Gen 4 Windshield Crack

There has been some quite a lot of discussion on this previously, but I don't recall the exact details.

Maybe a search of PriusChat (or GOOGLE) will find it.

 

I just had this happen to me as well.

My solution is going to be switching the insurance to the $50 glass deductible. I don't really see another way to save on the cost of a new windshield. With how low the Prius is, and the angle of the glass, it can be prone to getting hit by rocks. Same with the Honda Fit. Long, low sloping windshields.

 

The body shops that do the injection repair will have a system on hand, no need to bring them anything.

 

True - but it mightn't be a "permanent" solution. I had it done on my VOLVO 940 - it stopped it progressing for about 2½ years, then took off again quickly. I'd sold the car by then - but was informed of it's fate.

 

Had two very small chips (not cracks) in the black area at the base of the windshield of my 2017 Prius 2, when I took it in for its first service check. They had a tech from "sonic" repair them while still in the check-in bay. For the mere price of around $50.00 (next two chips fixed for "free"...) They were so small that I hand not noticed them at all. What I will do, is get a low cost chip repair kit and repair them myself if I ever have any more. They can form a starting point for a genuine "crack" so I do get why they have a high priority on fixing them early.
My only experience with a really cracked windshield was on a 95' Civic Hatchback and I did learn an important lesson there, make sure the replacement is OEM glass or a certified glass made to the manufacturers specs. My "replacement" glass used by the insurance company and repair shop was so bad in quality that it started to crack and fail right where the rearview mirror was bonded to the glass. I later made sure the dealership replaced it with OEM glass after the rearview mirror basically broke off with the small bit of glass still attached and fell in in my lap...

 

Windshield replacements are a cost of maintenance. I have had one replaced in 70,000 miles on my 2016 ($250 deductible). That's $0.0035 per mile out of pocket, not counting insurance cost. About half the cost of an oil change per mile using quality products every 5000 miles.

 

Ah, gotcha.

 

I just got a rock chip on my front window this past weekend. My insurance company, of course, tried to refer me to a windshield repair place they receive kickbacks from. That place didn't have any appointment for 1 full week (and got some pretty bad reviews on Yelp). I figured 1 week of commuting is enough time for my rock chip to turn into a full end-to-end crack on my windshield, which would also require camera recalibration. I ended up calling an out-of-network place (for my insurance company, that is) and got the chip repair the very next day.

On one hand, repairing a rock chip seems like something that isn't so urgent. On the other hand, not repairing and taking the risk of a full unrepairable windshield replacement/sensor recalibration makes the chip something that really requires some real urgency to fix.

 

antiglare......What rating would you give the chip/repair success? .......

 

I would give the repair a two thumbs up so far. The crack lines are no longer visible, and all you can see is a small dot of resin where the impact crater from the rock used to be. Of course, if the crack somehow continues (the repair is supposed to stop the crack from ever getting worse), I reserve the right to change my verdict .

 

..........

 

As long as the chip repair was done correctly (and they usually are), the crack won't spread.

 

I have several pits and now a small starburst crack on my 2016. Safelite said it's because of the "length & angle" of the Prius windshield that makes it more prone to strikes and pitting. That may be true, but I also think it's a cheaper and thinner glass in the Prius? Neither of my Camrys had any windshield damage after 21 years of driving them. But my Prius looks like it's been through a war and back!

Safelite said the OEM factory windshield is $1000, and the aftermarket one is half that price. I forgot to ask how much the labor is. (They shot some glue into the star chip, but I can still see the cracks from inside the car.)

 

Safelite is either lying or quoting a "retail" price, not a "real" price. I just had my 2016 windsheild replaced and the line item cost for a factory windshield (which I specified) was $528.

 

You didn't go to Safelite. So don't keep it a secret, what shop did you go to??? Dana Point is not that far from me. (And I don't want any more Toyota glass. The damn cheap stuff will just chip and crack again!)

 

All Star Auto Glass, through my insurance company, AAA of California. And it was a call out service, which was done very carefully and professionally. I watched the whole thing.

 

I have a 2018 Prius 4 Touring and there is now a large crack in my windshield that branches two ways. It wasn't there when I went into work on Thursday but when I came back out for lunch there it was. There was no large debris that hit the windshield prior and there is no evidence of any debris point of contact or chipped/starburst point. The crack starts at the very bottom of the windshield and is a clean crack. I called the Toyota dealer yesterday to get it fixed but they told me to call Monday because all their techs were busy. We went ahead and called again today and kept getting the run around "I'll transfer your to our Body Shop". No answer. Called back again and this time they said they don't replace windshields so they gave us a local windshield company to call. We called and they were closed so we called another place. I have an appointment with that windshield company on Tuesday and they quoted us $244 to replace which seems pretty low to me. My Prius does not have the Heads Up Display. I find it odd that the dealer doesn't replace their own windshields. The girl who made our appointment for Tuesday did confirm they are seeing a lot of Prius' coming in for windshield repair/replacement. I have to have it fixed so I can drive it without concern but I also don't want to find out the replacement job wasn't done correctly and possibly cause other issues with items that are covered by warranty and then Toyota will refuse to cover for some reason.

 

First of all, given the way the windshield is secured, I don't see how body flex could crack it. It's secured with a pretty thick bed of neoprene caulking, which I assume provides plenty of flexibility to avoid stress cracking from body panel movement or heat/cooling expansion/shrinkage.

Most auto dealers don't do their own glass replacements. It's cheaper and more risk averse to job it out, or to just recommend someone else. Even if they said they would do it, they would probably call out the same company you would call and just mark it up for the trouble.

The low drag coefficient of the Prius might raise the likelihood of a rock strike. However, see my previous post. I think the girl on the phone probably tells that to every car owner, just to make them feel better. Without statistics grounded in good research we just don't know. But for the record, in the 91000 miles I have driven, I have had two rock strikes. I also have had two tire replacements due to road hazards (replaced two pairs). Not the best performance (with my PT Cruiser I had no tire road hazard issues in 11 years, but had to replace every glass due to vandalism -- no rock chips), but probably about average.