Auto Glass: windshield, Rusted pinchweld, Silicone

Question
QUESTION: I have an old 1990 Chevy and I had a windshield installed. I had to repair a crack that happened 2 weeks after a fender bender. First rain it leaked. He came back and put some red stuff all around inside and out. The guy said that there was rust around the frame and he would have to take the windshield out, sand the frame down, paint it and then reinstall it if it leaked after that. $235 more! It did leak a little bit. Does this sound right? What should I do? Don't want to loose my car of 3 days while they fix it!

ANSWER: Hi Alice

   

         I really need to know the model of this car to give you more info., The whole thing sounds Fishy and I have never in all my 30+ years of doing Auto Glass heard of Red Urethane Glue for Cars.

         Derek :)

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: It's a 1990 Chevy Caprice. It sounds fishy to me too. That's why I'm here. Should I try to put some extra urethane or silicone on top of what he already did? Will that make it worse or harder to pull the window out if they need to? What would be red that he might put on that is bogus? A friend said she put silicone on and it fixed her problem with an old car. Would some minor rust make it not seal properly?

Answer
Hi Alice,

         Most Professional Auto glass shops will offer a lifetime warrantee on all Windshield and Back Glass replacements. Having said that:

         If the Installer did not tell you had rust and did not give you the option to have it reconditioned the first time he did the job,  the shop is responsible to fix it at no charge.

If they did make you aware of the rust condition and you declined to have it repaired properly you must pay to fix it right and wait as long as it takes to fix the car.

The Mystery red stuff is most likely silicone and although your friend may have been lucky with her car, your car has a preexisting rust problem and the chemical makeup of most silicones can only make your problem worse. So why would they use it?



My Company warrantees every Auto Glass job for as long as the customer owns their car, as long as there is no rust. When I do a job on a car that has rust I do not give the customer the option. I tell them they must let me fix it NOW for the extra 30-50(light rust)or call a body shop (Bad Rust) to come and pick this car up, fix the pinchweld and then I will go back and install Windshield at the shop they it bring to.



My advise to you is call the glass shop and tell them you are afraid the windshield is going to fall out because you have found out the Red stuff they installed your windshield with is silicone and only has a PSI of 35-50 and they should have used Urethane that has a PSI of 300-1000 if they still do not want to fix for free ask them to credit the original glass bill to the cost of repairing it right. If they still will not help call another glass company and ask if they will remove and reinstall your window and make sure they fix the rust. Take that bill and bring it to the first glass company for reimbursement. Of course all this will depend on the answers to the first two questions, Do they Warrantee, and did they tell you about the rust? Hope this Helps! Let me know what happens. Derek :)