Un-freakin-believable!

[MicaBlue03]

Looks like the crack isn't your fault

From the pictures it looks like the crack originated at the bottom front of the windshield, at a place where there might be some concentrated stress but not a likely place for an impact.

Not enough information, but it looks to me like something wasn't right with the initial installation or perhaps a tiny chip at the edge of the glass, waiting to start a crack. Hopefully your dealer will see it the same way.

 

[Iowa4Runner]

Are you completely insane? Why would a windshield be covered? That's absurd. You probably jumped a curb and put stress on the windshield making it crack.

Maybe you should get a few more posts under your belt and do a little research before spouting off like this. It just so happens that 4Runners are prone to windshield cracking and it's not exactly a huge secret. In a situation like this it would not be insane to attribute the crack to improper installation or a design defect, either of which should be covered under warranty.

 

[sharp4runr]

I agree with the other guys saying the dealership probably won't cover it. Call up your Auto insuarance and see what they can do for you. I'm with State Farm and they paid the full bill to replace my windshield with Toyota glass. I had to coordinate with a company called Safelite (I'd recommend them, did a great job) and they came to my job and replaced. The best part was that it was totally covered by State Farm with a $0 deductible and I still have Toyota glass. I had to mention it to Safelite and they had to verify that State Farm would pay the bill because the OEM glass was more expensive. I'm going off memory, but I think the bill was just under $500 for everything and I paid nothing out of pocket.

My windshield cracked within the first year from a rock chip so I wouldn't be suprised that yours cracked too. My friend had a brand new 2005 Pathfinder and the windshield cracked the first winter he had it. Absolutely no damage previously, it just cracked. I think there was a thread where a guy turned on his heater and his windshield cracked so I guess these things happen.

 

[OUTRNNR]

The stock windshields SUCK. I've had mine for only about 8 months and it already needs to be replaced. Driving into the sun I can see hundreds of small chips and dings (as well as some pretty big chips) but no cracks yet (suprisingly). Of course, driving in CO in the winter is hard on any windshield because of the great decision by CDOT to drop gravel all winter long (especially on I-70 :bash: where chemicals will do just fine but instead I have to have rocks flying at my windshield at 70+ mph). To put it in perspecitve, however, my Blazer's windshield never got this bad even after 3 winters and multiple drives to the mountains (I only went up 4 or 5 times this winter!). So my point is, the stock winshields are very thin, and cheap (to save weight and money) plus the upward rake of the windshield doesn't help much either. I just hope that the replacement windshield I get is higher quality than the one I have now!!

 

[Hank]

UPDATE: Well, no luck w/the stealership, the parts guy got my hopes up for nothing. Anyways, I decided to get it replaced tomorrow from a glass shop that my buddy have used in the past. The cost for the PPG replacement glass is $275...much lower than the $577 quote the stealership gave me and they will do it onsite. Either way, I wouldn't want the original Toyota glass back on my 4R. I also asked the glass shop about the '06 windshield, but they said that they would only replace it with the specified glass listed on their computer system. I don't think they knew for sure what I was talking about. The service manager at the stealership had no clue about the '06 windshield being thicker either. Is it just me or is everyone who aren't part of this great forum have no idea that the '06 glass is thicker?

After thinking about how the glass cracked, I have come to a conclusion that it was a combination of different factors that lead to the incident. 1) I have had numerous small rocks hit my windshield in the past, but none of which created any stars, just a few tiny pits/specks at worst. 2) This past week, I've been making numerous trips from my office to a nearby storage facility and I've be going over speed bumps and dips faster than I normally do because I've been really busy. 3) Washing my 4R while the glass was warm (not hot) might have been the last straw.

My questions are: How much flex can there be around the A pillar and the framework surrounding the windshield? Shouldn't it be pretty solid? I would like to believe that the 4R's fully boxed frame is pretty solid and has good torsional rigidity. A body on a frame like that shouldn't have that much flex at all. So would you guys think that the structural integrity of the A pillar or framework to blame or was the original glass just plain SUCK? Then again, many of you guys have gone on some serious off roading trails and nothing happened while traversing uneven pavement right? Its possible that a glass manufacturing defect or improper installation method are to blame? Maybe a bit hard to believe considering that the 4R are built at one of the world's most advanced production plant. Regardless, I'm gonna have to lighten my wallet by $275 and hope that Toyota will get it right the next time around or issue a recall, cause I want my $$$ back

 

[sharp4runr]

So your auto insuarance won't cover it?

I've taken my truck to Rausch Creek and the replacement Toyota glass held up just fine. I don't think the flexing of the a-pillar had anything to do with the glass breaking. Also I've hit pot holes bigger than some speed bumps at speed on the gawd awfully "maintained" roads surrounding the DC Metro area and no effects.

 

[Good Times]

I'm surprised you haven't called your ins company. All the policies (especially in AZ) has a windshield glass replacement program that should be inclusive with your policy (no out of pocket and no rate increase either). I'd check into this as I believe for the ins company it's a safety factor more so than the cost factor. Look into them as I've replaced my glass w/ ppg back in 04 and didn't pay anything nor did my rates go up at all.

As for the glass, it could have cracked behind the bottom plastic molding due to a rock or something hitting (thus no visible damages). Not sure but I highly doubt that it's the speed bumps or the temp change.

Good luck

 

[Fourty-four]

Maybe you should get a few more posts under your belt and do a little research before spouting off like this. It just so happens that 4Runners are prone to windshield cracking and it's not exactly a huge secret. In a situation like this it would not be insane to attribute the crack to improper installation or a design defect, either of which should be covered under warranty.

Is that just an opinion, or a fact? If you're stating a fact, do you have any type of data to back it up? Judging by the number of active posters on this board, it sure seems that cracked windshields are NOT exactly common.

 

[toybox]

Is that just an opinion, or a fact? If you're stating a fact, do you have any type of data to back it up? Judging by the number of active posters on this board, it sure seems that cracked windshields are NOT exactly common.

I've been around the forums for a few years and I can say that I have heard of a few of these mysterios cracking windshields. It may not be common but it is not unheard of.

Just think of how many people this has happened to that don't belong to the forum and don't have a clue or care why thier windsheild is cracked.

 

[Good Times]

Is that just an opinion, or a fact? If you're stating a fact, do you have any type of data to back it up? Judging by the number of active posters on this board, it sure seems that cracked windshields are NOT exactly common.

Not sure what you think "common" is but here's what I found right now searching for "windshield":

http://www.toyota-4runner.org/showthread.php?s=&threadid=18720&highlight=windshield
http://www.toyota-4runner.org/showthread.php?s=&threadid=18303&highlight=windshield
http://www.toyota-4runner.org/showthread.php?s=&threadid=16024&highlight=windshield
http://www.toyota-4runner.org/showthread.php?s=&threadid=17960&highlight=windshield
http://www.toyota-4runner.org/showthread.php?s=&threadid=17299&highlight=windshield
http://www.toyota-4runner.org/showthread.php?s=&threadid=16600&highlight=windshield
http://www.toyota-4runner.org/showthread.php?s=&threadid=16095&highlight=windshield
http://www.toyota-4runner.org/showthread.php?s=&threadid=8468&highlight=windshield
http://www.toyota-4runner.org/showthread.php?s=&threadid=15434&highlight=windshield
http://www.toyota-4runner.org/showthread.php?s=&threadid=14562&highlight=windshield

I stopped at the beginning of 2006. I'm sure if I dug back into 05/04/03, there'll be more. more than 10 threads just in the first 4 months on this topic is a bit of an overkill.

If everyone used the search button they would have learned early on that it's been covered but there are many members that do not so thus the repetative threads. Search is your friend. The information is there, don't rely on active users for solutions and start reading more to back up your own findings.

Good luck

 

[Fourty-four]

Not sure what you think "common" is but here's what I found right now searching for "windshield":

http://www.toyota-4runner.org/showthread.php?s=&threadid=18720&highlight=windshield
http://www.toyota-4runner.org/showthread.php?s=&threadid=18303&highlight=windshield
http://www.toyota-4runner.org/showthread.php?s=&threadid=16024&highlight=windshield
http://www.toyota-4runner.org/showthread.php?s=&threadid=17960&highlight=windshield
http://www.toyota-4runner.org/showthread.php?s=&threadid=17299&highlight=windshield
http://www.toyota-4runner.org/showthread.php?s=&threadid=16600&highlight=windshield
http://www.toyota-4runner.org/showthread.php?s=&threadid=16095&highlight=windshield
http://www.toyota-4runner.org/showthread.php?s=&threadid=8468&highlight=windshield
http://www.toyota-4runner.org/showthread.php?s=&threadid=15434&highlight=windshield
http://www.toyota-4runner.org/showthread.php?s=&threadid=14562&highlight=windshield

I stopped at the beginning of 2006. I'm sure if I dug back into 05/04/03, there'll be more. more than 10 threads just in the first 4 months on this topic is a bit of an overkill.

If everyone used the search button they would have learned early on that it's been covered but there are many members that do not so thus the repetative threads. Search is your friend. The information is there, don't rely on active users for solutions and start reading more to back up your own findings.

Good luck

Okay, so what does that represent? Maybe 1 or 2 percent of the active posters on this forum? Sure doesn't seem like an epidemic to me.

Cracked windshields happen to any and every car. I don't see an unusual amount of complaining on this forum about cracking windshields.

 

[Good Times]

Okay, so what does that represent? Maybe 1 or 2 percent of the active posters on this forum? Sure doesn't seem like an epidemic to me.

Cracked windshields happen to any and every car. I don't see an unusual amount of complaining on this forum about cracking windshields.

It's an epidemic when the same thread pops up over and over on a regular basis w/o the original user not searching for the information. This also applies to many other threads that clutter up the forum.

 

[Fourty-four]

It's an epidemic when the same thread pops up over and over on a regular basis w/o the original user not searching for the information. This also applies to many other threads that clutter up the forum.

That's true. It also makes it seem like a much bigger problem than it really is when people start new threads about the same old problems over and over again.

 

[Iowa4Runner]

That's true. It also makes it seem like a much bigger problem than it really is when people start new threads about the same old problems over and over again.

Well one thing we know for sure is that it's talked about often enough that it wouldn't be "absurd" or "completely insane" to think a self-cracking windshield might be fixed under warranty.

 

[Hank]

UPDATE: I called Longo back and spoke w/different service manager. This guy is pretty nice and asked for me to bring in the vehicle to inspect it. He said that he would use a ballpoint pen and run it directly over the crack on the windshield from the outside. If the pen stops/snags at any point along the crack, it means that there was a rock chip. Anyways, I stopped by after work and he did the pen trick and discovered that there was a TINY chip/speck along the crack, but it was below the windshield wiper. I could tell that he wanted to work with me and called Toyota the next day and I was notified the following day that they would cover the part, but not labor. Not too bad in my book, but I'm gonna call him back and try to get them to waive the labor charge of $150. Of course, an outside shop would charge only about $100 for labor and they would do it on-site. The aftermarket glass would've been $275 installed at my work location.