Panes-Taking Ordeal Replacing Broken Auto Glass Has Been Anything But Easy For Local Woman

Life can be a pane, particularly if that pane has General Motors part No. 15697021 on it.

That window happens to fit in the tailgate of a 1994 Chevrolet Blazer, or did until it broke when Mary Tarrell shut it on Monday.

“It scared the heck out of me,” she said. “The glass just shattered all over the place.”

She can’t put the incident in her rear-view mirror, because part No. 15697021 has been about as easy to replace as stained glass from a French cathedral.

And at $804, it’s about as dear.

“You can’t find this part,” said Scott Slusser, manager of the Harmon Glass outlet on East Francis where Tarrell brought her vehicle.

She found out the tint - a dark green - was featured on only a limited number of the 194,000 Blazers sold in 1994.

Most tints are shades of black.

Slusser called Camp Chevrolet to order the part, but he said the dealership was unable to find one. After some searching of his own, he located one Wednesday at a Harmon warehouse in Florida.

The problem there? Hurricane Bertha was forcing evacuations and snarling air freight shipments.

Slusser said Harmon was able to ship the glass Thursday, with arrival possible today.

Meanwhile, Rick Nowaski, Camp’s assistant manager for wholesale parts, said continued hunting turned up another replacement in California. He had it shipped in case Harmon’s arrives in more than one piece - a frequent problem - and because Tarrell is not the only Blazer owner looking for replacement glass.

Slusser said Harmon’s Spokane Valley outlet indicated there are at least two more Blazers in the area with the same problem.

Nowaski said GM is getting new parts made, but the tint may be slightly darker than the one on Tarrell’s vehicle and others like it, which have the green tint on the side rear windows as well as the back.

Tarrell said she’s upset with GM for failing to stock parts on a relatively new car, and because the corporation would not provide her a car while she waited for a part that should be available.

“I’m out my vehicle until the glass gets here,” she said. “The factory should have plenty of backup.”

GM spokesman Dan Hubbard said the company does not offer courtesy vehicles to owners whose warranty has expired - Tarrell’s diesel Blazer has 76,000 miles on it - because 36 million Americans own its products.

“It would be quite a haul,” he said.

For Tarrell, new glass may not end the tale. On Thursday she discovered the Blazer’s battery was dead, drained by a rear dome light.

“I’ve got all the luck in the world,” she said.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Photo