Had my windshield replaced Saturday by Safelite (national chain). We agreed to a fee of $505. The price seems to fluctuate by region for instance in Conneticut one 911 owner (same glass) on Rennlist had the job done with OEM glass for $400.
The shop was only 15 minutes from where I live so I agreed to a 9:00 am appointment. They'll come to you for another $100. I inspected the glass and sure enough the OEM triangle was on the corner and it was imported glass from Sekurit. I beleive the retail at the dealer for this part is $450. I heard that a TSB was put out to advise that a rope insert should be placed between the windshield glass and the channel to avoid squeaks often reported by Boxster and 911 owners. I told the installer about this and he said he had never heard of such a thing in doing the job for 17 years. They took the keys after I lowered the top and they told me it would take about an hour (its now 9:30)
The job was completed at 11:30 and now I'm running late for other errands and appointments. I did a quick inspection and the job looked first rate, no visual distortion in the glass either. They put in a new outside moulding between the glass and the windshield header. Car looks brand new. The installer (I think he was a supervisor and not the actual installer) said not to wash it for 48 hours.
Sped off to make the trek into NYC for my appointment. I hit some traffic (as usual) going into the tunnel so I glance over to my right and I see a two inch scratch on the dash board
(just below the speaker grill). look over to the middle another scratch.
The trim near the A Pillar is also not seated properly.
I have to make an immediate U turn out of all this traffick and go directly back to the Safelite shop. I hit another bunch of traffic on a single lane road. Grrr...
An hour and a half later I'm back at the shop just as they are closing. Point out the damage to the shop manager and also notice that in removing the winshield wiper trim they nicked the paint using a srewdriver or something. Guess they didn't think to just raise the hood for more working space. I asked if the trim needed to be removed to do the job and they said yes. Strike two.
Amazingly after sitting in two hours of traffic and seeing this damage, I'm not at all that mad. The manager says "ok I'll file the casualty claim and someone will be in touch with you".
Back in the car and yes I hit traffic again it now 4pm.
A whole day affair and it was only supposed to be an hour and half task
I'll called Safelite's 1-800 to report the incident just as a follow up today and they couldn't find me in their computer they put me on hold. They called the shop directly, Shop manager says he's already faxed over the claim.
If you have your glass replaced bring a beach towel and cover your dash and center console. Point out to the supervisor that there is not damage to your paint or dash before the job is started. I did this beach towel thing when I had my GT3 seats put in by some friends at an autobody shop. I thought a professional shop that have probably worked on numerous expensive cars in the past would know to put down a drop cloth before getting to work. Guess not, these guys did more $$$$$ damage then they made money doing the job just because they were sloppy. I think they have no idea what a new dashboard and repainting my fender is going to run them. I'm guessing at least $1500-$2000