2 days after receiving his 2005 'upgrade' (from a 2001) Prius, my father complained about a 'magnification' line in his rear window. Sure enough, after driving it, I noticed a slight discontinuity in the rear window glass that makes road lines appear curved (the discontinuity runs horizontal). Extremely annoying. Not present in my '04. He called the dealer to complain and was told it is a known issue. Toyota quality control issues, I guess. They're replacing the window. Anyone else notice this?
I'm not sure if we are seeing the same thing. The bottom inch of the upper window glass distorts the view on my '05.
jsorger, Just so I understand it right, Toyota will actually be replacing your dad's rear window to eliminate this distortion? Please let us know if the new window doesn't have this as I think most or all of us with 2005'sa (and maybe 2004'sa) have this horizontal distortion thing in the bottom 1-2 inches of the rear window... Thanx, -bob
I have a 2005 as well, but I haven't really paid much attention to the road lines in the rear window. My only concerns are the many vehicles behing me trying to get on my tail and push me out of the way, but thanks for the heads-up on that one. I will try and notice that next time.
I noticed the night I picked up my Driftwood Pearl 05. The dealer told this was how they all were. I was skeptical to say the least. I call Toyota's help line and you are correct it is a known problem. They currently are not doing anything about it.
I tried to get mine replaced and they told me they were all like that. I just tinted it, so I kind of hope they don't come out with a fix anytime soon... Nate
Wow. I didn't know that everyone was seeing this. The dealer ordered the window (took a week) and it is being installed as we speak. I'll let everyone know in a couple of days.
I thought I was imagining it, but now that you mention it... I noticed an optical flaw in the windshield recently. I thought I was being hypercritical. But it still catches my eye. As I am sitting in the driver's seat and I look to the right out the passenger’s side, I get a vertical anomaly in the glass. Am I crazy? Am I the only one? Not my new Prius??? I will check the lower rear window in the morning.
So an update... (sorry it took so long - he had to reschedule the service). The dealer mentioned that they had seen this problem in 3 other cars, ordered a new rear window and installed it. When it was picked up (at night, of course), my dad realized that they had failed to seat the glass properly! The top right of the rear window now sits about 1/8" above the proper height. And this morning, we realized that the defective glass had been replaced by yet another defective piece of glass. It's going back as soon as they get the new piece in. I'll update this if anything positive comes of it...
I've noticed slight distortion at the lower edge on mine, I think it's from curvature. OTOH your Prius may well have a defect. A friend of my parents used to have a 1993 Dodge Caravan. Around 7 years ago he was following a pulp truck one time and took a fairly big rock at the windshield, so he had it replaced. The glass shop carefully spent the day putting in the new windshield and letting everything cure inside the shop. I gave him a ride to the glass shop and was still waiting to pull out into traffic when he walked up and told me to come look at something. "Sit in the drivers seat, look straight ahead, and tell me what you see." Ok, it has to be a prank, right? I'm good natured, so what the h***? I sat in the driver seat and looked out the windshield. A weird distortion was almost exactly in my line of sight. Almost looked like an air bubble in the glass during manufacture. It was *really* apparent, it would have been impossible to drive like that. Tell me how the glass company "quality control" checks *and* the shop technicians missed that one? So yeah, a defect is entirely possible.
I don't know, jerome. I was told that the only difference between the '05 and the '04 was that the rear wiper was no longer an option. They probably changed suppliers on the glass (since the line isn't present on my '04).
A local home window manufacturer, which does make a good product, basicaly has no quality control. Their quality control happens in the field when their product is being installed in homes. So, issues in glass quality or shipping damage are all corrected under the lifetime warranty. It's a pain for the window owner, but I suppose it works for this manufacturere to just punch out their product and take care of issues in the field. Doesn't honestly make a lot of sense to me. Well, considing that the Prius is mass produced, I wouldn't be surprised if I had this "defect" also. However I have not noticed it to this point...
I never noticed this "defect" until it was brought up here. So I took a look out the rear window yesterday and noticed it immediately. :cussing: Of course the physicist within me also recognized it a fraction of a second later as being a refraction caused by the curve of the glass. :roll: I would NOT call it a defect and further expect every piece of glass the dealer gets will have a similiar "problem." Sorry. After thinking about it while driving., if you actually notice it to the point it is distracting, I'd say that you are spending way too much time looking out the rear window instead of the front! :mrgreen:
It may be a design, not a manufacturing defect, but it's a defect. If it distorts the view, it's a defect.
There is a glass-warping effect on the bottom inch of my upper rear window as well. My car was built in Nov of 04 and is an 05. It doesn't thrill me, nor does it bother me all that much. Personally, I wouldn't demand a replacement as all that could lead to is leaks, rattles and other problems. But, if it did bother someone else go get it fixed (I have a feeling the replacements are the same unless they're purchased from a different supplier).
I got my 04 in August of that year, and I see the distortion as well. Psycologically, I didn't think of it as a problem until somebody else complained about it. My question is: is there anyone out there who has an 04 or 05 who *doesn't* have this distortion? And if so, why not? Is the hatch slightly different, or don't the laws of physics apply the same for you? :mrgreen: Brad
That's my point, Brad. The only reason I called it a 'defect' was that it is not present in my '04 (manufacture date 9/03) nor any of the other '04s that I have been in lately (granted, my n is only 3). Not to beat a dead horse (having a physics background I understand the refraction comments) but I still fail to understand how this could be a design issue if the design did not change between the '04 and '05 models.
I have an August '04 production, and I noticed the abberation the day before someone posted it on another thread several months ago. With the sharp angle we are viewing through, curves and defects would be quite noticable. I also notice some abberation from the very edges of the left and right sides of the windshield.
