So my little 4 year old son was playing a master piano concerto on the front dashboard of my TL on Sunday (yes, the car was parked!) and during an exciting part of a piece he jumped up and bonked his head on the windshield. He kept going on with his concert and I asked him if he was OK, and he just asked why. Didn't even notice he hit his head on the glass...it was that subtle. Anyway, I look up only to see a 12" diameter smash in the glass. By that night the cracks had propagated from one end of the windshield to the other. Kind of odd such a small impact could take out a $1000 windshield, don't ya think?

 

I don't know what cost that, but this is why some of us have added the windshield insurance into our premium since many ppl have reported the similar issues with this windshield.

 

I have never even heard of windshield insurance. Of course, the dealer is checking with his windshield rep, but I know I have no way to prove it wasn't smashed by a 2x4 on the way from Home Depot or something like that.

 

Wow, it's hard to beleive such a small impact, if your kid didn't notice, would crack the windshield. I guess he cought it just right. I had mine replaced by my insurance. The glass company came to my work and did the swap in the parking lot. I saw the invoice and they charged my insurance company $520. That may be a special price they give the insurance company but I've heard of others paying in the range of $600-$700. Good luck.

 

I am not sure about other states, but in Florida the windshield is completely covered by ALL insurance companies. We even have radio ads that tout getting a free box of steaks with windshield replacement from some organizations!!

Here is an excerpt from a faq on the Florida financial services webpage:

My front windshield was broken. I have comprehensive coverage with a deductible. Will I have to pay the deductible before the company pays for the replacement of my windshield?

No. Florida Statute 627.7288 states that the deductible shall not apply to windshield damages

So those that are paying a premium for this may want to check your state laws to make sure you are not being scammed!!!

 

Amazing. I think the windshields are manufactured like that I guess to break in pieces on impact to minimize the fatality in the even of accident. This process makes it weeker I guess.

Also, wanted to ask this for long. What is windshiels insurance? and who underwrites it? Same company you have auto insurance with or some other company/dealer? Everytime I needed windshield replacement, I ended up paying my deductibles to my auto insurance company.

 

I think rets was refering to windshields being covered under your existing policy. As Nodoze2004 pointed out, some states require that windshields be covered. I too paid a deductable through my insurance.

 

automotive glass is made to be very very strong from teh outside in, but it is also made to break out from within very easily in case of accidents where the doors are unusable.

 

I know they are made to break easier from the inside, but not for escape. It is almost completely impossible to break out of the inside of a car through the front windshield as they are laminated with an incredibly strong sheet of plastic. I believe, however, they they are made to absorb (i.e. break) impacts from anything inside the car to reduce the amount of damage to your face.

 

I can't believe noone has done this yet.



-phil

 

uh, it looks like a crack

 

I'm covered by GEICO and full glass coverage is only $26! I didn't opt for it immediately so now I have to bring the car in to a local designated repair shop and have photos taken of my glass. They will then forward those to GEICO, and if I need any glass replaced the deductible is waived.

 

Same in Massachusetts, as long as you are carrying comprehensive insurance (what some call, or used to call, fire and theft). Even if your comp insurance has a deductable, there's no deductable for glass.

 

Thanks for appending that for me, automata.

Guys, just make sure your insurance cover that windshield loss.

 

Actually, I heard Florida is now permitting a $100 deductible. Are you sure that's current info?

 

How recent did you hear this? My dad just got 2 windshields done on his two trucks with $0 out of pocket expense.

Tell you a funny story about something relating to that.
Parents went to Sam's the other night and parked a few spots away from everyone else. The next day my mom is home and gets a phone call from a glass dude saying he is following up about her broken windshield. She doesn't have any idea what he is talking about and calls my dad to inquire about if he called them. He didn't.
They said that they were out at Sam's parking lot the previous night and were walking around looking at windshields and noticed hers brokend. The kicker is that it WASN'T broke when they drove in but 'somehow' got broken before it left!!!
Needless to say they didn't use them to get the glass replaced. Sounds like a set up to me though.
BTW, they got their phone number by writing down the tag #.