Safelite screwed up....bad

I posted pictures, one was a picture the body shop estimator showed me of the weld completed.  Then I tried to get pictures of the underside of the welding, and then that black panel bond stuff they lathered on top of the weld.  

I believe this repair will probably be safe and effective. But it also looks like they quickly did it then bondo'd over everything to hide how crappy it looked. I can't see them removing a dashboard - which I think would have been required, but I don't know - for the price of the entire repair. That is a decision I'd probably be comfortable with making myself if I were paying for my own screwup, but this is not my own screwup and I'm not the one paying for it. 

Now would be the time I would lawyer up. Bummer.

I could be mistaken here - we're obviously focussing on it and it seems obvious right now - but I think I would notice that if I were looking to buy this car. And it would probably give me enough pause to either significantly lower what I was willing to pay, if not move on from the car entirely.

mtn said:

I could be mistaken here - we're obviously focussing on it and it seems obvious right now - but I think I would notice that if I were looking to buy this car. And it would probably give me enough pause to either significantly lower what I was willing to pay, if not move on from the car entirely.

Yes agreed. If I see a weirdly shape nonsymmetrical piece of black goo at the base of the windshield, I am going to walk or lower my expectations depending on how nice of a car it is. If it's a 30 year old beater, well, whatever.

I can't tell anything from the closeup pictures, but here's the sequence as I understand it.

Safelite screws up the car in a way we aren't really sure about

Safelite tows it to a random shop, and proceeds to do the repair without you ever giving them permission

Safelite sends you some blurry cell phone pics

I am not an expert here. I think you need one. I cannot say if you need your own independent lawyer or if the insurance company handles that stuff. When in that sequence did you call them? What did they advise?

In reply to mtn :

Yep, we will be arguing diminished value now.  Unfortunate, but since now we were unable to verify these repairs were done to any standards apart from safelite needing a place to seat a windshield.  There are still open spots of exposed metal/weld.  There were bits of mig wire still dangling on the underside and on the cabin air filter.  And frankly my wife just isn't comfortable with any of this now.

I spoke with insurance yesterday about this, they said at the time since safelite wasn't denying blame to proceed as it was.  IE, i was gonna get second estimates, etc.  I was unaware at the time of that conversation the repairs were already in process and authorized by safelite to the body shop.  I just got off the phone with my insurance today to explain what happend and now we'd like to file a claim against safelite for unauthorized repairs, diminished value, etc.

Looks like a pretty decent repair to me. While it sucks you are having to deal with this I'm going to bet you don't get much more than that unless you get a manufacturer's rep to testify that it's unsafe. Did you ever contact Toyota with the pictures? 

What a train wreck! And SafeLight keeps trying to do the quick and dirty thing to get you to go away, thereby causing everyone involved, including themselves, the most trouble possible. 
 

This kind of progression of bad decisions doesn't just happen. I think it's an inevitable result of their defective corporate culture. 

Thanks for the last pic. Now it makes sense. I can see exactly how it happened and I doubt it had anything to do with a nylon string

Not the nicest welding I have seen but not horrible either.  Because of where the cut is, I don't see where the structural integrity of the bonded glass system is compromised. I am assuming that is a weld and not a brazed repair.

Do please tell me that they at least skimmed some filler over that and painted the repair?  Is it possible that the backside will be exposed to the elements? If so it needs to be coated.

Is this now on the carfax? If so they need to pay some diminished value and a mental aggravation fee.

camopaint0707 said:

Holy E36 M3 what a hack job!

Dude sorry you are dealing with this. This is my kind of luck that you are having. 

Hopefully your lawyers and insurance will take care of it from here. 

In reply to slefain :

I've seen better welds tbh.

I'd say.. lawyer.... new vehicle + legal fees is appropriate remediation...   

In reply to camopaint0707 :

Just to confirm, you did not in anyway authorize the repairs? It's relatively jumbled in here, but seems like Safelight came in to do the job, botched the job, towed to a Hyundai dealer, requested a quote from the body shop, and proceeded with the repair which is now complete? Did you say or sign anything allowing the repairs to take place? Are you posting in real time? I'm amazed this appears to have all occurred in roughly a 24 hr window.

slefain said:

camopaint0707 said:

Holy E36 M3 what a hack job!

No kidding, there's even still a hole in the metal by that tab. 

It sure doesn't look like the Toyota recommended repair. 

In reply to johndej :

They drove our windshield-less damaged car to the dealer lol.  But otherwise you're correct.  They just did it.  And yes, i'm honestly posting as it happens.

this thread is discoverable in a lawsuit..

In reply to Fueled by Caffeine :

ok?  

camopaint0707 said:

In reply to Fueled by Caffeine :

ok?  

Meaning that its contents can be used as evidence both for and against your side in any decision.

Here is a possible slippery slope.

You gave safelite authority to replace the w/s. I suspect in the back of the work order fine print you can't read without a magnifying glass that if they damage something, it's up to them, safelite, can repair at their discretion, provided it's their fault. Completely removing you from the process. Just a thought.

They can add whatever they want to the bottom of their document. They could  even add that they aren't responsible for the damages, but that doesn't mean it's true though. Lawsuits can and do still happen, regardless of what you signed.