Windshield crack--so much for saving money

Window cracked out of the blue this weekend, less than 2,000 miles on the car. Neither of us have seen or heard a rock hit the window, but the otherwise pristine window pinged on the interstate while my wife was on a trip, nothing around. In two days the crack has extended halfway down the window. She took it to Lou Fusz Toyota--that was a mistake. Clown declared it a rock chip before he even got close enough to see the crack, let alone whether or not there was a chip. He was generally a horse's rear--unfortunately par for the course with Toyota dealer service depts. and didn't even give a repair estimate although he made several statements. Definitely will be putting Lou Fusz on the "dealers to avoid" list, not that they are in our area. Keep in mind that I bought Toyota in spite of the dealer experiences, not because of them.

So I've read that these windows are really expensive, get Toyota glass, etc., but I'm wondering if this makes any sense? Why put more overpriced Toyota glass in it? Should I even change it at all until forced to? It will probably have a crack all the way from the left corner to left bottom by next weekend at the rate it is growing. (It does have me thinking it would be a good idea to get the strut tower brace since the windshield is obviously getting a lot of stress from body flex--may want to wait until after the brace to put any replacement glass in.)

Toyota needs better glass in this car, period. In at least 300,000 miles of driving I've never had a crack develop from a rock chip, even really nasty big starred ones that sat out in the frost and baked in the Texas sun. The fact that this is developing rapidly from a slight, non-starred point screams out some defect in glass or design. It's been garaged and never seen frost/temp extremes, etc. I can't imagine how sensitive it would be to conditions my previous vehicles' windows have seen.

 

The outer glass laminate on this car is really thin from looking at the crack. I wonder how its thickness compares to other vehicles I've owned. I've had some pretty hard hits in the Tundra and heard most if not all of them, expecting nasty stars, yet I have only tiny pits (most of the worst are at the edge of the glass.) By comparison, we've never heard or seen a rock chip in the Prius--even though it is much quieter and we only recently even started using the radio. So there is virtually zero chance that we somehow missed it happening...unless it happened on the boat over or at the dealership.

Does anyone know if it is possible to get a thicker replacement window? Having a thicker outer laminate would reduce the chance of a penetrating crack.

Also, in examining this I realize that the crack is a cosmetic rather than safety issue since it is merely the thin outer piece that is cracked.

 

Replacing it with another likely similarly made windshield seems futile. I'm looking for a long term answer rather than playing musical chairs with the window. And it appears to be defective. I've examined my Tundra's PPG glass and can remember the major hits on it--at least four are along the edge, yet no stars, bulls eyes, half moons, etc., just chips. The Tundra glass has impressed me for its durability because other vehicles I've owned have typically had worse damage from loud glass impacts while driving, but never a crack. (With an asterisk: the one crack I did have on the Accord came from something being dropped on the windshield at the body shop--still had glass powder on the surface when I was inspecting to sign off on their repair, so they had to replace the glass before I would pay them. It was obvious that it had just happened, and the presence of the powder made the dispute very short.) The difference is the slightest impact on this Prius AGC manufactured glass--undetected by the occupants--resulted in a massive crack that grew rapidly.

I will probably drive with it like this for awhile, perhaps through Winter. I want to see how the glass handles other chips. Chips do happen, that is expected. Giant cracks are rare by comparison--roughly two orders of magnitude less frequent. So I plan to survey the window after a time to count the chips & cracks for comparison with the Tundra's glass. If I get another crack from a different point then it will be extremely strong evidence of the suspected problem with the glass. Contrary to popular belief, lightning does frequently strike the same place twice...but there is a physical reason for that.

A logical approach suggests the following: defective glass is more likely to crack from a single chip. If it isn't properly annealed then just this sort of failure is expected. If the glass is well made, then it is unlikely to crack, bullseye, or star, even if struck many times.

Between my wife's mileage and my own we have over 500,000 miles experience with our windows in various cars. If the Prius crack had happened after multiple chips or rock hits over tens of thousands of miles, then I would agree that it was just bad luck. But after 2,000 miles and no apparent rock hits or chips before this, plus the extremely rapid growth of the crack, I'm not at all inclined to chalk this up to coincidence.

I've had experience with other parts having material failures due to cracking in the Tundra, so I recognize that Toyota's part selection/certification is less effective than what I've seen from Nissan and Honda. (Rear end failure--probably due to sheared housing bolt, AC blower knob, both rear window hinges--almost never used.)

 

David,

Since the Prius has not been produced in the U.S. I don't even know that there is a U.S. manufacturer for OEM Prius glass. My Tundra, produced in the U.S., has PPG as OEM. I don't know if the 2001 Pathfinders were produced in the U.S., I know some later ones were so I'm not surprised you could easily get OEM glass at a good price.

I replace OEM parts with OEM when it makes sense to do so, but in the windshield case it would appear to be counterproductive. I replaced the Tundra's rear window hinges with aluminum parts that a fellow made to address the problem of the poor material selection for the OEM. I found a thread where PPG glass was used as replacemnt in the Prius and the owner was satisfied. Since I've had good luck with PPG that's the way I intend to go if/when replacement becomes mandatory.

 

Tom,

I appreciate your concern, but I have a problem with folks not honoring their obligations and it is pretty clear that Toyota has no intent of honoring any claim related to glass. It is pre-judged without even being seen and that raises a red flag.

What I noticed in looking at windshield threads was folks with the same problem as mine--low mileage and cracks from single chips. This suggests a substantial amount of poor quality glass getting through.

I actually see somewhat of a pattern, more related to the occasional poorly made glass. It might be thinner, but if so then it truly is a design flaw or compromise that is going to cause the customer increased operating expense.

The Prius glass angle is not bad at all and is actually ideal for preventing this. The crack started from near the top side where the angle is shallowest. This is yet another indication that something is amiss. The bad star hits I've taken in other vehicles were usually near center and closer to perpendicular than the Prius, the worst way to take the hit. (This is my recollection from studying kinetic penetrators.)

As for cross section of the glass it doesn't appear to be all that different from other vehicles I've owned. What would make the Prius more vulnerable is the shallow sloping hood. On other vehicles many high speed projectiles are caught by the grill/hood. Those plastic deflectors on the front of trucks that were once common were there to prevent glass damage.

Time will tell. I hope it is bad luck, but my problem solving instincts say otherwise. I intend to use the glass as a test bed for awhile and within a few months perhaps will have a conclusion. A second independent crack would be absolutely damning to the quality of the particular window manufacture...assuming there are not an extremely large number of other chips.

Nothing beats empirical data.