and that I wanted them to order me the parts that I asked them to in the first place. They said they would and then let me know when they got the in and I could come back. I said fine whatever but it may be a week or so before I could get back due to work and how far away I live.
Well a couple days later I noticed that the passenger side trim piece was starting to lift off of the base at the top of the a pillar. I tried pushing/snapping it back down but was not having any luck. I told the wife to not worry about it bc they were going to replace them anyway. The next morning while she was on her way to work the dang thing flew off going down the highway. So I called safelite to make sure they had ordered my parts and to let them know that the aftermarket parts they were so fond of and “insisted” were superior to the OEM Ford parts from FoMoCo we’re laying on the side of the road in brush country. They said they had the OEM parts and to come in when I was available and they would put them on.
Now we are at last weekend and I finally had a chance to get back down to safelite and have them install the correct parts, so I thought. Well I get there and the guy pulls out the same dang aftermarket parts they put on the first time. By now I was pretty ticked off but I held my toung.
I stood there and watched the techs as they were about to attempt to install the new plastic cover to the old plastic base piece that bolts down first to the a pillar. I stopped them and told them that they needed to replace both pieces and not just the top one, there was no since in not replacing both. Well after they removed the base and put the new one on, and before I could stop them again, they had added urethane to the underside of the top piece to ”help hold things together” they said. Still I held my toung and watched as they tried to fit the top piece into the base. Well guess what, it still didn’t fit properly.
I stopped the tech and showed him how bad the new piece was fitting and how there was a big bow in the middle of the trim piece, enough for the long rubber strip to not even touch the glass, and the kid responds with, “well I’m not too worried about that”.
I lost my you know what. I said well you may not be too worried about it, but I am.
I walked into the office and ask the manager to join me out in his shop so that I could show him how unprofessional and uneducated his tech was. I told him I wanted him to order me the FoMoCo OEM trim pieces and I wanted them shipped to me and I would install them. He agreed and I left.
This all took place on Saturday and on Monday the manager called me and said he had received the parts from the dealer. He then proceeded to inform me that he had talked to some other guys about the issues of the a pillar trim pieces not fitting correctly and that they had come to the conclusion that either the new windshield was installed incorrectly/crooked and or the OEM windshield could be a defective windshield and that was causing the trim pieces to not fit correctly.
This seems to be one mess up after another and I am very hesitant to take my Sport back to these guys for them to tear it apart again. Has anyone ever had this problem with replacing their front windshield and/or has anyone ever herd of a front windshield being so out of shape/defective that it would need to be removed and replaced again just to get the A pillar trim pieces to fit correctly? Any input/suggestions/information will be greatly appreciated.
A little backstory to the problems:
When setting up the appointment to replace the windshield I told the guy that I wanted all OEM Ford parts reinstalled and not any aftermarket off brands and that I would pay the difference, if any, that my insurance did not cover. When I showed up for my appointment they had ordered a OEM windshield but aftermarket a pillar moldings. Naturally I was a little upset about this but the guy insisted that the aftermarket ones fit and stay on better than the OEM ones. Since I live 2 hours from the safelite location, I gave them the benefit of the doubt and had them install the aftermarket ones so that I didn’t waste a day off and travel/fuel costs. Right away the trim pieces did not fit correctly. The leading edge that has the long rubber piece that seals against the window did not lay flat like it did from the factory as well as the top of the trim piece did not match the body lines where the plastic ended and the metal/paint started. I pointed it out to both the tech and manager before I left and of course they still insisted that that’s how they are supposed go on and that the aftermarket ones had better clips than the OEM ones and that the OEM pieces had a tendency to fly off going down the road and if I wanted them to they could pull them up and then “glue” them down for extra security. Now I’m no rocket surgeon, but these trim pieces are not “glued” on at the factory and worked/fit just fine snapped on before so why the heck would you “glue” them on after replacing them. I told them no you are not going to “glue” anything back on to my car and that I wanted them to order me the parts that I asked them to in the first place. They said they would and then let me know when they got the in and I could come back. I said fine whatever but it may be a week or so before I could get back due to work and how far away I live.
Well a couple days later I noticed that the passenger side trim piece was starting to lift off of the base at the top of the a pillar. I tried pushing/snapping it back down but was not having any luck. I told the wife to not worry about it bc they were going to replace them anyway. The next morning while she was on her way to work the dang thing flew off going down the highway. So I called safelite to make sure they had ordered my parts and to let them know that the aftermarket parts they were so fond of and “insisted” were superior to the OEM Ford parts from FoMoCo we’re laying on the side of the road in brush country. They said they had the OEM parts and to come in when I was available and they would put them on.
Now we are at last weekend and I finally had a chance to get back down to safelite and have them install the correct parts, so I thought. Well I get there and the guy pulls out the same dang aftermarket parts they put on the first time. By now I was pretty ticked off but I held my toung.
I stood there and watched the techs as they were about to attempt to install the new plastic cover to the old plastic base piece that bolts down first to the a pillar. I stopped them and told them that they needed to replace both pieces and not just the top one, there was no since in not replacing both. Well after they removed the base and put the new one on, and before I could stop them again, they had added urethane to the underside of the top piece to ”help hold things together” they said. Still I held my toung and watched as they tried to fit the top piece into the base. Well guess what, it still didn’t fit properly.
I stopped the tech and showed him how bad the new piece was fitting and how there was a big bow in the middle of the trim piece, enough for the long rubber strip to not even touch the glass, and the kid responds with, “well I’m not too worried about that”.
I lost my you know what. I said well you may not be too worried about it, but I am.
I walked into the office and ask the manager to join me out in his shop so that I could show him how unprofessional and uneducated his tech was. I told him I wanted him to order me the FoMoCo OEM trim pieces and I wanted them shipped to me and I would install them. He agreed and I left.
This all took place on Saturday and on Monday the manager called me and said he had received the parts from the dealer. He then proceeded to inform me that he had talked to some other guys about the issues of the a pillar trim pieces not fitting correctly and that they had come to the conclusion that either the new windshield was installed incorrectly/crooked and or the OEM windshield could be a defective windshield and that was causing the trim pieces to not fit correctly.
This seems to be one mess up after another and I am very hesitant to take my Sport back to these guys for them to tear it apart again. Has anyone ever had this problem with replacing their front windshield and/or has anyone ever herd of a front windshield being so out of shape/defective that it would need to be removed and replaced again just to get the A pillar trim pieces to fit correctly? Any input/suggestions/information will be greatly appreciated.
