Cracked Windscreen

[Hicardo]

Well - interesting one.  Our newish Crosstar was in the driveway, parked well away from the road, for 3 days and when i came out to use it, found it had a cracked windscreen! The crack came up from the lower corner at 45 degrees, and then went across the screen horizontally about 15 inches in total right in drivers eye line. When I'd parked it, it was fine, no damage.  I didnt look at it closely for those 3 days, so who knows what happened. 

I immediately thought there must be a manufacturing defect of some sort because why on earth would a windscreen fail whilst parked up.  Spoke to the dealer and they flatly told me that theyd never heard of a winscreen failing in this way, and it must have taken a stone strike. They advised me to call my insurer which i did, who referred me to Autoglass.  75 quid excess later i was booked in today, and the job was completed plus camera and dashcam realigned.  Autoglass were very efficient.  I'm slightly sceptical about whether it will prove reliable in terms of software glitches from the forward facing camera, but they seemed very confident it was straightforward, and they told me the work is fully guaranteed. 

So now have a new screen, after only 2 months in the new car.  The tecnician told me he thought it had been struck by an object right in the lower right corner, and that sometimes the cracks happen days after the initial strike. 

 

[Hicardo]

Btw we live rurally and the chance of anyone or thing damaging it in the driveway are minimal

[Nicksey]

After 6 months of ownership from new, the screen on my EX began delaminating from the bottom. My Honda dealer farmed it out to a local windscreen repairer, and it was replaced (with a Honda factory screen) under warranty. The camera etc was all good, and I have not had any issues with its realignment/calibration. I do know, that other Jazz windscreens began delaminating too, as a mechanic at our dealership told me.

[Bristol_Crosstar]

I had this happen on one of my old Jazz's. I first had a small chip barely noticeable which spread into a large crack, this is probably what happened with yours.

[ColinB]

Windscreens are structural components so are stressed, but the glass layer(s) are still brittle. So it's entirely possible for an unnoticed chip to propagate into a crack over time.

[John Ratsey]

The Jazz's low nose and long windscreen makes it more vulnerable to stone chips with stones thrown up by vehicles going in the other direction and hitting the offside part of the windscreen being the biggest hazard.

[Lord Voltermore]

Honda and other car makers increasingly fit thinner glass , which can give significant weight savings, and  use expensive tinted glass.   Its more important than ever(at least in the UK insurance market) to  ensure you have adequate glass replacement  coverage. Some tempting cheaper insurance  quotes may exclude it, or have a large excess.   

Some faults may be clearly due to quality issues  that should be covered under warranty .But ,as others have pointed out,  it may often be due to the delayed consequences of an impact etc you did not notice.  And therefore an insurance matter.

Potentially you could be caught in the middle of a dispute between Honda, and  the glass insures as to who is liable.

If autoglass etc  are of the opinion the damage could be due to an event typically covered by insurance I'd be inclined to accept that explanation.  They may be dropping a subtle hint as to who is most likely to pay without question.  To some  extent they are unbiased as the Honda dealership would probably sub contract a warranty replacement  to a glass specialist anyway.     

[Hicardo]

Thanks for the interesting responses.

I suppose its difficult to decide whether its a manufacturer issue in so much as its a weak screen and not fit for purpose, or its a hazard of everyday life.  I've only ever had 2 broken screens necessitating replacement in my entire motoring life.  So id say for the most part, given the numbers of impacts they routinely take is quite an acceptable statistic and shows they are generally tough. 

I had Saabs for many many years, and no screen replacements.

Anyway i suppose on my Crosstar, 75 quid excess and a couple hours wait is not too bad. 

I was aware the dealer weren't going to entertain a manufacturing or design defect - who could prove it anyway?  The reason i raise that as a possibilty is that a couple of my Saabs had a few stone chips on the screen but those screens never cracked.

[JB]

A windscreen fitter once told me that a faulty windscreen could crack over
time due to vibration, suspension pot holes etc, said he had seen it a few
times and put it down to fault or fitting of screen maybe same thing with
yours? he also said a unseen chip can turn into a crack over time due to
movement vibrations of car. Forgot he came to repair a stone chip in my windscreen
which he drilled filled with whatever they use under pressure and when he was about
to leave he gave me like a razor blade thing and said here you'll need this in about
six months when the mixture I've put in rises due to vibration just go over it three
or four times with blade and it will be flat and smooth again, did it at 6 months then
12 months and 18 months then it did not rise again.

[Jazzik]

Honda and other car makers increasingly fit thinner glass 

According to Marek Wieruszewski not in our Jazz:

Play from 7:04 and hear... at 7.34 "thicker glass"...

[stani]

The reason i raise that as a possibilty is that a couple of my Saabs had a few stone chips on the screen but those screens never cracked.

Of course it didn't crack because it wasn't as weak as the Jazz.

[Jazzik]

Of course it didn't crack because it wasn't as weak as the Jazz.

[Hicardo]

I guess i'll be replacing a few screens if i travel on motorways then!!  Or maybe its just down to (bad) luck ultimately 

[JB]

Depends on your luck I would say, once on M6 near Carlisle travelling at 70 mph
car in front of me also at 70 mph suddenly threw a stone up with such a bang on
my windscreen carried on to Edinburgh next day rang local windscreen repair who
did a good job of repairing screen, I said I was going to ring Auto-windscreens he replied
if you had have done they would not have repaired this it would have been new screen,
it was alright for 8 years after until I sold the car, just shows the difference in people
now days genuine or rip off.

[Lord Voltermore]

Some windscreen cover on insurance pay 100% for chip repairs   but an excess  if a full replacement is required.  Presumably this saves them money.

Stone impacts at motorway speeds  will sometimes be from stones that had been embedded in tyre treads and flew out at speed . 

   As a matter of interest I just  checked the treads on my Yokohama Blue earth summer tyres  (low mileage)  and also the treads of my Goodyear vector all seasons  (higher mileage)  . As a fan of all- season tyres I regret to report  I found  5   embedded stones on the Vectors but only one tiny one on the Blue earths.     Its not my fault.    Catch me if you can   

My comments about thin glass were just based on my opinion that  door glass seems to be much thinner than it was 'in the old days.'   I dont know if this also applies to windscreens.  .  Maybe the manufacturing quality of the glass or strengthening treatments is better than before.