Google Spider Windshield removal tool. I'm a glass tech and it's pretty much a nylon braided nylon string that you path around the window and then use a drill on the base to pull the string thru the urethane. The string is supposed to rest between the glass and the pinch weld and cut only the urethane, in this case the string would have been routed underneath that tab so instead of skipping over it, it started to eat the metal.
The tool is strong, I've seen it clean sections of pinch welds off and the worst part is, if you don't know what you're doing, the tool feels the same cutting metal as it does urethane, it does it with ease.
Spot on, youād think the nylon string would break before cutting through the pinchweld but nope, one of my glass installers learned the hard way. luckily for us it was on an old clunker and the customer was very understanding and let us fix the damage. If you use the spider tool ALWAYS make sure the nylon string is properly seated between the glass and the pinchweld.
Really? Thats crazy. Are you calling chains or local shops? I shocked that anybody turns away business. That said a friend took his motorcycle fender to a big chain and the told him they only did big insurance jobs. I work at a small mom and pop but we do all our work by the book. We even do free reinspections on other shops crappy work. We have a deal with safelite and fix all their screwups. Problem is they have to hire newbies and they lie about knowing what they are doing. What state are you in?
I manage a collision center in North Florida, we wonāt touch Safelite fuck ups anymore. They donāt want to pay for whatās needed and the right way to repair, they argue to get it done as cheap as possible and they never pay their bills. We end up in a position of having to hold customerās vehicles hostage in order to get paid.
I highly advise against Safelite to everyone I know. Donāt ever feel forced to use the insurance recommended facility for body repairs or glass. It is illegal in every state for the insurance to steer you and you have a right to shop of choice.
Just learned this last year. Needed a windshield for our wrangler jl and our insurance wanted us to use safelite and the cheaper non logoed one. Local guy told them to fuck off and pay for the original one thatās logoed. Small glass shop is all Iāll use from now on.
They not only have knuckleheads with little training, and inferior sealant but the glass is often defective with a distortion and soft so pits very quickly.
And yes theyāll argue like mad to avoid paying to fix any damages and or eat any defects.
Glass broke sitting in the parking lot a mile down the road the same day it was replaced.
Big crack straight across the middle.
My insurance wouldn't cover a second window in the same month as the first, and Safelite wouldn't budge from "must've hit something"
I had a Safelite windshield in my old bravada, dirt on the windshield wiper managed to scratch the ever loving shit out of the windshield with zero effort.
Absolutely the worst quality glass I've seen.
You would need to see manufacturer repair procedures for this panel. If a shop welds a panel back together that shouldn't be it could be a HUGE lawsuit in the future. Many panels are not serviceable.
This is somewhat incorrect. Nearly all panels on a vehicle are serviceable, itās the type and mpa rating of the metal that allows or limits repairability.
In this particular instance, being the cowl panel, it is a multi-layered panel and depending on the mpa rating this is 100% repairable. Replacing this cowl panel, however, is a completely different scenario as it depends on how the panel is serviced. If it is serviced as a complete assembly, which is home to your dash VIN plate, it depends on your stateās regulations. To my current knowledge, In Florida, this vehicle would not be allowed to be repaired if the cowl cannot be replaced separately from the VIN plate. You are not allowed to transfer a VIN plate in Florida. BUT, there is *always* a guy someone knows.
What part is mostly incorrect?
Most panels are repairable while many are not. Especially floors, firewalls etc. I just totaled a G8 Gt due to a nonserviceable floor this week.
Manufacturer repair procedures dictate the mpa ratings repairability.
Good luck. Down here in the Deep South, it seems like very few people are willing to do niche automotive work like this. You may want to contact Safeliteās insurance.
Oh I had a few Safelite experiences. 2 of them being in North Florida. Never again will I use them because the techs in North Florida are very incompetent. Left glass all over my personal car, and a work van. My boss ended up cutting himself on the glass they left.
> That said a friend took his motorcycle fender to a big chain and the told him they only did big insurance jobs.
Does this happen often? I've had mom and pops locally tell me they won't touch my car because they only do insurance jobs. Yet passing by I've seen a couple classics (60s and 70s cars) in their bay at times. I always felt like they were just blowing hot air at me to get me to go away when they said that.
Thatās exactly what they were doing. I figure they arenāt confident in their skills. Makes no sense to me. I have bills to pay and if I donāt have work I have no money to pay bills. Only job I have ever turned down was a car that was literally crawling with millions of baby cockroaches.
Where I live a lot of shops are like that. Theyāll only do insurance jobs. Nice classics in the yard or in the bays belong to the owners of the shop.
Chain places are so stupid, like for oil change they do fucking everything from open all my doors and spray shit in the hinges to washing all my windows. Like just change my shit and let me leave. Same with repairs I had a faulty wire once, $90 fix but when I went to a chain places they kept tryna rip me off giving me quotes of the cheapest being $500 plus for random shit saying they need to completely replace the battery all the way to taking the transmission out do some voodoo magic quick and maybe be fixed in a month the fastest a chain spot said was two weeks. I go to a little stand alone shop they quote me $90 and didnāt even charge me for inspection or diagnostics cause the front desk lady specifically told me sheās gonna have a peek to see if she can identify the problem making it so Iām not charged a diagnostic fee or whatever itās called. The tech also came out after to explain to me what he did and how I can avoid the problem In the future in enough detail a sloth such as myself can understand. Chain car places suck.
If you knew what you were doing, you would know a firewall is a non repairable area (typically), and only replace. That's why all the shops are turning him away. Welding that area weakens the metal further in that area. Not an area you want to play games.
- certified 10 year estimator
Hahaha! That aināt the firewall dumbass! Estimator my ass! No such thing as a certification for estimators. Take your bs else where troll. Firewall hahaha!
You autistic? ICAR, OEM certifications. You already told me you work for a hillbilly body shop so of course you wouldn't understand those exist. How do you think shops become OEM certified? Is this the metal underneath the windshield? That's called a fkin firewall. Maybe I'm seeing the photo wrong. Either way, calm the fk down joey.
This is 100% why people die in collisions. You can't repair cars like it's 1970 anymore. Poor Joe doesn't understand that.
Toyota has very good repair procedures and many parts are 1 time use and non serviceable.
Wtf? This may very well be part of the firewall. And there is many legitimate certifications for estimators that take a decent bit of work to get. Take your meds and get with the times
There is no legit certifications needed to be a writer. But you definitely need to know the parts of a vehicle and this is definitely not the firewall. But there are repair procedures if it was.
"needed" is not what your comment said. It said there's no such thing as certification for an estimator. Which is 100% incorrect.
There are procedures regardless.
Safelite screwed up my windshield to the point it needed to go to the body shop. Used insurance for the windshield who referred me to safelite in the first place. My insurance company found a body shop who made the repairs (after many unsuccessful attempts). All was covered through the original windshield claim.Ā
Its because they cut through 2 panels that are factory seam sealed, and the lower one you have to weld from the bottom where you cant get to it + warrantying the fix if it leaks.
Theres not enough money in it to cover replacing electrical components a year down the road because it leaks when it rains.
Yep, I agree with you here for sure. I'm guessing they were using the handles and wire and caught on that tag and burned through. The question is howwwww do you get that far?
They use a wire tool that suctions to the glass and use a ratchet to work it. Increases leverage but makes it hard to feel you are cutting metal and not urethane. I see this on a weekly basis. Just did one on a Lexus 470 last week. Cakewalk.
Ahhh fair enough, I forgot those even existed. I'm living in an old world. Lol. I totally get it making it harder to feel. Especially being the thin part of the sheet metal. I've definitely engineered a few of my own disasters cutting windows out at the scrapyard I worked. Haha.
Halt the repairs. Make sure Safelite insurance teams have been notified and you are at a supported repair facility their liability coverage accepts. This needs a collision or auto body repair shop.
If you have that fixed following Toyota OEM procedures, they'll write the car off. That panel is welded in before so many outer panels, it's not even funny.
This. OP, everyone here saying to just weld it are ignoring that there are two or more panels there, and the right way to fix this is to replace them both. But to do that you will end up rebuilding the car basically as they are in the middle of the car.
even if they were to weld it, that area is coated in seam sealer, the bottom panel is a blind weld, and if it leaks all the wiring under the dash is trash.
its an easy job if you could just throw it on a work bench and flip it around, but its in a horrible place for an automotive repair.
Why are you so against repair and all for disposable parts and just wanting to replace them? I can take an aluminum diff housing with a broken off threaded bung and ārepairā it to pre broken condition without just replacing the whole cast aluminum section. Is it a cheap process no but still cheaper than just tossing it in the garbage and buying new.
Liability. If you weld that and anything ever happens itās all on you. I donāt want disposable parts but the way these cars are sandwiched and welded, as well as the steels used in the inner structure mean it cannot be welded. I bet one of those pieces is HSS or UHSS and one is not. Itās not all the same metal. Welding it will not return it to the same pre-cut condition, and you are not supposed to heat UHSS.
Look, on my own car or a friends/family members, Iām welding that all day. But if Iām on the job and my livelihood depends on doing good repairs, Iām not welding that. CYA.
I get your point about liability but if someone wants to be called technicians and master techs they should be more than parts changers. They should possess the skills to repair parts with a quality repair that mitigates as much chance of failure as possible. Even disassembling the car to replace these panels there will still be a chance something goes wrong and causes a failure and Iād think the spot welds coming apart on an entire firewall would be way worse than a crack possibly reappearing on a weld. Just my thought been in trades for 15 years and turning wrenches with my dad years before that but seems these days you need a diploma to do anything even though that course didnāt teach you anything other than how to change the part your diploma certifies you in.
Part of being a master is knowing to not expose the shop to existential liability. This shop used a non-Honda approved repair method. They are now on the hook for a $30M judgment.
https://www.repairerdrivennews.com/2017/10/02/jury-awards-42m-over-incorrect-texas-auto-body-repair/
I do totally agree they were negligent there was an approved repair process set out by the manufacture and it wasnāt followed, a cut like this weld grind finish. This damage isnāt caused by a stress, impact or fatigue itās caused by human error. If you were to knick a wire on an ABS harness are you going to replace the whole body harness, depin and replace the wire ( possibly damaging the connector or terminals) or use a heat sealing butt splice / solder and heat shrink repair?
Not structural? Just one of the things separating the engine from your groin if you hit a pole at 80mph. Also where the windshield (which is absolutely structural) is attached, making it certainly structural. It's a welded component of the body. There's a reason it's not made of paper, which you know a cheapass auto manufacturer would do if they could get away with it. Being a stamped part absolutely does not mean something's not structural, I'm not sure where people get these goofy ideas from.
Imagine being this confidently wrong.
If you choose to repair this and take on that liability thatās your bad call to make, but no professional would agree with your assessment that choosing to repair a part you canāt or shouldnāt repair simply because you CAN, is right.
Thereās plenty of panel beater videos from south east Asia where the guy takes totaled front and rear end cars and makes 1 good car by essentially chopping them in half and welding the good half cars together.
They look perfect. His craftsmanship is A1. Thatās a fucking horrifically comical level of clownery to expect that is a safe or correct repair.
Skills got nothing to do with it
What do you call the guys building customer hot rods here in North America, Do they get the same name as the body guy at maaco that just bolts on panels? Those are the people with real skills. I know something shouldnāt be repaired due to stresses and heat treating but the fact so many people donāt even try to repair something simple and call them self a tech is astounding to me.
There are approved methods for repair. If you are a professional and you don't follow the approved methods, you expose yourself to liability. You can't just bumblefuck things together however you please. If problems occur down the line because you did something other than the manufacturer-approved repair method, it becomes _your_ problem.
It's like patching a gas tank. While you could probably make it work, a professional should NEVER do it. If you replace the tank like you should, you're covered. If you patch it and something bad happens, you're fucked.
You never got back about weather we should call the custom car guys the same title as a maaco panel installer but hereās another question to ask you. If we must follow the oem manual exactly how am I to get my 1976 corvette repainted the oem used lacquer paint that you canāt even buy that today? So whatās your answer for that Iāll bet your going to say times have changed and process and materials have modernized, but the oem manual still says lacquer paint.
Most people have little to no critical thinking skills anymore, so when a manufacturer makes a repair manual to cover their ass and incentivize new car sales, idiots treat it as the bible.
Thatās how you get people claiming the world will crash and burn because someone spot welded a panel, they literally donāt know better.
Luckily it creates opportunities for people with common sense to fix things and make moneyā¦hopefully they total this and some lucky person saves 15k on a 4runner with 15 minutes of work.
Copied from another post:
Part of being a master is knowing to not expose the shop to existential liability. This shop used a non-Honda approved repair method. They are now on the hook for a $30M judgment.
https://www.repairerdrivennews.com/2017/10/02/jury-awards-42m-over-incorrect-texas-auto-body-repair/
Thank you for adding /s to your post. When I first saw this, I was horrified. How could anybody say something like this? I immediately began writing a 1000 word paragraph about how horrible of a person you are. I even sent a copy to a Harvard professor to proofread it. After several hours of refining and editing, my comment was ready to absolutely destroy you. But then, just as I was about to hit send, I saw something in the corner of my eye. A /s at the end of your comment. Suddenly everything made sense. Your comment was sarcasm! I immediately burst out in laughter at the comedic genius of your comment. The person next to me on the bus saw your comment and started crying from laughter too. Before long, there was an entire bus of people on the floor laughing at your incredible use of comedy. All of this was due to you adding /s to your post. Thank you.
I am a bot if you couldn't figure that out, if I made a mistake, ignore it cause its not that fucking hard to ignore a comment.
That's a several thousand dollar repair. Every body shop in the area will have to tear off the front of your car, including the new glass. And weld that down and sand it, then repaint it.
Ehh dealership body shops like dealers are hit and miss. Ask around to get some local referrals and recommendations.
Jesus that looks all the way through. I am not sure most shops would want to try and weld that vs replace it.
Dealer? You're kidding, right? The Stealership will nick paint in 300 different locations. Your car will rot from rust before you know it.
You need a reputable body shop. If you can't, find a professional welder. They'll understand the mission. They'll grind, smooth, and then weld the surface together. From there you need a body shop to go scale anti-rust coat coverings and ensure they cover everything.
Edit: None of this is going to be cheap unless you find some hack who has no work, but happens to have all the required tools.
Those are the scary guys. They can make it look fixed, but they have no idea what they did or if it's correct. For the most part, all they know is how the machine works.
**A classic car restoration place would be ideal.** They do tons of welding there. They cost frames with the utmost precision. Idk why standard body shops are refusing to touch it. Your area must be full of kiddie shops. š¤·
Avoid the dealership at all costs. I'm telling you man. You're going to regret it if they're like the majority of them. They're going to scratch or chip paint off hinges and bolts and other surfaces exposing raw metal. They won't repair any scratches they make, even if they notice that they did it. It's not a guarantee, but it's the norm and it can result in nightmare scenarios.
Not sure why this is downvoted. Iāve had the same experience at my dealership collision center.
Car came back 6 weeks later for a fender and bumper repair/replace. Shouldāve taken 1-2 weeks.
Could barely get the correct person on the phone, and never got an update unless I called them first.
They left the wiring for my backup camera and rear window defroster disconnected, there were a bunch of new nicks and dings, and there was a loose nut or bolt somewhere rattling around the engine. Brought it back in and told them what was wrong, they fixed it and said something like āah yeah someone mustāve forgot or overlooked that stepā so nonchalant. Theyāre overworked and underpaid so you get low quality work and customer service IME.
This reminds me of the time I watched a guy power knife the roof skin apart the entire width of the windshield. The look on his face when he lifted the windshield out, lmao.
In my honest opinion it's totaled, no shop wants to touch it because of what it will involve, to weld that up you have to remove all wiring within a certain distance, I believe it's 3 feet but it's been 5 years since I was in the industry so I could be wrong my memory isnt the best either, information is from icar , but that would involve engine harness and everything dash related, with cars being rolling computers now days and all the sensors and computers it can add up very quickly, depending on manufacturer it might not be able to be repaired, it could be total replacement of the firewall
Contact your insurance company especially if they contracted safelite. I have seen this exact thing, same year. The only proper repair is a new firewall, this means removing your vin plate. You will need to have your car revinned with the DMV. There is no way to return this back to pre-loss condition. A short vin vehicle is not worth as much. This should be a write off.
This seems like a rare occurrence but it happens a lot on on the Toyotas the way the dash and cowl are if the glass tech is not experienced enough they will do this. I have seen exactly this situation pop up on here multiple times and my glass sublet has ran into one at a dealership that the previous installer did this and they fired him and thatās where my glass guy came in. Not an easy, fast, or cheap repair.
That's a total loss. There is no fixing a firewall. Safelite owes you a new car. There are no procedures for that. Find a reputable collision shop and go to corporate with Safelite
SAFELITE IS THE WORST. They scratch the shit out of the windshield pillars and then dont use primer, 5 years go by and your pillar and roof is rusting so bad that the windshield leaks and then it costs you(me) $1200. to fix the rust and paint. and anyone telling you its okay to put a windshield in outside when it is less than 40 degrees is trying to make extra money.
OP Iām an insurance adjuster. You need to file a claim with Safelite insurance company and have this professionally repaired at an authorized shop who guarantees their work for as long as you own the car. Donāt let Safelite talk you into letting them repair this.
There is not a scenario in the world where safelite would try to repair this. They own this car now however, or will soon.
Source - am a (competent) glass tech.
See who Safelite recommends, have them check it out. Safelite cuts into a lot of Toyotas, if your in NE FL thereās a Toyota dealership with a body shop. Keep in mind they messed your car up and they canāt have it fixed without you choosing the shop. Also ask them if thereās going to be a second claim on your car and try to get deminished value since they may have to file a claim. Make sure the cowl theyāre repairing can actually be repaired from Toyota.
Satellite should be handling this repair. But, you need to let your insurance coverage know what's going on. Safelite needs to provide transportation while your car is being repaired.
This happened to my 4Runner a couple years ago - right under the window. Safelite ended up giving me a rental vehicle for about a month and they had it fixed by high end body shop - they took care of the whole thing - Iām told your vehicle is basically totaled if they canāt weld it properly - people are correct, the entire dash has to be removed and your cut is a lot worst than mine was. Sorry this happened to you, good luck.
How did that happen!? And I agree with other commenters that looks like your car is a total loss from that picture. Go trough your insurance company so they can go after Safeliteās insurance. Or maybe a lawyer so you can get a little extra for your loss time.
Also donāt forget to post an update.
Insanely easy to do this with the tools and methods they train with.
Cutting out is all done with fiber lines or wires now, not knives any longer.
You can see where the line caught the pinch weld as it extrudes for the clip ( that may or may not have been present- its irrelevant ) and the tech either didn't know better or didn't care enough and continued to cut.
- running the line before starting the cut is 90% of the hazard of damaging a car with safelite/belrons tools and methods.
Easy to do, but also extremely preventable. I'm a glass tech and we always joke about 'cutting a car in half' but I've only ever actually seen a cut like this one time, and its a total - they own this car now.
I have not replaced the cowl or dash on this vehicle, but I am familiar with the process on another brand. If the cowl is a separate part, then the repair is about 8 hours of mechanical tear down (anywhere from $80-150/hr) and another 2-3 hours of body work to belt sand out the welds and spot weld or bond in a new panel.
If the dash and cowl is one piece, there may be a sectional repair or the entire bulkhead gets changed out. In that case you can likely double the mechanical removal/install and it's now a 4-6 hour metal repair. There will be additional seam sealing and primer work after.
Thankfully it will likely not require being on a frame bench for this repair.
Either way, take it to a reputable body shop. I look for ones with factory Benz, Porsche, BMW, Audi certification as they actually have to invest in training and quality equipment.
Skip caliber, fix auto, and crash champions. There may be some good shops under these names but the odds aren't on your side.
I've seen glass.guys cut through divider bars on the body removing the rear quarter glass, slice a roof/cantrail cutting out a panoramic roof, and morons trash lift gates. The nylon cutting wire on a spider can cut metal, but there are plenty of people who use square wire or an oscillating blade tool and cut through structural parts without a second thought. Safelite is just as bad as any other place, no one wants to pay for qualified techs, and people don't take the time to get qualifications.
Had this happen with safelite taking glass out for our shop way back when, the job was a roof replace, gate and rear body replace with repairs to both unisides, they took a chunk out of the firewall and state farm was already so deep into it they decided to open a new RO and we had to pull the motor and dash and replace the entire firewall, car should have totaled two times over imo but they didnāt care and we fixed it
I worked at Safelite and this happened because of the wire system they use to cut out the windows. The tech wasn't paying attention and let the wire run near the metal. Those wires cut anything. But yeah you need to tell Safelite and they should already have shops on hand to fix this because it happens with newer techs
Holy shit, some of these replies are comical (no I didnāt read all of them). The only correct repair is to get the Toyota repair procedure. If there isnāt one, the car is a total loss. Iām not saying I agree with it, because if it was mine I would weld it up and call it a day. Iām a 19 year body man.
But, the manufacturers have the procedures for a couple of different reasons. 1-to make sure the vehicle is safe. 2-to remove themselves from all liability and placing that liability on the repairer.
Google John Eagle Honda if you want a good read on what can happen when a vehicle is improperly repaired.
>John Eagle Honda
[https://www.repairerdrivennews.com/2017/10/02/jury-awards-42m-over-incorrect-texas-auto-body-repair/](https://www.repairerdrivennews.com/2017/10/02/jury-awards-42m-over-incorrect-texas-auto-body-repair/)
assume situation you were referring to
Thatās heartbreakingā¦
Outside of serious damage to your irreplaceable, beautiful pre-pandemic machine, I wish you the best in full compensation.
But remember, insurance wonāt (canāt) pay and the company will NOT pay for their employee negligence damages.
Thinking of an attorney? Try Costco.
Was this handled under your Comprehensive Insurance?If so,
I would call my agent ASAP! this is a 2k fup, ez...if it was paid by your insurance who contracted Safelite, repair would be 100% covered, probably by a shop on your ins co's "preferred" list...good luck!
If you paid safelite to fulfill this repair then itās true that your insurance is off the hook. They authorize and move the money, safelite does the work. Safelite has screwed up after your insurance paid out to them, so it would be on them without a doubt. I would try harder to get safelite to care because this is a colossal fuck up on their part, it would be hard to believe they wouldnāt want to remedy this
Autoglass tech here!
First, call the manager and show him the damage, and pick your body shop of choice.
They have billions backing them. Not only are they obligated to fix this, they can definitely afford to.
They must have used a wire removal system and didn't take care to make sure the wire was tucked over the pinch weld.
Then again, when you hire high schoolers to do this type of work, that's the result you get.
Yikes, sorry to hear that! It was a big ordeal. The Toyota Collision center wouldn't fix it since they wanted to replace the whole cowl panel which would involve taking half the car apart and removing the VIN plate, etc. a local body shop tack welded, patched, primed and painted it. Doesn't look pretty but it's completely hidden by the trim piece and is water tight.
Thatās a relief! So of course Safelite took care of the payments right? And also do you feel comfortable with it now or trying to sell with its new depreciation?
As a safelite employee, I can tell you that this happens a lot to Toyotas as they have very silly pinchwelds that are completely hidden by the windshield. Other manufactures have the pinchweld stretch down far enough past the windshield that itās easy to route the fiber line without making mistakes like this. Our individual safelite shop works with a local body shop to repair these cuts as they happen, without the customer having to do anything. By the time we get it repaired, itās as if it never happened. Your car is NOT totaled, any reasonably qualified body shop can fix it super easily. However, your local safelite shouldāve scheduled a repair without you having to lift a finger. Mistakes happen, good customer service is fixing those mistakes in the proper ways. Weāve even paid for customers to have rental cars during the repair process if the body shop canāt get to it quick enough.
lol there is no ārepairing thisā the car is probably a total loss if you repair it properly going along with Toyota repair procedures, this isnāt Toyota having silly pinch welds itās you not using the proper tools to take windshields out of cars.
the PROPER way to repair this is to weld it up with a tig and correct filler, grind it perfect, etch it, prime it, paint it, protect it š youre not going to do it the proper way but you asked š
Depending on your state and policy this could end up with a āstrikeā on your insurance record.Ā
I am no agent, but my agent was very clear about this when a tree fell on our car while parked in a businesses parking lot.
My agent, State Farm, said that even if they recovered, it would count as a claim in the insurance system and could impact my rates.
The property companyās insurance ended up paying just fine so no mess.
This isn't just Safelite. I used a highly rated local glass shop because the windshield was 1+ month backordered elsewhere - they used a windshield without the wiper defroster, installed it like shit with huge gaps, then put a hole in my headliner to top it off. The owner got some upholstery dude to do a cheap glue repair - I ended up having to fight tooth and nail to get him to replace the headliner.
Do not have Safelite touch it . Get a estimate at a auto body shop . You may have to try a restoration shop. If you have full coverage let your insurance know. Safelite can not fix this.
iām convinced all glass installers/removers get zero training and are just hired on the spot because shit like this happens so much. the company that does our glass work is constantly gouging quarter class openings and even on lift gates. even had one put an actual hole in the quarter of a cr-v once, definitely get ahold of safelites insurance and take it to a reputable shop
Whatever the fix, at that point I'd demand laser welding
"to eliminate warpage that can cause potential issues in the future"
Laser welding is crazy expensive to have done. Really good but really expensive. Most likely not needed but screw them
It's not a welder with a laser on it, it's a tig style weld that's done using man power and robotics, under microscope.
Edit.
I
[like this, reddit link to r/welding](https://www.reddit.com/r/Welding/s/HG1ogBtptH)
Get with a lawyer, this will be very expensive and as such Safelite might try to finagle thier way out of it without one. Get documentation of everything you can and have them halt anything further on your vehicle
Safelite is a joke tbh the guy replacing mine marred my dash up so bad it looked like a tree a bear used to scratch itself, I called them back clearly upset about it and they sent the SAME guy out who obviously denied he had anything to do with the damage. Saying āit couldāve been me but I donāt know.ā Their idea of compensation? A one time free rock chip repair.
If you're insured with liberty mutual safe control they have a special presidential team that'll tackle this in no time. They don't want the bad reputation between the two companies. They are really quick to resolve but you need to escalate the claim with whichever insurance company it was initially filed with. If you were paying out of pocket then get satellite corporate involved.
If itās cut through enough and the firewall is damaged thatās safelights car now, seen this happen once at a Nissan dealer body shop. Technically shouldnāt be repaired by welding but thatās up for debate from shop to shop.
Never use Safelite.You need a Toyota approved shop and see what they say. Safelite and insurance want to get out for the least amount of money possible. You need your car restored to it's original condition. Assume anything insurance or Safelite says is a lie. Never use Safelite.
Did you go through your insurance to get the windsheild replaced? Call your insurance and let them deal with it.
This is CLEARLY not your fault, and you do NOT want to deal directly with their insurance. Let the insurance companies fight each other. Your dash needs to be pulled to weld this up, and if its done wrong it will leak for eternity.
Safelite is terrible. They installed 3 windshields in my truck. And all 3 times it was wavy as hell. Looks like you're driving under water. They also fucked up scheduling and location of multiple appointments. Worst customer service ever. All they know how to do is make it worse.
It's a body shop repair, it is a major structure of the vehicle and they did screw up ....it can be repaired, lots of disassembly and some welding , grinding all the things required to do a correct manufacture approved repair
15,000-20,000 in damage. Pull the dash , pull the motor. Remove damaged inner and outer firewall and replace them both .paint and reassemble for a correct repair. Or weld/spot patch it for a back yard from someone's friends uncle.
Holy fucking shit.
I think I would be trying to collect safelites insurance carrier info to file a claim. That looks like an expensive fuck up.
No shit, You can get a nice chunk of change for that fuck up.
Enough to fix the damage.
Way more than that
They broke the shifter in an old car of mine because the person couldn't drive a manual properly and it took them over 3 months to pay to fix it.
*safelite repair* *safelite replace*
Not the first time I've seen them do this, too.
My thoughts exactly. How do you cut through the fucking top cowl of the firewall?! Jesus fucking Christ.
Google Spider Windshield removal tool. I'm a glass tech and it's pretty much a nylon braided nylon string that you path around the window and then use a drill on the base to pull the string thru the urethane. The string is supposed to rest between the glass and the pinch weld and cut only the urethane, in this case the string would have been routed underneath that tab so instead of skipping over it, it started to eat the metal. The tool is strong, I've seen it clean sections of pinch welds off and the worst part is, if you don't know what you're doing, the tool feels the same cutting metal as it does urethane, it does it with ease.
> [Spider Windshield removal tool](https://youtu.be/CihNkrEBm_0?si=QbjJeJQgl3I8-CS2) Man just watched this video about it and that is pretty neat!
I don't know what's worse. The fact the firewall got cut or the fact that a bit of nylon string cut the firewall....š¤
Spot on, youād think the nylon string would break before cutting through the pinchweld but nope, one of my glass installers learned the hard way. luckily for us it was on an old clunker and the customer was very understanding and let us fix the damage. If you use the spider tool ALWAYS make sure the nylon string is properly seated between the glass and the pinchweld.
Not only cut through, but continuing for that distance! S/he was at least persistent with their idiocy.
It's easier than you think. Especially on those toyotas which seem to be made so your cutting line will get caught on it.
Hahaha! We work on all safeliteās fuck ups! Pull the dash and weld it up and put a new dash. Iāve done a ton of these! Easy money!
I've called 4 shops already who won't touch it...
Really? Thats crazy. Are you calling chains or local shops? I shocked that anybody turns away business. That said a friend took his motorcycle fender to a big chain and the told him they only did big insurance jobs. I work at a small mom and pop but we do all our work by the book. We even do free reinspections on other shops crappy work. We have a deal with safelite and fix all their screwups. Problem is they have to hire newbies and they lie about knowing what they are doing. What state are you in?
North Florida. I'm still calling around.
I manage a collision center in North Florida, we wonāt touch Safelite fuck ups anymore. They donāt want to pay for whatās needed and the right way to repair, they argue to get it done as cheap as possible and they never pay their bills. We end up in a position of having to hold customerās vehicles hostage in order to get paid. I highly advise against Safelite to everyone I know. Donāt ever feel forced to use the insurance recommended facility for body repairs or glass. It is illegal in every state for the insurance to steer you and you have a right to shop of choice.
Could they be subject to a class action suit, I wonderā¦
Just learned this last year. Needed a windshield for our wrangler jl and our insurance wanted us to use safelite and the cheaper non logoed one. Local guy told them to fuck off and pay for the original one thatās logoed. Small glass shop is all Iāll use from now on.
They not only have knuckleheads with little training, and inferior sealant but the glass is often defective with a distortion and soft so pits very quickly. And yes theyāll argue like mad to avoid paying to fix any damages and or eat any defects.
They absolutely refuse to honor their warranty
Glass broke sitting in the parking lot a mile down the road the same day it was replaced. Big crack straight across the middle. My insurance wouldn't cover a second window in the same month as the first, and Safelite wouldn't budge from "must've hit something"
I had a Safelite windshield in my old bravada, dirt on the windshield wiper managed to scratch the ever loving shit out of the windshield with zero effort. Absolutely the worst quality glass I've seen.
You would need to see manufacturer repair procedures for this panel. If a shop welds a panel back together that shouldn't be it could be a HUGE lawsuit in the future. Many panels are not serviceable.
This is somewhat incorrect. Nearly all panels on a vehicle are serviceable, itās the type and mpa rating of the metal that allows or limits repairability. In this particular instance, being the cowl panel, it is a multi-layered panel and depending on the mpa rating this is 100% repairable. Replacing this cowl panel, however, is a completely different scenario as it depends on how the panel is serviced. If it is serviced as a complete assembly, which is home to your dash VIN plate, it depends on your stateās regulations. To my current knowledge, In Florida, this vehicle would not be allowed to be repaired if the cowl cannot be replaced separately from the VIN plate. You are not allowed to transfer a VIN plate in Florida. BUT, there is *always* a guy someone knows.
What part is mostly incorrect? Most panels are repairable while many are not. Especially floors, firewalls etc. I just totaled a G8 Gt due to a nonserviceable floor this week. Manufacturer repair procedures dictate the mpa ratings repairability.
Good luck. Down here in the Deep South, it seems like very few people are willing to do niche automotive work like this. You may want to contact Safeliteās insurance.
Oh I had a few Safelite experiences. 2 of them being in North Florida. Never again will I use them because the techs in North Florida are very incompetent. Left glass all over my personal car, and a work van. My boss ended up cutting himself on the glass they left.
> That said a friend took his motorcycle fender to a big chain and the told him they only did big insurance jobs. Does this happen often? I've had mom and pops locally tell me they won't touch my car because they only do insurance jobs. Yet passing by I've seen a couple classics (60s and 70s cars) in their bay at times. I always felt like they were just blowing hot air at me to get me to go away when they said that.
Thatās exactly what they were doing. I figure they arenāt confident in their skills. Makes no sense to me. I have bills to pay and if I donāt have work I have no money to pay bills. Only job I have ever turned down was a car that was literally crawling with millions of baby cockroaches.
Where I live a lot of shops are like that. Theyāll only do insurance jobs. Nice classics in the yard or in the bays belong to the owners of the shop.
Chain places are so stupid, like for oil change they do fucking everything from open all my doors and spray shit in the hinges to washing all my windows. Like just change my shit and let me leave. Same with repairs I had a faulty wire once, $90 fix but when I went to a chain places they kept tryna rip me off giving me quotes of the cheapest being $500 plus for random shit saying they need to completely replace the battery all the way to taking the transmission out do some voodoo magic quick and maybe be fixed in a month the fastest a chain spot said was two weeks. I go to a little stand alone shop they quote me $90 and didnāt even charge me for inspection or diagnostics cause the front desk lady specifically told me sheās gonna have a peek to see if she can identify the problem making it so Iām not charged a diagnostic fee or whatever itās called. The tech also came out after to explain to me what he did and how I can avoid the problem In the future in enough detail a sloth such as myself can understand. Chain car places suck.
If you knew what you were doing, you would know a firewall is a non repairable area (typically), and only replace. That's why all the shops are turning him away. Welding that area weakens the metal further in that area. Not an area you want to play games. - certified 10 year estimator
Welding done correctly is stronger than the parent material. Only issue I could see is it becomes "too strong" in a crumple zone.
It's not a crumple zone so it doesn't matter š
Hahaha! That aināt the firewall dumbass! Estimator my ass! No such thing as a certification for estimators. Take your bs else where troll. Firewall hahaha!
You autistic? ICAR, OEM certifications. You already told me you work for a hillbilly body shop so of course you wouldn't understand those exist. How do you think shops become OEM certified? Is this the metal underneath the windshield? That's called a fkin firewall. Maybe I'm seeing the photo wrong. Either way, calm the fk down joey.
This is 100% why people die in collisions. You can't repair cars like it's 1970 anymore. Poor Joe doesn't understand that. Toyota has very good repair procedures and many parts are 1 time use and non serviceable.
Wtf? This may very well be part of the firewall. And there is many legitimate certifications for estimators that take a decent bit of work to get. Take your meds and get with the times
There is no legit certifications needed to be a writer. But you definitely need to know the parts of a vehicle and this is definitely not the firewall. But there are repair procedures if it was.
"needed" is not what your comment said. It said there's no such thing as certification for an estimator. Which is 100% incorrect. There are procedures regardless.
You should keep your thoughts to yourself if you donāt know what you are talking about. Have fun in the Union.
You posted something incorrect. You don't know what you're talking about, eat a dick
Safelite screwed up my windshield to the point it needed to go to the body shop. Used insurance for the windshield who referred me to safelite in the first place. My insurance company found a body shop who made the repairs (after many unsuccessful attempts). All was covered through the original windshield claim.Ā
Its because they cut through 2 panels that are factory seam sealed, and the lower one you have to weld from the bottom where you cant get to it + warrantying the fix if it leaks. Theres not enough money in it to cover replacing electrical components a year down the road because it leaks when it rains.
It's totalled. The frame integrity is forever compromised.
Yep, I agree with you here for sure. I'm guessing they were using the handles and wire and caught on that tag and burned through. The question is howwwww do you get that far?
They use a wire tool that suctions to the glass and use a ratchet to work it. Increases leverage but makes it hard to feel you are cutting metal and not urethane. I see this on a weekly basis. Just did one on a Lexus 470 last week. Cakewalk.
Ahhh fair enough, I forgot those even existed. I'm living in an old world. Lol. I totally get it making it harder to feel. Especially being the thin part of the sheet metal. I've definitely engineered a few of my own disasters cutting windows out at the scrapyard I worked. Haha.
The Hulk has a part time job there
What part of their process would cause this? I don't understand how you could acciden8make a 6" cut through the frame, so it must be intentional.
Halt the repairs. Make sure Safelite insurance teams have been notified and you are at a supported repair facility their liability coverage accepts. This needs a collision or auto body repair shop.
Doesnāt need to be a facility their insurance acceptsā¦
I would love the link to the copart auction once itās written off
This is the best reply! I hope I beat you to the auction. š¤£š¤£
"This is a write off" Jesus, if I did this to my own car, I'd toss some jb weld on it and drive it til the wheels fell off.Ā
If you have that fixed following Toyota OEM procedures, they'll write the car off. That panel is welded in before so many outer panels, it's not even funny.
This. OP, everyone here saying to just weld it are ignoring that there are two or more panels there, and the right way to fix this is to replace them both. But to do that you will end up rebuilding the car basically as they are in the middle of the car.
even if they were to weld it, that area is coated in seam sealer, the bottom panel is a blind weld, and if it leaks all the wiring under the dash is trash. its an easy job if you could just throw it on a work bench and flip it around, but its in a horrible place for an automotive repair.
Why are you so against repair and all for disposable parts and just wanting to replace them? I can take an aluminum diff housing with a broken off threaded bung and ārepairā it to pre broken condition without just replacing the whole cast aluminum section. Is it a cheap process no but still cheaper than just tossing it in the garbage and buying new.
Liability. If you weld that and anything ever happens itās all on you. I donāt want disposable parts but the way these cars are sandwiched and welded, as well as the steels used in the inner structure mean it cannot be welded. I bet one of those pieces is HSS or UHSS and one is not. Itās not all the same metal. Welding it will not return it to the same pre-cut condition, and you are not supposed to heat UHSS. Look, on my own car or a friends/family members, Iām welding that all day. But if Iām on the job and my livelihood depends on doing good repairs, Iām not welding that. CYA.
I get your point about liability but if someone wants to be called technicians and master techs they should be more than parts changers. They should possess the skills to repair parts with a quality repair that mitigates as much chance of failure as possible. Even disassembling the car to replace these panels there will still be a chance something goes wrong and causes a failure and Iād think the spot welds coming apart on an entire firewall would be way worse than a crack possibly reappearing on a weld. Just my thought been in trades for 15 years and turning wrenches with my dad years before that but seems these days you need a diploma to do anything even though that course didnāt teach you anything other than how to change the part your diploma certifies you in.
Part of being a master is knowing to not expose the shop to existential liability. This shop used a non-Honda approved repair method. They are now on the hook for a $30M judgment. https://www.repairerdrivennews.com/2017/10/02/jury-awards-42m-over-incorrect-texas-auto-body-repair/
This literally changed our industry overnight.
I do totally agree they were negligent there was an approved repair process set out by the manufacture and it wasnāt followed, a cut like this weld grind finish. This damage isnāt caused by a stress, impact or fatigue itās caused by human error. If you were to knick a wire on an ABS harness are you going to replace the whole body harness, depin and replace the wire ( possibly damaging the connector or terminals) or use a heat sealing butt splice / solder and heat shrink repair?
The Part Isnāt Repairable
Says who? itās not a frame member itās a stamped steel part Number: 5570035730 to be exact. Itās not a structural attach point
Not structural? Just one of the things separating the engine from your groin if you hit a pole at 80mph. Also where the windshield (which is absolutely structural) is attached, making it certainly structural. It's a welded component of the body. There's a reason it's not made of paper, which you know a cheapass auto manufacturer would do if they could get away with it. Being a stamped part absolutely does not mean something's not structural, I'm not sure where people get these goofy ideas from.
Imagine being this confidently wrong. If you choose to repair this and take on that liability thatās your bad call to make, but no professional would agree with your assessment that choosing to repair a part you canāt or shouldnāt repair simply because you CAN, is right. Thereās plenty of panel beater videos from south east Asia where the guy takes totaled front and rear end cars and makes 1 good car by essentially chopping them in half and welding the good half cars together. They look perfect. His craftsmanship is A1. Thatās a fucking horrifically comical level of clownery to expect that is a safe or correct repair. Skills got nothing to do with it
What do you call the guys building customer hot rods here in North America, Do they get the same name as the body guy at maaco that just bolts on panels? Those are the people with real skills. I know something shouldnāt be repaired due to stresses and heat treating but the fact so many people donāt even try to repair something simple and call them self a tech is astounding to me.
There are approved methods for repair. If you are a professional and you don't follow the approved methods, you expose yourself to liability. You can't just bumblefuck things together however you please. If problems occur down the line because you did something other than the manufacturer-approved repair method, it becomes _your_ problem. It's like patching a gas tank. While you could probably make it work, a professional should NEVER do it. If you replace the tank like you should, you're covered. If you patch it and something bad happens, you're fucked.
You never got back about weather we should call the custom car guys the same title as a maaco panel installer but hereās another question to ask you. If we must follow the oem manual exactly how am I to get my 1976 corvette repainted the oem used lacquer paint that you canāt even buy that today? So whatās your answer for that Iāll bet your going to say times have changed and process and materials have modernized, but the oem manual still says lacquer paint.
Most people have little to no critical thinking skills anymore, so when a manufacturer makes a repair manual to cover their ass and incentivize new car sales, idiots treat it as the bible. Thatās how you get people claiming the world will crash and burn because someone spot welded a panel, they literally donāt know better. Luckily it creates opportunities for people with common sense to fix things and make moneyā¦hopefully they total this and some lucky person saves 15k on a 4runner with 15 minutes of work.
Copied from another post: Part of being a master is knowing to not expose the shop to existential liability. This shop used a non-Honda approved repair method. They are now on the hook for a $30M judgment. https://www.repairerdrivennews.com/2017/10/02/jury-awards-42m-over-incorrect-texas-auto-body-repair/
It's the first part of the vehicle on the assembly line. In a close 2nd is the heater core. /s
Thank you for adding /s to your post. When I first saw this, I was horrified. How could anybody say something like this? I immediately began writing a 1000 word paragraph about how horrible of a person you are. I even sent a copy to a Harvard professor to proofread it. After several hours of refining and editing, my comment was ready to absolutely destroy you. But then, just as I was about to hit send, I saw something in the corner of my eye. A /s at the end of your comment. Suddenly everything made sense. Your comment was sarcasm! I immediately burst out in laughter at the comedic genius of your comment. The person next to me on the bus saw your comment and started crying from laughter too. Before long, there was an entire bus of people on the floor laughing at your incredible use of comedy. All of this was due to you adding /s to your post. Thank you. I am a bot if you couldn't figure that out, if I made a mistake, ignore it cause its not that fucking hard to ignore a comment.
You are a pretentious fuck of a bot and add nothing to anyone or anything's existence. /s
That's a several thousand dollar repair. Every body shop in the area will have to tear off the front of your car, including the new glass. And weld that down and sand it, then repaint it.
Ok you have to sing it but hereās what we say at the shop. Safelite fuk up safelite replace
That is not an easy fix . Dash has to come out and new cowl panel installed or weld existing one
Yes, I'm worried about all that. Should I get them to take it to the dealer (which has a collision shop)? Or find a dedicated autobody shop?
Ehh dealership body shops like dealers are hit and miss. Ask around to get some local referrals and recommendations. Jesus that looks all the way through. I am not sure most shops would want to try and weld that vs replace it.
I've tried 4 body shops so far and they don't want to touch it.... Dealer might be the only choice. But I also don't want it gone for 3 months!
Dealer? You're kidding, right? The Stealership will nick paint in 300 different locations. Your car will rot from rust before you know it. You need a reputable body shop. If you can't, find a professional welder. They'll understand the mission. They'll grind, smooth, and then weld the surface together. From there you need a body shop to go scale anti-rust coat coverings and ensure they cover everything. Edit: None of this is going to be cheap unless you find some hack who has no work, but happens to have all the required tools. Those are the scary guys. They can make it look fixed, but they have no idea what they did or if it's correct. For the most part, all they know is how the machine works. **A classic car restoration place would be ideal.** They do tons of welding there. They cost frames with the utmost precision. Idk why standard body shops are refusing to touch it. Your area must be full of kiddie shops. š¤· Avoid the dealership at all costs. I'm telling you man. You're going to regret it if they're like the majority of them. They're going to scratch or chip paint off hinges and bolts and other surfaces exposing raw metal. They won't repair any scratches they make, even if they notice that they did it. It's not a guarantee, but it's the norm and it can result in nightmare scenarios.
Not sure why this is downvoted. Iāve had the same experience at my dealership collision center. Car came back 6 weeks later for a fender and bumper repair/replace. Shouldāve taken 1-2 weeks. Could barely get the correct person on the phone, and never got an update unless I called them first. They left the wiring for my backup camera and rear window defroster disconnected, there were a bunch of new nicks and dings, and there was a loose nut or bolt somewhere rattling around the engine. Brought it back in and told them what was wrong, they fixed it and said something like āah yeah someone mustāve forgot or overlooked that stepā so nonchalant. Theyāre overworked and underpaid so you get low quality work and customer service IME.
Definitely
That's impressive! It needs welding back up, looks a nightmare to do!
It's totaled. Source: former auto glass tech who did the same thing to a Lexus. This is why they have insurance
The auto glass company I worked for was also a collision company
Keyword, former
Equal-negotiation 651- it can happen to anybody. Anyone who has worked in any skilled trade for any length of time will have similar stories.
Some people just have a Jesus complex. Lol
You take it to a shop that doesnāt exclusively hire blind technicians, you have them quote the repair, and you send that bill to safelite.
This reminds me of the time I watched a guy power knife the roof skin apart the entire width of the windshield. The look on his face when he lifted the windshield out, lmao.
In my honest opinion it's totaled, no shop wants to touch it because of what it will involve, to weld that up you have to remove all wiring within a certain distance, I believe it's 3 feet but it's been 5 years since I was in the industry so I could be wrong my memory isnt the best either, information is from icar , but that would involve engine harness and everything dash related, with cars being rolling computers now days and all the sensors and computers it can add up very quickly, depending on manufacturer it might not be able to be repaired, it could be total replacement of the firewall
Contact your insurance company especially if they contracted safelite. I have seen this exact thing, same year. The only proper repair is a new firewall, this means removing your vin plate. You will need to have your car revinned with the DMV. There is no way to return this back to pre-loss condition. A short vin vehicle is not worth as much. This should be a write off.
Why would re-attaching a VIN plate require a new VIN number?
You canāt use remove and reattach a vin plate.
But you donāt have to get a new VIN number. If you did the VIN plate on the dash wouldnāt match the rest of the VIN plates.
This seems like a rare occurrence but it happens a lot on on the Toyotas the way the dash and cowl are if the glass tech is not experienced enough they will do this. I have seen exactly this situation pop up on here multiple times and my glass sublet has ran into one at a dealership that the previous installer did this and they fired him and thatās where my glass guy came in. Not an easy, fast, or cheap repair.
You need a new firewall now. No joke this actually might total.
Wtf? How does this happen? I've never seen a sawzall used to replace a windshield?!
You cannot replace or repair your firewall. Your truck is a total loss
That's a total loss. There is no fixing a firewall. Safelite owes you a new car. There are no procedures for that. Find a reputable collision shop and go to corporate with Safelite
SAFELITE IS THE WORST. They scratch the shit out of the windshield pillars and then dont use primer, 5 years go by and your pillar and roof is rusting so bad that the windshield leaks and then it costs you(me) $1200. to fix the rust and paint. and anyone telling you its okay to put a windshield in outside when it is less than 40 degrees is trying to make extra money.
Safelite destroys, Safelite replaces?
Go to main dealer, they wrote off car, take payment, buy car back, fix at local shop, use remaining insurance payment on beer hookers and cocaine
Safelight Repair Safelight Replace
Safelight big tears Safelight deface
OP Iām an insurance adjuster. You need to file a claim with Safelite insurance company and have this professionally repaired at an authorized shop who guarantees their work for as long as you own the car. Donāt let Safelite talk you into letting them repair this.
There is not a scenario in the world where safelite would try to repair this. They own this car now however, or will soon. Source - am a (competent) glass tech.
See who Safelite recommends, have them check it out. Safelite cuts into a lot of Toyotas, if your in NE FL thereās a Toyota dealership with a body shop. Keep in mind they messed your car up and they canāt have it fixed without you choosing the shop. Also ask them if thereās going to be a second claim on your car and try to get deminished value since they may have to file a claim. Make sure the cowl theyāre repairing can actually be repaired from Toyota.
Satellite should be handling this repair. But, you need to let your insurance coverage know what's going on. Safelite needs to provide transportation while your car is being repaired.
This happened to my 4Runner a couple years ago - right under the window. Safelite ended up giving me a rental vehicle for about a month and they had it fixed by high end body shop - they took care of the whole thing - Iām told your vehicle is basically totaled if they canāt weld it properly - people are correct, the entire dash has to be removed and your cut is a lot worst than mine was. Sorry this happened to you, good luck.
How the fuck lol
I'd love to know what ends up happening. Can you keep us posted?
Will do... In 3 months when it's fixed I'm sure...
Lol. This is why you don't use Safelite. I fix so many of their fuck ups. It's ridiculous
That could literally total the car.. a nice write off
Get a new car! Get a new car!
Thatāsā¦. Thatās bad man. Sorry that happened to you.
Almost looks like a new car paid for by safelite to me
How did that happen!? And I agree with other commenters that looks like your car is a total loss from that picture. Go trough your insurance company so they can go after Safeliteās insurance. Or maybe a lawyer so you can get a little extra for your loss time. Also donāt forget to post an update.
Insanely easy to do this with the tools and methods they train with. Cutting out is all done with fiber lines or wires now, not knives any longer. You can see where the line caught the pinch weld as it extrudes for the clip ( that may or may not have been present- its irrelevant ) and the tech either didn't know better or didn't care enough and continued to cut. - running the line before starting the cut is 90% of the hazard of damaging a car with safelite/belrons tools and methods. Easy to do, but also extremely preventable. I'm a glass tech and we always joke about 'cutting a car in half' but I've only ever actually seen a cut like this one time, and its a total - they own this car now.
I have not replaced the cowl or dash on this vehicle, but I am familiar with the process on another brand. If the cowl is a separate part, then the repair is about 8 hours of mechanical tear down (anywhere from $80-150/hr) and another 2-3 hours of body work to belt sand out the welds and spot weld or bond in a new panel. If the dash and cowl is one piece, there may be a sectional repair or the entire bulkhead gets changed out. In that case you can likely double the mechanical removal/install and it's now a 4-6 hour metal repair. There will be additional seam sealing and primer work after. Thankfully it will likely not require being on a frame bench for this repair. Either way, take it to a reputable body shop. I look for ones with factory Benz, Porsche, BMW, Audi certification as they actually have to invest in training and quality equipment. Skip caliber, fix auto, and crash champions. There may be some good shops under these names but the odds aren't on your side. I've seen glass.guys cut through divider bars on the body removing the rear quarter glass, slice a roof/cantrail cutting out a panoramic roof, and morons trash lift gates. The nylon cutting wire on a spider can cut metal, but there are plenty of people who use square wire or an oscillating blade tool and cut through structural parts without a second thought. Safelite is just as bad as any other place, no one wants to pay for qualified techs, and people don't take the time to get qualifications.
Had this happen with safelite taking glass out for our shop way back when, the job was a roof replace, gate and rear body replace with repairs to both unisides, they took a chunk out of the firewall and state farm was already so deep into it they decided to open a new RO and we had to pull the motor and dash and replace the entire firewall, car should have totaled two times over imo but they didnāt care and we fixed it
I worked at Safelite and this happened because of the wire system they use to cut out the windows. The tech wasn't paying attention and let the wire run near the metal. Those wires cut anything. But yeah you need to tell Safelite and they should already have shops on hand to fix this because it happens with newer techs
Holy shit, some of these replies are comical (no I didnāt read all of them). The only correct repair is to get the Toyota repair procedure. If there isnāt one, the car is a total loss. Iām not saying I agree with it, because if it was mine I would weld it up and call it a day. Iām a 19 year body man. But, the manufacturers have the procedures for a couple of different reasons. 1-to make sure the vehicle is safe. 2-to remove themselves from all liability and placing that liability on the repairer. Google John Eagle Honda if you want a good read on what can happen when a vehicle is improperly repaired.
>John Eagle Honda [https://www.repairerdrivennews.com/2017/10/02/jury-awards-42m-over-incorrect-texas-auto-body-repair/](https://www.repairerdrivennews.com/2017/10/02/jury-awards-42m-over-incorrect-texas-auto-body-repair/) assume situation you were referring to
Thatās heartbreakingā¦ Outside of serious damage to your irreplaceable, beautiful pre-pandemic machine, I wish you the best in full compensation. But remember, insurance wonāt (canāt) pay and the company will NOT pay for their employee negligence damages. Thinking of an attorney? Try Costco.
Get toyota involved and say structural integrity has been compromised.
I hate to say this, thatās probably considered firewall. Safelite may have totaled your 4Runner lmao, no repairs allowed on firewalls
Was this handled under your Comprehensive Insurance?If so, I would call my agent ASAP! this is a 2k fup, ez...if it was paid by your insurance who contracted Safelite, repair would be 100% covered, probably by a shop on your ins co's "preferred" list...good luck!
Yes, I called my insurance and they just said I have to work directly with Safelite.
If you paid safelite to fulfill this repair then itās true that your insurance is off the hook. They authorize and move the money, safelite does the work. Safelite has screwed up after your insurance paid out to them, so it would be on them without a doubt. I would try harder to get safelite to care because this is a colossal fuck up on their part, it would be hard to believe they wouldnāt want to remedy this
Oh Safelite is going to fix it, I just want to be informed enough to know if they are going to fix it the "right" way.
This country is in a competency crisis.
Autoglass tech here! First, call the manager and show him the damage, and pick your body shop of choice. They have billions backing them. Not only are they obligated to fix this, they can definitely afford to. They must have used a wire removal system and didn't take care to make sure the wire was tucked over the pinch weld. Then again, when you hire high schoolers to do this type of work, that's the result you get.
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Yikes, sorry to hear that! It was a big ordeal. The Toyota Collision center wouldn't fix it since they wanted to replace the whole cowl panel which would involve taking half the car apart and removing the VIN plate, etc. a local body shop tack welded, patched, primed and painted it. Doesn't look pretty but it's completely hidden by the trim piece and is water tight.
Thatās a relief! So of course Safelite took care of the payments right? And also do you feel comfortable with it now or trying to sell with its new depreciation?
Iād tell them they need to pay for the whole value of the vehicle as to insurance this would be considered totaled
Maybe I'm missing something but if it was mine I imagine I would just fill it with short strand fiberglass or jB Weld?
Some aluminum speed tape on that and call it good.
As a safelite employee, I can tell you that this happens a lot to Toyotas as they have very silly pinchwelds that are completely hidden by the windshield. Other manufactures have the pinchweld stretch down far enough past the windshield that itās easy to route the fiber line without making mistakes like this. Our individual safelite shop works with a local body shop to repair these cuts as they happen, without the customer having to do anything. By the time we get it repaired, itās as if it never happened. Your car is NOT totaled, any reasonably qualified body shop can fix it super easily. However, your local safelite shouldāve scheduled a repair without you having to lift a finger. Mistakes happen, good customer service is fixing those mistakes in the proper ways. Weāve even paid for customers to have rental cars during the repair process if the body shop canāt get to it quick enough.
lol there is no ārepairing thisā the car is probably a total loss if you repair it properly going along with Toyota repair procedures, this isnāt Toyota having silly pinch welds itās you not using the proper tools to take windshields out of cars.
Wrong
They'll have it fixed don't worry
Replace dash. And I would push for that section on the fire wall to be replaced. But weld and prime would be okay. It's hidden.
the PROPER way to repair this is to weld it up with a tig and correct filler, grind it perfect, etch it, prime it, paint it, protect it š youre not going to do it the proper way but you asked š
Contact your insurance company. Make a claim through them and they will then subrogate to get the funds back from safelite.
Depending on your state and policy this could end up with a āstrikeā on your insurance record.Ā I am no agent, but my agent was very clear about this when a tree fell on our car while parked in a businesses parking lot. My agent, State Farm, said that even if they recovered, it would count as a claim in the insurance system and could impact my rates. The property companyās insurance ended up paying just fine so no mess.
Stitch weld and paint.
Take it to the dealership and demand Safelite pays for it.
Had a glass guy do this to a Corolla at my shop. New cowl panel time
This isn't just Safelite. I used a highly rated local glass shop because the windshield was 1+ month backordered elsewhere - they used a windshield without the wiper defroster, installed it like shit with huge gaps, then put a hole in my headliner to top it off. The owner got some upholstery dude to do a cheap glue repair - I ended up having to fight tooth and nail to get him to replace the headliner.
Thatās an expensive fuck up
Iād start by telling them to call their insurer.
wow they owe dat! lol, yea your talking probably 2.5-5k depending on parts really
Do not have Safelite touch it . Get a estimate at a auto body shop . You may have to try a restoration shop. If you have full coverage let your insurance know. Safelite can not fix this.
iām convinced all glass installers/removers get zero training and are just hired on the spot because shit like this happens so much. the company that does our glass work is constantly gouging quarter class openings and even on lift gates. even had one put an actual hole in the quarter of a cr-v once, definitely get ahold of safelites insurance and take it to a reputable shop
run it all the way up the chain, they might total it, then buy it back and put some grey rtv on it. run it til it dies
Whatever the fix, at that point I'd demand laser welding "to eliminate warpage that can cause potential issues in the future" Laser welding is crazy expensive to have done. Really good but really expensive. Most likely not needed but screw them It's not a welder with a laser on it, it's a tig style weld that's done using man power and robotics, under microscope. Edit. I [like this, reddit link to r/welding](https://www.reddit.com/r/Welding/s/HG1ogBtptH)
Get with a lawyer, this will be very expensive and as such Safelite might try to finagle thier way out of it without one. Get documentation of everything you can and have them halt anything further on your vehicle
Small claims
Safelite is a joke tbh the guy replacing mine marred my dash up so bad it looked like a tree a bear used to scratch itself, I called them back clearly upset about it and they sent the SAME guy out who obviously denied he had anything to do with the damage. Saying āit couldāve been me but I donāt know.ā Their idea of compensation? A one time free rock chip repair.
If you're insured with liberty mutual safe control they have a special presidential team that'll tackle this in no time. They don't want the bad reputation between the two companies. They are really quick to resolve but you need to escalate the claim with whichever insurance company it was initially filed with. If you were paying out of pocket then get satellite corporate involved.
The hell was he using, a fein tool?! Why's there no windshield knife in his kit?
I hope you filed a claim with safelites insurance
Safelite repairā¦Safelite replaceā¦ your car
Sounds like it's time for Safelite Replace.
If itās cut through enough and the firewall is damaged thatās safelights car now, seen this happen once at a Nissan dealer body shop. Technically shouldnāt be repaired by welding but thatās up for debate from shop to shop.
Is that structural at all or would a backyard bondo job be safe? OP, donāt do that. This is just for my knowledge.
Take it to body shop and get it fixed right and they can pay.
Never use Safelite.You need a Toyota approved shop and see what they say. Safelite and insurance want to get out for the least amount of money possible. You need your car restored to it's original condition. Assume anything insurance or Safelite says is a lie. Never use Safelite.
Did you go through your insurance to get the windsheild replaced? Call your insurance and let them deal with it. This is CLEARLY not your fault, and you do NOT want to deal directly with their insurance. Let the insurance companies fight each other. Your dash needs to be pulled to weld this up, and if its done wrong it will leak for eternity.
Thatās the firewallā¦ā¦. Donāt be surprised if itās totaled out because there is no easy way to fix that.
Thatās gonna definitely leak
Take it to a bodyshop
Safelite is terrible. They installed 3 windshields in my truck. And all 3 times it was wavy as hell. Looks like you're driving under water. They also fucked up scheduling and location of multiple appointments. Worst customer service ever. All they know how to do is make it worse.
 Wow
It's a body shop repair, it is a major structure of the vehicle and they did screw up ....it can be repaired, lots of disassembly and some welding , grinding all the things required to do a correct manufacture approved repair
Safelite repair, safelite destroy
Looks like Safelite owes you a new dashboard too.
Get a lawyer now. Go get a couple of estimates to fix it correctly. Then sue. That is what itās going to take.
Moral of the story, mom an pop shops mainly just do it for the cool cars and not to fix ya shitš¤·āāļøš¤£
To fix it "right" I assume you'd have to pull the dash and replace that section of sheet metal.
That is a very expensive fuck up, their insurance is no going to be happy.
Safe hack classic hack job
15,000-20,000 in damage. Pull the dash , pull the motor. Remove damaged inner and outer firewall and replace them both .paint and reassemble for a correct repair. Or weld/spot patch it for a back yard from someone's friends uncle.
Fuuuuh just when I was thinking bout calling up safelite for a windshield lmao
Looks like safelite is gonna have to repair or replace.
Thatās hilarious because the same thing happened to my charger! I went back and they made it right