ABC 7 - Potential safety hazard in popular car...

Haven't 'seen' it....
Pun almost unintended.

I hope it's a HUGE problem. Gas is back up, and now so are the prices for G3s. What we need is another 'unintended acceleration' sized fustercluck combined with dip in the price of gas.

 

Unfortunately the story focused on lights looking funny. Not on the blurry vision and headaches that are actual issues. I think most people not affected are just going to think "so what? a pretty light show".

 

It just happens that his explanation makes most sense. If it was only the internal reflection like you claim, the ghost images would be ABOVE the main image. I believe light scatter at some layers is needed to produce the above and below effects.

 

Yes I notice the multi-reflection problem now with my VW Minivan, I've been struggling with it for the last month or so (got new glasses then, and I have a fairly strong correction, to be honest). I've been blaming the glasses but perhaps there is some complex interraction between certain lens coatings and windshield.

 

I had 140 miles of road trip last night, so I checked for the problem and don't have it.
Here's the info from my windshield. M8141 AS1 10A
Compare it to your windshields.

 

My 2010 (without the issue) is labeled:

It's right above the VIN#.

What's the number on affected windshields?

 

Same thing on my 2010:

TOYOTA AGC Automotive
DOT-20 M8141 AS1 10A
Lamisafe

 

Can you guys please add your data to the spreadsheet here: Welcome to Google Docs

 

I too have a hard time seeing through the ridiculous - highly distorting Prius windshield. And the rest of the glass is pretty bad too. ....
I just heard something ... Who's there .... I know you're out there. Is that you grama?



.

 

I'm once again assuming that it may be a Quality Control issue at the supplier level. Not that a manufacturing change has happened. If a manufacturing change had occurred, I think you'd have far more people complaining.

I'm thinking nobody, Toyota, Owners, The Windshield Supplier, wants the product that we've seen demonstrated in the video.

If it's an intermittent or limited quality control issue, then those "few" defective windshields should be replace at the dealership level, and the quality control failure that is resulting in their occasional appearance needs to be tracked down.

There is a little more than just words here for dealers. As shown in the video, the light refraction in these windshields is repeatable and demonstrable, and IMO unacceptable.

I could be wrong, it may be a supplier change or a manufacturing change. But the only reason I doubt this, is the relatively few reported cases.

 

I'm sure it is the result of a manufacturing change, but may be worse on some windshields. The solution is to change the coatings to be better, not necessarily back to the old formula, and perhaps it is only a QA problem on the change.

Since Toyota does not seem to have figured out what the manufacturing problem is - it could be specification, materials, or QA - they seem to be keeping quiet about it. This is typical of car manufacturers, but it does not mean we need to like it. I am quite sure acdii has a real manufacturing problem on his 2013 fusion hybrid that does not affect the bulk of the cars, but like these Toyota customers he seems to have gotten the run around from ford. GM, Honda, Nissan do this too.

 

How can you be sure?

I think just the opposite. If it was an applied and purposeful manufacturing change, the normal uniformity of the manufacturing process and quality control, would result in almost the exact opposite results. You'd have THE MAJORITY of people complaining about the refractions and prisms in their windshields and a minority that would "accidently" get non-refractive windshields.

Since people are buying brand new Prius today, and NOT complaining of this problem, I have to think it's a quality control issue that is rare or very intermittent.

That's not to say it's still not a problem Toyota needs to track down and address, whether it be a manufacturing change, or a intermittent manufacturing quality control issue.

Of course I am guessing and speculating fully here. But since that is what any or most of us are doing, I don't think anyone can be "sure".

 

When I first saw you mention this on another thread I thought it was funny and an isolated case. I didn't know that many people are affected. I've drove with an eye injury at night before with similar images, trust me those "Pretty light show" caused some nasty tension headaches. I hope this issue can be resolved.
For those of you that are affected bad enough to not be unable to drive safely, may I suggest replacing the windshield yourself and save the receipt so you can file a claim with Toyota later. (Only if you drove another Prius and there was no problem) IMHO is too late to file a claim after an accident, if you live to sue that is. A couple of hundred bucks is not worth risking personal safety.

 

I agree that it is Toyota's responsibility and that it would not help your case if you went third party. But... if you don't have another car to switch to at night. Then you are risking the safety of yourself, family, and others on the road. Don't tell me you can live with yourself if you kill an innocent child because of your limited vision by just saying "it was Toyota's fault" It is unfair to have to pay out of pocket for a defect, but driving with a "known" defect on your vehicle is also very irresponsible. I am sure if you save the defected windshield and receipts, you can still be included in future recall/refund or class action lawsuits. But I'm not so sure how well the excuse of "Toyota's fault" will hold up in your defense when you are the one getting sued for vehicular homicide. It takes months and sometimes years for big Corp. and government to take action, unfortunately it usually takes tragedy to expedite their progress. I am only suggesting a fix-it-yourself because I do not wish any of you to be that tragic statistic.

 

I agree with you. Replacing the windshield to correct the problem is the solution I will take if Toyota does nothing. I cannot drive the car like this for periods of more than 15 minutes.