Fragile top glass and windshield 😠

[Pianewman]

Rock + Glass = TMC, Ford, BMW, Tesla, etc. tears.

Rock + Glass = TMC tears.

 

[Altes]

My top glass and windshield were hit by a rock on the freeway and both cracked immediately!!! Costing me $3200 to fix and my appt to get it replaced isn’t till mid December!!! I also have a Mercedes and so many rocks have hit the windshield on the freeway and never has it cracked!! Sucks that we pay so much for Tesla and we have shitty glasss... anyone else agree?
Even though I filled claims with my insurance and they partially paid for the repairs, I hate how cheaply the glsss is.. does anyone else agree on this? is there a reason why the glass breaks so damn easily??? Anyone had the same thing happen to them.

Talk to your insurance carrier and get a 0 deductible glass policy. Mine is $10 per year on each car. windshields are thinner now to save weight (increased mileage)

 

[Yelobird]

Talk to your insurance carrier and get a 0 deductible glass policy. Mine is $10 per year on each car. windshields are thinner now to save weight (increased mileage)

That’s part of it. As I work with Saint Gobain (who makes most of the Tesla glass) there are also constraints with the ever growing complex geometry requirements of new cars.

 

[Jigglypuff]

That’s part of it. As I work with Saint Gobain (who makes most of the Tesla glass) there are also constraints with the ever growing complex geometry requirements of new cars.

Not complex on the vaporwaretruck.

 

[Yelobird]

Not complex on the vaporwaretruck.

The one coming this year. No much easier.

 

[yblaser]

So does this mean your offer to provide an explanation of your generalization was a bluff? I am legitimately interested in the science and feel like the underlying hypotheses presented by DanDi58 and others seems reasonable to test. I was sort of hoping you were an expert and could bring something quantitative to the table.

I think it is helpful looking at this from a stationary frame of reference. A car/truck drives by and kicks a rock up in the air with or without a significant backwards velocity component. Your car essentially drives into the rock while it is into the air. The relatively thin layer of air your car is pushing/dragging with it cannot significantly alter the trajectory of the rock before your car and the rock collide.

 

[brainhouston]

I know this is slightly offtopic, what’s the best advise when it comes to reducing your chances of getting hit with stones on the freeway? I have learned to avoid being behind trucks as much as possible. Are there any other best practices you follow?

My experience is… it’s actually safe behind big trucks. It’s when passing them on their sides they tend to kick up stuff.

I always try to pass on their driver side quickly. Good thing our cars are pretty quick.

Semi's are fine as long as they have mudflaps (most of them do cause they'll get huge ticket) but absolutely avoid dump trucks, those are like rock showers lol
In my experience i've had rocks hitting my windshield mostly from small trucks/suvs with mud tires n no mudflaps..
By law u do have to have mudflaps extending to middle of the wheel but police doesn't actively hunt these cars unfortunately...
Occasionally, there's also clueless drivers that cross into shoulder n pick up dust/rocks, can't really avoid these cause its unexpected...

Best advice to avoid rocks in general, don't tailgate or drive too close to the car in front of you. People usually drive 2 car lengths behind.

Actually if u tailgate very close ur bumper will catch everything
2 cars def not enough, its more like 8-10 cars... those pesky rocks fly tooooo far

My 2c.
My 2016 MX glass has a single crack going across from left to right, almost 3/4 length of glass. All started from small chip on drivers side blacked out area..
While i don't believe in glass being any diff, the curve of glass certainly does matter.
If u watch how glass is made, all start from flat then bent/heated into shape n checked for stress.
So i believe there're some batches with some level of stress built in n therefore crack easier..

To somewhat prove this, my windshield has another rock chip n no cracks there...
Also, i have 2006 VW jetta, has 3 rock chips n deflected countless rocks n no cracks anywhere. It does have the flattest windshield i've seen on any car.
And since many brought up BMW, my 2013 528i has 2 rock chips n seen many rocks n no cracks.

So all in all, its just statistical luck/unluck with maybe a bit of bad batches from glass factory.

 

[Skyboxes]

I have had a 2023 MYLR since Feb 2023. I’ve already had to replace the windshield for pitting. It got so bad I couldn’t see safely through the glare. Yes I remember being behind a gravel truck once so I attributed the damage to that single truck. The new one is just a few months old and has so many tiny pits that the morning sun is a total glare. I was not behind a sand truck and haven’t been to a beach. Has anyone heard anything about the windshield glass being too soft or hard or anything that would contribute to the short life of the glass?

 

[eevee-fan]

I have had a 2023 MYLR since Feb 2023. I’ve already had to replace the windshield for pitting. It got so bad I couldn’t see safely through the glare. Yes I remember being behind a gravel truck once so I attributed the damage to that single truck. The new one is just a few months old and has so many tiny pits that the morning sun is a total glare. I was not behind a sand truck and haven’t been to a beach. Has anyone heard anything about the windshield glass being too soft or hard or anything that would contribute to the short life of the glass?

I just noticed specs on my windshield this afternoon. Just had the car washed so definitely not from dirty windshield. Will have to take a closer look this weekend. Never had this issue with my previous cars. Sounds like this should be covered under warranty.

I can understand why Elon wanted to make LASER windshield wipers. Did you notice "hull plating offline" message pop up on the center screen?

BTW, it's gonna be interesting to see how the Tesla windshield holds out, esp on the less aerodynamic Tesla Semi.

 

[jkdman123]

I have had a 2023 MYLR since Feb 2023. I’ve already had to replace the windshield for pitting. It got so bad I couldn’t see safely through the glare. Yes I remember being behind a gravel truck once so I attributed the damage to that single truck. The new one is just a few months old and has so many tiny pits that the morning sun is a total glare. I was not behind a sand truck and haven’t been to a beach. Has anyone heard anything about the windshield glass being too soft or hard or anything that would contribute to the short life of the glass?

That should be under warranty unless you regularly drive through an Arabian sand storm.

As for glass, get the comprehensive coverage (or whatever it is in your state) added to your insurance. I think mine is a couple bucks a month for zero deductible on glass replacement. I've had numerous chips/cracks fixed and replaced about 3 windshields (it might have covered the pitting unless the insurance company was convinced it was really bad glass).

Had a Safelite guy tell me that he thinks Tesla uses thinner glass in their windshields. He based this on the fact that he lugs them around all the time and Teslas are lighter than other brands.

 

[PaddyD]

Just replaced our 4th windshield in 5 years of owning a model 3 (2018) and a Y (2022). Two on each - all caused by stones on the highway. One chip we were able to have filled and that delayed the replacement almost a year before the crack started to grow. Son's M3 (less than 2 years old) has also had one replacement. The problem in Ontario is that insurance companies consider Teslas "high value" cars and the deductible is $1000 - you can't pay extra to reduce that. In Canada, there is no special comprehensive for glass - it's just like all the rest of the comprehensive coverage. I WISH we had insurance like we had when we lived in Oregon and MA, where glass coverage was way better. So those of you not paying $1K each time count yourselves lucky.

 

[jkdman123]

Just replaced our 4th windshield in 5 years of owning a model 3 (2018) and a Y (2022). Two on each - all caused by stones on the highway. One chip we were able to have filled and that delayed the replacement almost a year before the crack started to grow. Son's M3 (less than 2 years old) has also had one replacement. The problem in Ontario is that insurance companies consider Teslas "high value" cars and the deductible is $1000 - you can't pay extra to reduce that. In Canada, there is no special comprehensive for glass - it's just like all the rest of the comprehensive coverage. I WISH we had insurance like we had when we lived in Oregon and MA, where glass coverage was way better. So those of you not paying $1K each time count yourselves lucky.

Ouch. I can't imagine that the danger of chips/cracks is that much worse in Canada. Silly insurance compaines.

 

[laservet]

Rock + glass = bad juju for windshield. It's not brand specific. A brief perusal of discussion sites for other brands reveals:

Ford Bronco -- "Comically fragile windshield" 3/2022
Mustang Mach E -- "Fragile windshield" 12/2022
Tacoma -- "Fragile windshield glass" 1/20
Hyundai Pallisade -- "Windshield too fragile" 5/2021
Dodge Challenger -- "Fragile windshields" 6/2011
Nissan Leaf -- "Fragile windshield glass" 7/2011
Honda Civic -- " Does this car just have a fragile windshield?" 5/2019
Honda Passport -- "Windshield really fragile" 7/2022
Toyota 4Runner -- "Fragile windshield glass" 3/2006
Audi -- "Fragile windshield glass or just bad luck?" 6/2001
Lexus -- "Windshield is extra fragile" 11/2013
Rivian -- "Weak windshields" 8/2022
VW -- "Are VW windshields just fragile?" 7/2015

 

[eevee-fan]

Rock + glass = bad juju for windshield. It's not brand specific. A brief perusal of discussion sites for other brands reveals:

Ford Bronco -- "Comically fragile windshield" 3/2022
Mustang Mach E -- "Fragile windshield" 12/2022
Tacoma -- "Fragile windshield glass" 1/20
Hyundai Pallisade -- "Windshield too fragile" 5/2021
Dodge Challenger -- "Fragile windshields" 6/2011
Nissan Leaf -- "Fragile windshield glass" 7/2011
Honda Civic -- " Does this car just have a fragile windshield?" 5/2019
Honda Passport -- "Windshield really fragile" 7/2022
Toyota 4Runner -- "Fragile windshield glass" 3/2006
Audi -- "Fragile windshield glass or just bad luck?" 6/2001
Lexus -- "Windshield is extra fragile" 11/2013
Rivian -- "Weak windshields" 8/2022
VW -- "Are VW windshields just fragile?" 7/2015

We need laser windshield wipers that can also vaporize rocks!

 

[mborkow]

This thread convinced me to lower my deductible on glass down to $100.

 

[Yelobird]

We need laser windshield wipers that can also vaporize rocks!

Or we to create softer rocks.

 

[laservet]

What I'd like to see in FSD is to recognize dump trucks and avoid them, stay as many lanes away or as far behind as possible.