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Hatch glass shattered

Discussion in 'Prius c Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by poser, Mar 9, 2013.

  1. poser

    poser Junior Member

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    Parked my C friday and when I got back from running errands in the Jeep, I noticed the back window exploded/shattered. Looks like it was kicked from inside as it had a bulge in one spot. Glass is still there but ready to fall out in a million pieces. Taped the hell out of it inside & out and installed a plastic cover on the inside held in/pinched by the hatch door, just in case it does fall in.

    Being a newer model, all the auto glass shops don't have it listed by their suppliers. Toyota list price in Canada is 414$ plus install. At least it is stocked in Toronto, which should be here within 4 business days. That's a P-Off :(, but considering the window defrost on the glass, price isn't too bad I suppose.

    Same thing happened to me on a Hyundai Veracruz, I was rolling down the highway and the moonroof explode...a bit of a shock if I may say. lol Oh yeah, that reminds me, about 25 yrs. ago,I was driving a vehicle from Montreal to Florida and the driver side window exploded outwards as I was doing about 60mph...now THAT was scary, thought I'd been shot at! :eek:

    Just putting this out there, hopefully it isn't a problem with the C as it has been with some vehicles (other makes) in the past.
     
    #1 poser, Mar 9, 2013
  2. B2FiNiTY

    B2FiNiTY Active Member

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    um.... is there something we don't know about? perhaps ghosts trying to escape from your cars? :confused:
     
    #2 B2FiNiTY, Mar 10, 2013
    PriusC-illa, blumenla, Loopie and 2 others like this.
  3. ztanos

    ztanos All-around Geek!

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    My father had this happen when driving down the road in Florida. It was over 100 degrees and he had the AC cranked. He moved the vent to the side so that it didn't blow on his face. Luckily he had window tinting or he probably would have been wearing the glass from the explosion.
     
    #3 ztanos, Mar 10, 2013
  4. RocMills

    RocMills Active Member

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    I'd be very interested in knowing what caused this phenomenon. Sounds like Poser was not driving the car, so it couldn't have been an issue of inside and outside temperatures being drastically different.
     
    #4 RocMills, Mar 11, 2013
  5. TC400

    TC400 Active Member

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    I have not had this issue. Very weird.
     
    #5 TC400, Mar 19, 2013
  6. ewaboy

    ewaboy Active Member

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    Don't know if this applies to auto safety glass but:

    When I was much younger I worked as a dishwasher. Thick, heavy bar glasses out of a hi-temp dishwasher (140+ degrees) would sometimes explode when picked up from the glass rack. Shattered into small pieces - looked like rock candy and not very sharp. We'd just scoop up the pieces with our hands - almost never got cut. This did not happen with the thinner, lighter water glasses and wine glasses. Maybe someone can explain why this happened?
     
    #6 ewaboy, Mar 19, 2013
  7. Rob.au

    Rob.au Active Member

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    #7 Rob.au, Mar 24, 2013
    ewaboy likes this.
  8. ewaboy

    ewaboy Active Member

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    +1 - exactly what you said:
    Bormioli Rocco Rock Bar Stackable Rocks Glasses, Set of 6 by Bormioli Rocco
    Tempered Glass gives additional strength
    Stackable for easy storage and tight spaces
    Capacity: 9 oz
    Dishwasher Safe
    Made in Italy

    An article on spontaneous breakage due to nickel sulphide inclusions in tempered glass:

    http://www.eckelt.at/en/downloads/produkte/spontaneous_breakage_of_fully_tempered_glass.pdf

    In searching for spontaneous breakage of tempered glass - I found a number of articles indicating this is a well-known phenomena. Buildings have lost windows to spontaneous breakage - not pleasant for passersby if the building is tall.:eek:
     
    #8 ewaboy, Mar 24, 2013
  9. blumenla

    blumenla Spontaneous Adventurer

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    Sounds like you don't have a lot of luck with glass in your car! Watch out for falling objects from overpasses now! Seems like you covered half of your other bases......the only time I had glass issues was larger rocks falling off an overpass while I was driving under it.
     
    #9 blumenla, May 23, 2013
  10. poser

    poser Junior Member

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    Toyota replaced it free of charge!

    I love Toyota.
     
    #10 poser, May 25, 2013
    PriusC-illa, JMD, Ashley7 and 1 other person like this.
  11. thedarave

    thedarave Junior Member

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    Thermal difference between the edge and the center of the glass. If the temperature difference is too great, the pressure from the INSIDE of the glass will actually cause it to shatter. When dealing with glass, its always safest to heat up slowly and cool down slowly. Rapid changes or drastic differences in temperature will make all but borosilicate glass shatter. See: Soda-lime glass - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia and Pyrex - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

    -Steve
     
    #11 thedarave, Jun 2, 2013
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