07 Cracked Front Window

[mano]

When I got in my car this a.m. there was a foot long crack in my 2007 Limited from the very edge on the passenger side going towards the center. No evidence of anything hitting it.

I'm bringing it to the dealer tomorrow morning to see if it's covered by the warranty as it might be from "stress."

Has anyone else had similar problems? What's the likelihood of having it covered?

[sr20det]

We had our windshield replaced in february. It was very cold out, I came out to the car, had the defroster pumping heat then hit a big bump in my road and a crack grew from the VIN to the center of the glass. I took it to the local glass place immediately and there was a large chip where the crack originated from. They said a combination of the chip, temperature difference and the jarring made the crack.

$435 later we had a new PPG Acoustic (limited's have an acoustic noise reduction layer) windshield installed. They charged extra to replace the molding trim and to replace the gel-pack for the rain sensor (incl in the 435 total).The technician who was very knowledgeable said he only suggests PPG or Pilkington glass as they have the best quality... he told me to never use Safelite as their glass was the lowest quality and you can see the wavy-ness to it.

Check with your INS to see if you have glass coverage, you may have it. Our policy didn't and we payed out of pocket, so we didn't file a claim.

[Tom in Tacoma]

I had something similar happen. I watched as a rock hit the windshield below the windshield wipers. Not a hard hit - I saw the rock more than I heard anything. No problem, no stone chip - or so I thought.

The next morning I also had one of those traveling cracks. After it traveled into the line of sight I went looking for a replacement. I very much doubt that Toyota is going to cover that no matter how much you tell them it was 'stress'. Glass isn't covered.

First off - do not buy one from Toyota. It's well over a thousand bucks if the dealer replaces it. I found a replacement at Safelite Autoglass for less than $500 installed and that included the rain sensor.

Let us know how you fare with the dealer. My money is on them denying any warranty claim.

EDIT - wanted to add (since my post went up at about the same time as sr20det's did) that I am happy with the Safelite glass. I do not have any of the wavy-ness that sr20det's glass guy warned about.

[sr20det]

Well I am sure the quality can be hit or miss. He was previously a Safelite installer and also said sometimes they don't line up and you have to fudge them. Either way, when I called around for quotes, they were all within about $30-40.

Also I think you will have a slim chance on getting a windshield warrantied.

[tfelton]

A couple of months ago I had a crack develop in my windshield. I have a 2008 Avalon Ltd. It started from the top edge, driver's side, and went down and then towards the passenger's side. It was about a foot long also. There wasn't any apparent hit from a rock, etc. and the windshield shop where it was replaced couldn't determine how it happened. I never thought about stress. Insurance took care of it. My out-of-pocket cost was $100. I doubt there's any warranty coverage at Toyota. Were we live there's a lot of dirt and gravel roads. You can't own a car without at some point getting a broken windshield so insurance coverage is worth it.

[mano]

Thanks for your input.

This a.m. Toyota service looked at it at correctly determined there was a "point of impact" at the very edge and it wasn't covered under mfg. warranty. Toyota repair is close to $1,600!

Fortunately, my BIL is in the car business and he'll get me a deal on good quality glass installation.

On the positive side, I experienced how good a car the Limited is. It's snowing heavy here and the roads are awful but the electronic stability system was great.