Drove our lovely 2014 Mazda CX-5 to WolfCreek for snowboarding this Christmas. On the way there, it got hit by a rock and a 10" crack was appeared. I spent couple hrs doing research online and found AGS which has the best reviews, then decided to call them on Sunday the 12/27. The lady who picked up the phone is nice and has great knowledge of what they are doing regarding to how to remove/install rain and collision sensors that came with my CX-5's windshield. Luckily, they have new CX-5 windshield that can fit in my car in the shop. I made the decision to have them to replace my windshield and set up an in-store appointment (can't have mobile service due to all the senors, which requires two people) on Tuesday the 12/30.
*I have to mention that I printed out all maintenance manual that was used by Mazda regarding to how to remove/install rain and collision sensors for them just in case. On top of that, I removed the sensor cover on the windshield to check if the car comes back as same as before.*
The good -
On Tuesday, when we drove to AGS, we found out it is a small location which contains one small office and one small shop. There were four people total, two workers on the shop and two are in the office. To be honest, I was a little skeptical at first because I was expecting a bigger shop but not a crowded shop like this. I then went in to the office and talked to Mark. Mark has a great knowledge of windshield replacement and guaranteed me that everything will be fine. I also have to mention that for what I saw, that two workers at the shop are people who actually work on your car, and Mark is like the supervisor (at least for what I saw).
We left the car and drove our other car back home. On the way home, Mark gave me a call and told me he checked the senor bracket on the new windshield and found out they don't match. He then called Mazda and got the quote of different windshield which is $170 more than the original quote. The total price then goes up to $860 before tax. I have to give them the compliment because he found out the unmatched windshield (although their system says its the right windshield) before they made the cut, so I could decide if I still want them to do it or not. I remember I've read an online article somewhere regarding to not to price your windshield replacement shop, and made the decision to have them continue the work with the full price.
Regarding to the work of windshield replacement itself, I give them 5 out of 5. I know people are worry about water/air leak after windshield replacement (this might be reason of why you are reading this). We picked up the at 12/31 around 2pm and drove very slowly back home, and left it under covered parking till 11pm. Dove it again and found no air leak (check by the sound). On 1/1, while having the heavy rain in Austin, we drove the car. I turned on the windshield wipers, and they made good contact with windshield and are SILENT. Windshield wipers are working quieter then before, and wind noise seems quieter too. I am continuously monitoring any wet carpet due to windshield water leak and found no leaks. The windshield was installed perfectly.
The bad -
On 1/2 when I was checking all the wires and connector on the sensors for the windshield, I found out a connector's clip was brute force removed and damaged badly that it is no longer holding at the place securely. Sure, I can simply fix it by using a zip tie, but I was not 100% satisfied of their work. The main reason that I printed out the maintenance manual for them is to prevent any brute force removal. Unfortunately, it is still happening. I also need to mention I have not check the cowl grille(the plastic plate that covers your windshield on the bottom edge) to see if there is any damage. I will update it if I see any brute force damage.
The conclusion -
There is no doubt that AGS has a great experience of replacing windshield. However, more and more new cars come with more stuffs on board on your windshield. I am sure AGS is not able to remove/install windshield sensors 100% correctly for every car on the market (at least for my car). They still have to learn and sometimes will depend on their experience to remove/install windshield sensors. If you don't care of taking risks of brute force removal fasteners and just want the windshield replacement to be done perfectly, yes I would recommend AGS to you. If you have all the sensors on top of your windshield, I would recommend you spend sometimes removing all connectors and clips before you bring it to the shop. At least for me, I should have done that. read more