OMG AGAIN!!!!! So annoying!!!

Maybe this Thai supplier is the problem. My 2004's windshield is made by Asahi. At 67K miles the glass has been whacked several times by various rocks, one big enough to bounce on the roof and make a couple of small dents. No chips to speak of, or cracks, etc.

I don't recall windshield glass cracking being a big issue for older 2G model years.

 

I have a rock dent in my bonnet the size of my thumb and several stone chips but still got the original windscreen in a 2004 model. Done quite a lot of country and dirt road driving. I guess it all comes down to luck.

 

Patrick Wong could be onto something. Both of you have the 2004's, probably different glass. So patsparks, I wouldn't attribute this to luck so quickly. The supplier, or perhaps even some spec change in the glass for later years is quite possibly responsible for the difference in the susceptibility to cracking.

As it is, I'm waiting for a second chip on the same piece of glass. If I get a second chip no larger than the first, and a second crack, then it will be solid proof that the particular window sample is defective. (It can't prove that it isn't defective by not cracking, but it would weaken the argument.) And if the same windshield cracks from a small chip well away from the margin then it would be an airtight proof of problem glass.)

 

The windscreen on my FJ Cruiser is apparently quite notorious for cracks. It's profile is much like a Kenworth road truck. So far, not one scratch. It's thought the frame flexing - that also contributes to fender bulges/rips - is causing the windscreen trouble too.

No fender bulges or rips on my FJ either. Apparently, the Prado in Australia has quite a few issues with fender bulges and rips, unsure if this applies to the windscreen too

As far as my Prius, the only complaint I have now is that the windscreen is becoming quite sandblasted. I swear, it looks like I dropped out of warp speed into a dust cloud. This has happened to almost every vehicle I have ever driven, I doubt it's unique to the Prius

 

Tom

Actually, I've seen Level IV ballistic glass in Suburbans with cracks after less than a year of use. No obvious cause either, absolutely NO bullet impacts. Perhaps the ballistic glass doesn't cope well with thermal cycles

Um, it's probably best if you don't ask how I was riding in a Level IV armored Suburban.

jay

 

Just joined to post this to you (was going to join later, but new glass has a habit of getting hit soon).

When I purchased my Prius new on November 22nd of 2008, the dealer offered a polycarbonate clear coat for the windshield. Since I replace my windshield about once a year on my Corrola that the Prius is replacing, I opted to get the coating.

During my 28.7 mile one way commute through a very dirty section of I 270 in Commerce City CO I average about 1 month before I get a ding and about 6 months before I get a major crack.

So far (1500 + miles of commuting) in the Prius I have not one ding and I have received at least three good hits of pea size gravel on the windshield. On examination the hits left a tiny scuff mark on the polycarbonate coating that washed off at the car wash.

Perhaps your local dealer carries the same polycarbonate coating and can do your new windshield.

Hope this helps.

 

George W right hand man I suspect.

 

Ummm .... no

In certain countries, if the locals suspect you have money, are a foreign worker, etc, they will attempt to kidnap you and then demand ransom. In those countries, it's common for a company to transport their "foreign" workers (Eg, Western engineers) in a convoy of armored vehicles

The pay was very good, but I would never want to do such work again. Too risky, we had close calls. Those armored Suburbans are supercharged for a damn good reason