 | Home > General & Technical (L663) > Solar Attenuating Windscreen - Are they worth it? |
 
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| Tim in Scotland Member Since: 23 May 2007 Location: The Land that time forgot Posts: 3750  
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IIRC if you want LR’s head up display you need that screen too, or you used to have to have it on the other models. Quite a few cars have them as standard so shouldn’t be too much hassle to get a replacement should you need one. Do we have enough sunny days to justify the cost? Pangea Green D250 90 HSE with Air Suspension, Off-road Pack, Towing Pack, Black Contrast roof , rear recovery eyes, Front bash plate, Classic flaps all round, extended wheel arch kit and a few bits from PowerfulUK Expel Clear Gloss PPF to come
2020 D240 1st Edition in Pangea Green with Acorn interior. Now gone - old faithful, no mechanical issues whatsoever ever but the leaks and rattles all over the place won’t be missed! |
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1st Aug 2020 1:08pm |
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| Smilesapart Member Since: 28 Sep 2013 Location: Suffolk Posts: 735 
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Well we live in Suffolk in the south east of the UK and generally we find the weather here to be quite dry, warm and sunny throughout the majority of the Spring and Summer months. We've lived in Manchester, Devon and Buchinghamshire before moving here and we have been really surprised at how significantly warmer and dryer it is here compared with anywhere else we've ever lived in England. Sold the Puma Defender and bought a brand new Pangea Green 2020 Defender D240 S with a few factory extras!
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1st Aug 2020 1:58pm |
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| alantd Member Since: 14 Dec 2008 Location: Northamptonshire Posts: 1513 
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I’ve had them highly recommended to me but I’ve never had one and never felt I needed one.
I guess you just open the windows or the sunroof if you have it. My defender never stays too hot for comfort for long - and that includes these last few very hot days. That said, it’s one of those passive things - you’ll never know how hot it would have been otherwise. If £220 doesn’t tip the scales, add it. If it makes you squirm, rest assured you definite don’t *need* it 👍 One that started out as a 2.4 TDCi 110 XS + New Defender 110 First Edition |
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3rd Aug 2020 10:39pm |
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| VVS210 Member Since: 12 Nov 2016 Location: Hampshire Posts: 953
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Be careful who you insure with - after previously being told that I was covered for a genuine LR heated screen as a replacement in my D4 at last renewal I was told that my insurer would only cover up to £100 towards the cost of a replacement screen & that I would need to pay the rest, on top of my £100 glass excess! |
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3rd Aug 2020 10:53pm |
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| Smilesapart Member Since: 28 Sep 2013 Location: Suffolk Posts: 735
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Yes thanks, both very valid points. Sold the Puma Defender and bought a brand new Pangea Green 2020 Defender D240 S with a few factory extras!
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4th Aug 2020 2:39pm |
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| Oldmowgli Member Since: 31 Oct 2020 Location: Sunny South East Queensland Posts: 34 
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I have yet to receive the car, but have ordered a solar attenuating screen. Mind you, I do live in Queensland so it's a wee bit brighter than the UK on average - and having seen the destruction of the fake leather dash on my Disco 3 over several years in the heat (resulting in great cracks through it) I reckon it is worth a go.
I'll let you know how effective it is at keeping the heat out when I eventually get the car. (which is currently moving slowly past West Africa en route to Oz!) If it is good for Queensland Sunshine, it will be great for those balmy summer days in the UK.  |
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31st Oct 2020 2:37pm |
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| L663 Member Since: 31 Jan 2023 Location: Aus Posts: 5
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Hey Oldmowgli,
I'm about finalise my Defender order and was curious about how effective the solar attenuating windscreen has worked for you, two years on? Is heat reduction very noticeable or marginal? Some have mentioned a purple tinge is visible for the exterior, do you see that on yours? Also did you just get solar attenuating or did you also have heated windscreen? |
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31st Jan 2023 11:45pm |
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| L663 Member Since: 31 Jan 2023 Location: Aus Posts: 5
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Hey Oldmowgli, I'm about finalise my Defender order and was curious about how effective the solar attenuating windscreen has worked for you, two years on? Is heat reduction very noticeable or marginal? Some have mentioned a purple tinge is visible for the exterior, do you see that on yours? Also did you just get solar attenuating or did you also have heated windscreen? |
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31st Jan 2023 11:46pm |
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| Oldmowgli Member Since: 31 Oct 2020 Location: Sunny South East Queensland Posts: 34
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I have the Solar Attenuating Windscreen only. No need for heated screen as we only get down to about 2 degrees lowest temp here in SEQ during winter and the number of days where a heated screen would be any use can be counted on one hand.
I can do my comparison with the old Disco 3 that didn't have the attenuated screen coating. Massive improvement. Radiant sun here literally turns the car interior into an oven unless you put up a reflective sunshield when parking outdoors and I'd say that having the Attenuating windscreen goes a long way to replace that. The car is definitely cooler than with a standard glass screen as on other cars we have. BUT... the purchase cost is high. It so happens that I also had this screen cracked (from a rock thrown up by a truck) late last year. All costs were covered by the insurer fortunately, and they obtained a genuine LR replacement but the screen and shipping from the UK (which was quoted as 8 weeks wait, and fortunately only turned out to be 4 weeks) cost over $3000 AUD alone, plus fitting costs, plus camera re-alignment and checking by LR Main dealer. Glad insurer covered costs, but I now have ANOTHER very small stone chip on the new screen.... and I may be living with it !! My advice would be ONLY to order this screen if you live in very hot climates (Southern Europe or Australia for example) as I don't think the benefit in Northern Europe is worth the cost you will pay and the potential extra costs in the event of damage such as my car sustained. hope that helps. |
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1st Feb 2023 12:08am |
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| L663 Member Since: 31 Jan 2023 Location: Aus Posts: 5
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Thanks that does help. I live in Victoria so not as warm as QLD but we do get summer days in the high 30's. I reckon in future I will opt for windscreen protection on my insurance considering the cost you mentioned.
So if you replaced your cracked windshield with a non-solar attenuating screen, would it have been significantly cheaper? I'm surprised your insurance went for the imported genuine screen, I thought they would have put an after market on to save on costs. |
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1st Feb 2023 12:55am |
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| Oldmowgli Member Since: 31 Oct 2020 Location: Sunny South East Queensland Posts: 34
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I am insured with RACQ (part of RACV actually I understand) and they have their own fitters who I could use, but also had the choice to get another fitter quote for the work. I got O'Brien to quote. They were a bit cheaper and incredibly pushy, but when questioned about replacing screen with an exact same LR item, they went very vague and only after I really dug into it, did they admit that it was not a genuine LR screen they would supply - and to get a LR item would be more expensive / weeks longer. Given car is only 2 yrs old and the Solar Attenuating screen was a specific item I ordered I would not go down that route as I simply did not believe I would get the same product / performance. RACQ had no issues - they got the quote for the new screen from local main dealer and gave me a copy. I had a choice of which main dealer did the camera re-alignment work and the fitting was done at the main dealer which made me much more comfortable from a warranty and expertise viewpoint because i don't suppose OBrien's staff have any experience on that car as yet.
I would not have considered taking a standard screen which O'Brien initially offered me. Given the number of cracked / chipped screens we have had in recent years I would definitely include in the cover, especially if you go for this attenuation option. Good luck. |
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1st Feb 2023 2:22am |
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| lightning Member Since: 23 Apr 2009 Location: High Peak, Derbyshire Posts: 2235
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l ticked this option because l was told they don't randomly break like the standard screen.
l can't say how effective it is at keeping the interior cool as we've had no sun, but it was certainly effective when l had one on my van. I've not experienced anything looking slightly purple or pink through the screen. However if it ever gets broken and l have to pay over £1,000 towards a new one, it will get a standard screen fitted instead. |
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1st Feb 2023 9:01am |
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| mse Member Since: 06 Apr 2008 Location: UK Posts: 5024 
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Ive had a few on the Discos and they do make a noticeable difference Mike
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2nd Feb 2023 3:08pm |
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