Driving to work this morning on the highway, out of nowhere, BOOM, the right rear side glass shattered! Luckily since I have the windows tinted it pretty much held in place by the tint with just a little air coming in. Called the emergency Acura number and had them direct me to the nearest dealer. Had them take a look and they were dumbfounded. Never saw anything like that before. There was no visible rock chip on the outside and I don't remember a rock hitting the side.

You could see where crack started and then propagated outward. I'm guessing there was a slight inclusion or some defect in the tempering process and when the conditions were right it just popped. It was -2 degrees F driving in this morning so not sure if temperature was a factor. Scared the hell out of me I'll tell you that. Sounded like a shotgun going off in the backseat!

Anyway, of course Acura doesn't stock glass so they had to order it for delivery tomorrow. The body shop guy took some time and did a good job of putting several strips of body tape (what he called it) all across the window. It's held in there very secure with the tape and the tint already holding it. No problems back on the highway at 75mph. Should hold until tomorrow.

Will have to take care of this through comprehensive on my insurance. Acura is not liable for glass damage although I definitely feel it was a manufacturing error with the glass. No chance of proving it was not a rock however. Such is life.

 

man, that sux....there are peps here having their sunroof went boom and shatter where this is due to cabin pressue...

 

Sometimes I think the drastic temp changes from freezing to the air inside, once you heat the inside, cause problems.

Parked my '85 BMW outside a relative's house on a recent visit for 4 days...was never above freezing. Got inside to drive home, put on the heat and heard a loud pop. The dashboard above the glove compartment cracked open! Not leather, but am wondering if leather can tolerate the extreme temps better.

 

Yeah, isn't this the same reason that like door handles snap off, in the arctic cold, things just become very tense in these cold conditions that I feel scared even rolling the windows down or up cuz I can feel the window being really rigid. I'm almost positive the cold temps. was the main reason.

 

I had this happen to me in my first car- a 79 Thunderbird - in 1984. I was driving to work on my first day of my first Job. I was in a wooded rural area and my drivers side window exploded in on me - It was so sudden and loud that I was absoultely convinced at the time that I was hit by a stray bullet.

A passing State Tooper pulled over - he said he hand't seen anything like it, but didn't think it was bullet. The glass company said they had seen it many time before. Can't remember the explanation they gave me.

 

Be aware that we have had some occassions of sunroofs doing the same thing. At least in one case the dealer did take care of it. A search will yield more information. Glad you didn't get hurt.