2017 Prius Prime Windshield Chips

Your not the only one with this issue! I never had too replace my 2006 or 2014 windshield after many winter trips! One trip of 120 miles and I have two chips! Not bad enough for replacement but I know it is going to be a issue with our winter conditions. If it is a problem I'll dump the Prime and get a ev without windshield issues!

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I noticed the small sun chips when I got the car. Think the train ride across the country must have gone through a sand storm.

 

My '17 has 40k without your problem. What to do...
...Don't tell your insurer about the damage yet, but check about upgrading your glass replacement coverage.
...If you have heads-up display, you'll need special glass. I don't know if any aftermarket windshields are yet available.
...You'll need the cameras re-aligned by a dealership or qualified glass shop after the glass replacement.

 

after 3 years of ownership it'll be inevitable. one cheaper option is to check Safelite to get the chip filled in instead of replacing the whole glass.

 

Goodbye Mr. Chips.....

In 3 years with only 20,000K I don't know if it's reasonable to expect " lots of tiny chips/pock marks all over the windshield ".

Certainly with as big and aerodynamically positioned a front windshield as the Prius has, Chips could happen.
I had to replace the front windshield of my at the almost brand new Honda Fit, when in the 1st winter, road gravel caused a crack.

In short.....Chips Happen!

But LOTS of chips/pock marks? Well I think you need to determine whether it's a result of driving and foreign objects hitting the windshield OR if it's a result of a flaw in the windshield glass itself.
Sounds like the OP believes they are "mysteriously accumulating" which would lean towards a possible defect or flaw in the glass itself.

In either case, I would get the windshield replaced. The front windshield is actually part of the safety structure of these vehicles. If these chips and pock marks are so cumulative as to be visibly noticeable and distracting I wouldn't trust the integrity of the windshield.

Whether you can get this done through warranty, insurance or out of pocket? I don't know.
But if you replace, and the symptoms do NOT reappear? You then know it was the glass.

You might also get some feedback from whatever glass replacement operation eventually replaces your windshield. If anyone knows how windshields fail, it's the people routinely replacing them.

My Honda Dealership, actually DOESN'T replace windshields. They refer you to outside vendors. Do not know if Toyota is the same. But my Honda Dealership said they USE to bring a guy in, from the outside to replace windshields, but they stopped doing that. It was just an unnecessary middle man operation. And it was quicker and faster if I just went to a windshield replacement place directly.

Good Luck. Replace the Windshield.

 

I may look into installing 3m mask over the windshield! Tinted as well. The prime windshields are very brittle and when a small rock hits you can hear the hardness in the glass. Something will have to happen, especially were I live as winters are long and lots of compact snow and or ice. A windshield will not last one trip off a couple hundred miles.

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Got wacked by a small stone yesterday! It's a different sound when it hits that windshield! It wakes you up! It's going too be a pain in the future!

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