Interior Exterior
Q:
Hi everyone,
I know this has been discussed a few times before but I was surprised to hear from my dealer in Denver that it is Lotus's protocol to remove the front clam to replace a broken windshield.
About $700 for the windshield and about $1k for the labor which is an 8 hour/two day job with a week wait for the part. They have one that needs to be replaced due to a PID.
I know that other people have said their windshields were replaced without pulling off the front clam.
Why does Lotus insist the dealer do this?
Mine isn't cracked yet, but I was just checking things out for future
reference.
Thanks for your input,
Best regards,
mr t
A:
I think Lotus says the clam can be removed in about two hours.
For windshield replacement, it only needs to be tilted, so that time can be beaten.
A:
I had mine replaced, as have others, without the clam being removed. I have heard that the clam doesn't even have to be loosened if the installer is very careful. The Lotus "protocol" is simply what is said in the service manual that is written by an overly conservative engineer who probably doesn't even work on the cars himself/herself.
I had mine replaced at Symbolic. Have your service department call them to get advice on how to really do the windshield.
A:
I had my windshield replaced yesterday and they didn't even have to loosen the clam. I watched two guys use about a half dozen specialized tools figure out how to do it (their first time) and it took an hour and a half.