My front passenger window of my Jeep Grand Cherokee was smashed out by a creep who stole our stuff while on vacation. I took it to the dealer to get the window replaced, and he said he can’t possibly get all the glass out of the door frame, but that it’s fine and will disintegrate or fall out over time. When I roll down the window, it seems OK, but when I roll it back up, it goes slowly and there is a horrible grinding noise and by the time the window gets back in place, there are new gouges and scratches. The dealer says there is no way to get the rest of the glass out and I will have to wait and be patient until all the glass comes out on it’s own. Is this really true? If so, how long will this take?
If he’s wrong, can I demand a new window since this one is scratched and it’s their fault? What can I reasonably expect?
Thanks!
Gruenwald, According To The Dealer, Every Time Somebody Has A Movable Window Replaced They Have To Wait Until All The Glass Falls Out And Then Live With Scratched Glass.
Right! This makes no sense. You must have paid out-of pocket, correct? If insurance is paying, I’d contact my agent. Let him/her handle it for you.
Call a couple of other dealers and a couple of auto glass shops and run this by them. Write down exactly what they tell you so that you can relay this to the dealer. I think there’s either something else that was damaged in the B&E, or something very unique to Jeep Grand Cherokees or more likely, somebody that doesn’t know what they’re doing or what they’re talking about . . . the dealer.
I worked in a body shop once. When a customer came back complaining about newly painted parts of a car not matching well, the painter would advise them on it. If it was too light, he’d tell them it would darken as it cured. If it was too dark, he’d tell them it would fade a little, in time. The idea was to buy some time. Rather than just repaint the car, he’d send the owner away for a while. Believe it or not, most never came back. Some stayed away because they totaled their car, sold their car, got used to it, didn’t have time, or thought the service stunk. The painter just didn’t want to re-do the job.
I think that’s what’s going on here. That glass needs to be replaced if it’s scratched. The window shouldn’t be slower than it was, either. This sounds like a botched job.
CSA
First off DON’T GO TO THE DEALER. Any good reputable glass shop can replace the glass far cheaper then the dealer can. In fact here in Southern NH…Every dealer I know of farms out their glass work. You can go to a place like Portland glass and have the glass repaired for $200 or go to the dealer and have it repaired for $400…and they’ll just call Portland Glass to come and replace it for them.
They invented this thing a few years ago called a SHOP-VAC. Whoever replaces the glass they’ll have to remove the inner door panel…when they do that they can use the SHOP-VAC and vacuum out any and all broken glass. Works great. I’ve actually used one of those myself.
The dealer is full of it. There’s no reason for not vacuuming the broken glass fragments out of the door while the inner panel is off, and they had to take it off to install the new window.
The glass will not disintegrate (look in any landfill) and only pieces small enough to fit through the drain holes will fall out. Larger pieces of glass will rattle around inside the door as long as you own the vehicle.
Just out of curiosity, why did you go to the Jeep dealer for this? Any auto glass shop could have replaced the window, and since this is what they specialize in they usually do the job correctly.
There should not be any grinding noises when the window is operating, either up or down, and it should not be getting scratches on it. The replacement window should operate exactly the same way the original window did. It’s the window installer’s job to clean out the old glass before installing the new glass.
I think you have every right to request a new window and a correct installation.
I went to the dealer because the two glass places in town wouldn’t do the work until next week, and would do it at my house so it could only happen on a sunny day since I don’t have a garage. I couldn’t see out of the plastic well enough to drive so I didn’t want to wait that long, and the price was in line with the quotes from the glass places.
The dealer claims there is some sort of bar on the inside that they can’t get the shop vac into. I brought it back after reading these posts, and told them to figure it out bc I paid to have a properly functioning window. We’ll see what happens.
Post back later so we can all see how you made out. Good luck.
The dealer BOTCHED this repair. Demand the job be done correctly. Most of the broken glass went in your car or in the street. The small amount that fell inside the door fell to the bottom of the door and virtually all of it could have been easily vacuumed out when the door panel was off. By your description, they bent or deformed the REGULATOR the mechanism that makes the glass go up and down, when they were installing the new glass.
The dealer said they tried to clean it again, but glass is stuck behind a structural support that goes across the middle of the door. He said he used a pick to scrape out what he could, but there is still some in there, and I will have to wait until it falls down into the bottom of the door. He said I can bring it back in a month, and he will clean it out again for $32, and that I shouldn’t use the window until then.
He also said there’s nothing he can do about the glass being scratched bc it wasn’t his fault that there is broken glass in the door, and he’s tried everything to get it out.
What can I do at this point? I already paid when I thought the window was fine. Does anyone know where I could find a diagram of the inside of the door? How hard would it be to take this apart myself to see if I can scrape more glass out myself? I’m so irritated.
The dealer said they tried to clean it again, but glass is stuck behind a structural support that goes across the middle of the door. He said he used a pick to scrape out what he could, but there is still some in there, and I will have to wait until it falls down into the bottom of the door. He said I can bring it back in a month, and he will clean it out again for $32, and that I shouldn’t use the window until then.
He also said there’s nothing he can do about the glass being scratched bc it wasn’t his fault that there is broken glass in the door, and he’s tried everything to get it out.
What can I do at this point? I already paid when I thought the window was fine. Does anyone know where I could find a diagram of the inside of the door? How hard would it be to take this apart myself to see if I can scrape more glass out myself? I’m so irritated.
Gruenwald, How Much Time Has Elapsed Since You Paid? How Did You Pay?
It’s probably too late for a check “stop payment”. I’ve witnessed credit card companies working with people who are ripped-off. They too can put a “stop” on a credit card transaction. That would get their attention. You can’t “stop” cash.
Have you kicked your complaint up a notch? (Service Department or Body Shop Manager, General Manager, Dealer Principal/Owner.)
Maybe the next place you take it to and get it fixed correctly would fill out an affidavit for you to take to Small Claims Court. This one sounds like a slam dunk. Sometimes when they get notice to appear in court, they’ll get in touch to right the situation with you. If not, You’ll see’em in court. I don’t think it costs much to file and I think you can recover that too if you prevail.
I think it’s either that or nothing.
The service writer you were talking to is a liar and lazy. Anybody with a work ethic and integrity can do this. I tell my techs “people come first and quality comes period”. Crap like this never leaves our shop and when I give my final inspection, if I see something like this the car comes right back in, period.
Don’t let this experience scare you away from dealerships, some are great and some are like this PUTZ. To be honest, I have been treated better by dealerships than bt indepedent shops.
You should be able to remove the inside door panel without too much trouble. The bottom and sides just pop out with a stiff, narrow putty knife. The top edge just lifts out of a groove. There may be a few screws hidden under the door handle. No great amount of force is needed, no need to break anything…You may have to reach in behind the loose panel and disconnect the wiring…
The glass rests in a U-channel which is part of the “regulator” that moves the window up and down. Some windows have holes drilled threw the glass for the regulator arms instead of a channel…The front and back edges are supported by U-channels which can be adjusted to position the glass in the door…