Dropped Off for Windshield/Pano Recall - Interesting Dealer Comment

[Jimrpa]

Dropped off my Mustang Mach E for the windshield and pano recall yesterday. The service guy had a few interesting comments:

• They wait until their glass company confirms they have a supply of replacement windshields before they do this work. He confirmed they have 8 replacement windshields in stock.
• They’ve had a very high breakage rate on the windshields. He explained that the windshield is a structural part of the car, and under tension.
• The panoramic roof has to be removed to replace the windshield.

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[RickMachE]

Incompetent service guy. False statements. I would have asked to speak to Service Manager.

 

[VaderMachE]

Mine goes in today. Sister is service manager, company doing windshield has done 20 of them now, zero breaks. I have full confidence it'll be just fine.

 

[2FlyMache]

Yeah, I had mine done without breaking windshield. There is a video out there that shows the right way to remove the windshield. They do need to remove the headliner for pano work. My glass company didn't like the way the pano was originally installed with the gaps so they redid it. Much better and totally eliminated my wind noise issue

 

[RockwallRick]

Service Advisor at our local Ford dealer just told me that they are not doing these recalls because the windshields are on back order. Every time I bring this up I just get more excuses!!

 

[SWO]

Mine goes in today. Sister is service manager, company doing windshield has done 20 of them now, zero breaks. I have full confidence it'll be just fine.

This is a great datapoint, not only for the success rate but also the selection bias for complaints you get on message boards.

 

[jhalkias]

Dropped off my Mustang Mach E for the windshield and pano recall yesterday. The service guy had a few interesting comments:

• They wait until their glass company confirms they have a supply of replacement windshields before they do this work. He confirmed they have 8 replacement windshields in stock.
• They’ve had a very high breakage rate on the windshields. He explained that the windshield is a structural part of the car, and under tension.
• The panoramic roof has to be removed to replace the windshield.

I can tell you for certain that last bullet point is false. I had one windshield replaced by Safelite in my work parking lot and I watched him do it. No need to remove the roof to replace the windshield.

 

[Jimrpa]

Incompetent service guy. False statements. I would have asked to speak to Service Manager.

Um, I WAS speaking with the service manager
I’m pretty sure the first bullet is accurate - they did keep putting me off because windshields were on backorder. I didn’t note that his description of the process matches what I’ve read here (removing headliner, etc).
In any event, if they do break the windshield, they have spares, so I won’t be waiting.

 

[generaltso]

• The panoramic roof has to be removed to replace the windshield.

He told you this and you still let him take your car? You spend a lot of time on this forum, so you know that's not true, right?

 

[Jimrpa]

I can tell you for certain that last bullet point is false. I had one windshield replaced by Satellite in my work parking lot and I watched him do it. No need to remove the roof to replace the windshield.

It’s quite possible I could have the two reversed (for replacement). I was only half paying attention because I was so excited to get my loaner Explorer
(Actually, nothing “wrong” with the explorer - it’s just huge, ungainly, has zero acceleration, a steering wheel that is like the toy steering wheel’s on kiddie pedal cars, and the weirdest brakes - the brake pedal feels like a sponge of increasing density, and the car doesn’t really respond to the brake pedal. Oh, and there’s an incredible amount of loud propulsion sounds and I can’t figure out how to turn them off
I miss my Mustang Mach E and I’ve only had the Explorer for 12 miles.

 

[Jimrpa]

He told you this and you still let him take your car? You spend a lot of time on this forum, so you know that's not true, right?

Pretty sure I was confused, as I explained. I was just too excited about getting an explorer as a loaner.

 

[RickMachE]

Um, I WAS speaking with the service manager
I’m pretty sure the first bullet is accurate - they did keep putting me off because windshields were on backorder. I didn’t note that his description of the process matches what I’ve read here (removing headliner, etc).
In any event, if they do break the windshield, they have spares, so I won’t be waiting.

Edit - I see you might have mis-explained. Got it.

I didn't know that "Service Guy" was the same as Service Manager and not Service Writer or Service Advisor. Given this information, I would be changing dealerships.

I'm sure his first statement about inventory is correct, but the 2nd and 3rd statement are scary.

• They’ve had a very high breakage rate on the windshields. He explained that the windshield is a structural part of the car, and under tension.

This shows they are not a competent dealership. Removal of the windshield should break maybe 2 out of 100, and those may have had cracks or chips in them already.

• The panoramic roof has to be removed to replace the windshield.

This is a false statement. The WINDSHIELD has to be removed to remove the HEADLINER from the vehicle. If a dealership removes the panoramic roof to replace the windshield, they are incompentent.

 

[Maquis]

It’s quite possible I could have the two reversed (for replacement). I was only half paying attention because I was so excited to get my loaner Explorer
(Actually, nothing “wrong” with the explorer - it’s just huge, ungainly, has zero acceleration, a steering wheel that is like the toy steering wheel’s on kiddie pedal cars, and the weirdest brakes - the brake pedal feels like a sponge of increasing density, and the car doesn’t really respond to the brake pedal. Oh, and there’s an incredible amount of loud propulsion sounds and I can’t figure out how to turn them off
I miss my Mustang Mach E and I’ve only had the Explorer for 12 miles.

Yes, likely miscommunication somewhere. He probably meant to say that the windshield had to be removed, but the roof did not.

My car was #6 at my dealer. They don’t stock windshields and have not broken any.
ETA: my windshield had a small chip that had been repaired by Safelite and it still didn’t break.

 

[generaltso]

The WINDSHIELD has to be removed to remove the HEADLINER from the vehicle.

Not even then. There was a small pinhole in my headliner after the recalls were done, so I had to go back later and have just the headliner replaced. They didn't have to remove the windshield again to do that.

 

[DenverDan]

Service Advisor at our local Ford dealer just told me that they are not doing these recalls because the windshields are on back order. Every time I bring this up I just get more excuses!!

I am getting the same explanation.

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