I remember reading a while ago in a magazine where a manufacturer of specialised and difficult to get windscreens said that if you must break into your own car by smashing a window, then break the windscreen.
He said that the windscreen is nearly always the cheapest piece of glass in a car, and that closer you get to the rear of a car the more expensive and difficult to get the window becomes and that rear windows of old cars are almost impossible to get or to make.
Of course there are many exceptions to this, but he was speaking generally about older and vintage cars.
As a case in point. In the 1980s when I had my mid life crisis red sports car in the form of one of the very few remaining Fiat 2300Ses in Australia. I tracked down only two genuine available replacement parts in the whole country. One was a rear tail light lens in Melbourne and the other was that Pilkingtons could make a windscreen for little more than the cost of one for a more common car. Thay said don't break a rear window (there are 3 pieces to that) as no-one anywhere in the world could make me one.
helbus ·
Passenger front door glass is the one to break on most cars if you want the cheapest. Second hand RHF door glass can have vertical scratches and harder to get a good one. Cheapest it is usually the two front door ones, unless of course you have an Alfa Montreal or something similarly exotic, then everything is expensive.
On modern cars, especially two doors, all of the windows apart from the doors are bonded. This is where the cost gets higher as the cost in labour to replace them is more expensive too.
Surprisingly on some of your more common cars like Falcons, the quarter glass in the back door can be twice the price of a main front door glass.
modulus ·
Another hint is to check for nearby police cruisers before breaking the glass...
koolkarmakombi ·
use a center punch or high tensile steel hammer, wear glasses and make sure you got the right car!
warb ·
dont lock your keys in the car.
Desert Moose ·
Get a key cut and zippy tie it under the car somewhere only you know about......
Have you ever tryed to get glass out of a car before ? :P
Desert Moose ·
warb wrote:dont lock your keys in the car.
or that ^^^......lol
bajachris88 ·
spare coat hanger?
buzzbox ·
Yeah, I've always been able to get in with a coat hanger.
The nearest launderette will give you one, or buy a set from cornershop.
bugeyedbabe ·
pffftttt
be a girl and call racq...they get in and it costs me nothing cept the $40/year
considering how often i've bin towed, left the lgihts on and left the keys in the car...for me its great.
and if i lock them in the vw...i just open the qtr window...lets face it...its not like anyone is insane enuf to be seen in my car, let alone steal the darn thing!
:P
swish1 ·
just call volksodder to open up/tow you home or smash your window
winerot ·
as bugeyedbabe says join the relevant road service in your state
& warbs have a spare,i have one on the inside of bumper on a bolt
wally
11CAB ·
winerot wrote:as bugeyedbabe says join the relevant road service in your state
& warbs have a spare,i have one on the inside of bumper on a bolt
wally
Cool....I'll be driving home in a nice maroon Kombi from Dubs by the Pub this year.......:P
winerot ·
as long as you take the teenagers with it i will turn a blind eye👍
11CAB ·
Swap ya a teenager for a 3 year old.....
winerot ·
what another ten years of joy 😂😂😂😂😂😂
11CAB ·
He's pure evil........:vader
Not like the older two at all.....:cry
bajachris88 ·
is the teen a pretty 'she' and around 17 to 18 yrs old?
I got a lil' 3 yr old bro? Hes already into herbie. 😂
winerot ·
in my eyes yes but 16 & dangerous
Peter_Jones ·
1. I can't believe all your door locks actually work that well! All of my VW locks (including the ignition) can be operated with just about anything!!
2. Cut the rubbers if all else fails, it's usually cheaper than busting the glass.
PJ
helbus ·
warb wrote:dont lock your keys in the car.
Been jinxed.
Fleur locked her keys in the beetle tonight. Took 30 seconds with a coat hanger. 🙂
Beerboy ·
or just cut the window rubber and pop the window out, then all you need is a ruubber ;-)
bus914 ·
NRMA road service has opened every car i've locked the keys in within a minute of turning up. If you are a member don't do anything drastic till they've had a go.
76camper ·
thanx for all the handy tips on breaking into vw's haha
Just buy a central locking kit, always got the remote in my hand. It would be difficult for me to lock my keys in the car, having sed that... im going to zip tie the spare remote to the ******* next to the coat hanger :-). Good post, keep up the handy hints!
amazeer ·
When my kombi was stranded by the freeway, I left it in a service station and gave them the only key. When I arrived back a week later the key was gone. In a rage I smashed the smallest window, the quarter vent and hot wired it home. Stupid thing to do. Its much harder to replace and I didnt have a spare, unlike rear side windows and the rear screen
I would smash any side or rear window in a dub. There's millions of them, everyone has spares. Would never smash a windscreen on purpose (have had 2 broken kombi screens by rocks)
A: the wind makes it hard to see
B: bugs arent tasty.
C: the wind blows glass in your eye
D: the glass keeps falling out of the dash for years.
e: the glass that doesnt land on your seat scratches the bonnet.
The RACV guy that was trying to get the key out of my hire car wasnt good. Firstly, AVIS abused me for not calling them first, and then wouldnt allow the RACV guy to open it without quoting the number,,, which was on the inside of the glovebox lid. Finally when common sense prevailed (me threatenign to find a brick) RACV man struggled for half an hour with different bits of wire before I was on my way. Better than nuffin I guess.
shaihulud ·
The fastest door opening by an NRMA man that I have ever seen was when some friends locked their baby in their car on a hot day. The NRMA man dropped what he was doing elsewhere, roared up in a cloud of tyre smoke, took one look at the car, grabbed a tool from a box in the back of his van, walked over to the car and had the door open as fast as you could do it with a key, ran back to his van and roared off without saying a word other than acknowledging our thanks.
WA Volksrodder ·
Thanks the kind of service I offer Richard...
Hey did you hear about poor Paddy, who whilst shopping realized he'd locked the keys in his car..
He rushed outside and despratley tried everything to try to break in to his car..
Onlookers and bystanders were helping, it seemed the whole of Dublin was there to help...
Eventually the fire brigade arrived, took a large hammer from the truck and smashed the window...
Finally, after 4 Long Hours, Paddy's Wife and Children were freed....!!!!
Hey I smashed the window on an BU Falcon Taxi at the airport this weekend... Managed to grab his money and run before the driver knew what was happening...
Kidding.. Driver locked keys inside, only way to get in to those quick is smash window but here's a tip..
Never do the quarter glass on the back doors..
To replace it they have to take the whole door to bits...
hahahahahaha.....