Gotta Rant! Windshield chip...NOT a Tesla problem...PSA

[ColoradoMike]

THIS IS BY NO MEANS A TESLA ISSUE!

Hi Folks!
Winter Season here in Colorado and we got the DREADED windshield chip! 4k miles on it.

No matter what we do each winter it happens. This one was something I didn't want to happen but, as always, it does in the winter! It happens to our other vehicles but it is something we deal with each and every year unfortunately.

So when my wife was on the way to work on the highway this morning.....BANG! Yup it happened. Something hit the hood with PPF, then the windshield. PPF damaged but apparently not the hood paint!

Not a big deal and thankfully it wasn't a fracture/spiderweb but about the size of pea. However, it is deep. Kind of like a BB gun hit if that makes sense.

What I do want to say is that chips like these NEED to be fixed as soon as possible...ESPECIALLY in cold climates!

I have been through this over several decades and want to pass on some info. GET THIS FIXED ASAP!

We will be having snow, again, and sub zero Fahrenheit temps starting tomorrow night.

Do yourselves a favor and get a chip fixed as soon as you can! You never know if the fluids you toss onto the windshield (along with debris/chemicals from the road) get into the minor imperfections from that rock/screw/bolt/cel phone/etc that hit your windshield may have caused!

Thankfully we have a trusted glass person living close to us and will fix it tomorrow before the snow and sub-zero temps hit!

The Questions arise each year is it better to call insurance or do it out of pocket?

That is up to you to figure out. Either way, someone is paying for it. I would rather go with a trusted glass person than involve insurance. For $50 bucks and get it done ASAP and not involve insurance....that works for US! Less hassle for all parties involved.

Just figured I would toss that out!

 

[Soul Surfer]

Agree 100% Could save a full windsheild replacement.

 

[Petsur]

Colorado, where they use gravel on the roads rather than sand.

 

[Lanzer]

My insurance referred me to the nearest autoglass place, where I then got my ding fixed next day. They then billed my insurance directly. Definitely worth calling first.

 

[one2many]

Nice rant.

 

[ColoradoMike]

The STORY CONTINUES!!!

The Chip is NOT a Chip!

It is IMPACT damage that somehow caused the "in between glass" to "chip". Very strange. The hood took the initial impact and then hit the windshield. Get this....ZERO defects on the windshield.....HOWEVER, in between the windshield and the glass it took brunt of the impact if that makes sense.....

SO the impact caused something to fracture like a BB gun hit but it is literally BETWEEN the glass on the OUTSIDE and before the interior glass.

Our glass guy is coming out to figure this out. I will keep you all posted after he evaluates this.

SUPER WEIRD....we have the impact on the hood but yet ZERO damage to the front windshield but there is a "chip" but not a chip. I hope that makes sense. I will post pictures when it is evaluated.

 

[Leeclanual]

THIS IS BY NO MEANS A TESLA ISSUE!

Hi Folks!
Winter Season here in Colorado and we got the DREADED windshield chip! 4k miles on it.

No matter what we do each winter it happens. This one was something I didn't want to happen but, as always, it does in the winter! It happens to our other vehicles but it is something we deal with each and every year unfortunately.

So when my wife was on the way to work on the highway this morning.....BANG! Yup it happened. Something hit the hood with PPF, then the windshield. PPF damaged but apparently not the hood paint!

Not a big deal and thankfully it wasn't a fracture/spiderweb but about the size of pea. However, it is deep. Kind of like a BB gun hit if that makes sense.

What I do want to say is that chips like these NEED to be fixed as soon as possible...ESPECIALLY in cold climates!

I have been through this over several decades and want to pass on some info. GET THIS FIXED ASAP!

We will be having snow, again, and sub zero Fahrenheit temps starting tomorrow night.

Do yourselves a favor and get a chip fixed as soon as you can! You never know if the fluids you toss onto the windshield (along with debris/chemicals from the road) get into the minor imperfections from that rock/screw/bolt/cel phone/etc that hit your windshield may have caused!

Thankfully we have a trusted glass person living close to us and will fix it tomorrow before the snow and sub-zero temps hit!

The Questions arise each year is it better to call insurance or do it out of pocket?

That is up to you to figure out. Either way, someone is paying for it. I would rather go with a trusted glass person than involve insurance. For $50 bucks and get it done ASAP and not involve insurance....that works for US! Less hassle for all parties involved.

Just figured I would toss that out!

Same issue awhile back… happened late in afternoon and couldn’t get window resin applied in time… next morning full crack across it.

 

[804son]

Hope you can avoid a full windshield replacement. Colorado is rough on windshields, but I've never had your particular problem of it fracturing the middle layer.

 

[ColoradoMike]

Hope you can avoid a full windshield replacement. Colorado is rough on windshields, but I've never had your particular problem of it fracturing the middle layer.

Ok so the line on the Freezer is the "chip" in between the layers.

 

[804son]

View attachment 887191

Maybe your glass tech can drill the first layer??? I dunno how he's going to get in there to try and fill it.

 

[ColoradoMike]

Maybe your glass tech can drill the first layer??? I dunno how he's going to get in there to try and fill it.

Yup....I think that is the only way to fix it. BUT I doubt I would have a person drill into an intact windshield!

AGAIN....not a TESLA issue that I believe but something we MAY have to live with.
I will update you all on the status. The damage was from something that hit the windscreen. It happens.

What is SUPER weird is it is literally BETWEEN the windscreen/shield and the interior glass.....

 

[804son]

Yup....I think that is the only way to fix it. BUT I doubt I would have a person drill into an intact windshield!

AGAIN....not a TESLA issue that I believe but something we MAY have to live with.
I will update you all on the status. The damage was from something that hit the windscreen. It happens.

What is SUPER weird is it is literally BETWEEN the windscreen/shield and the interior glass.....

If you have good glass coverage through your insurance, maybe just wait and see if it spiderwebs or not. I would be super worried about drilling into a windshield, only to have it crack and give the insurance some reason to deny covering the replacement.

 

[ColoradoMike]

If you have good glass coverage through your insurance, maybe just wait and see if it spiderwebs or not. I would be super worried about drilling into a windshield, only to have it crack and give the insurance some reason to deny covering the replacement.

Yup. Good insurance and they will do what is required. Is it a SAFETY issue....no...it is not in our line of sight for traffic or the road. Is is UGLY....HELL YES!

Will see what happens. We have had to replace our windshields several times over the past 3 years. IT SUCKS!

BUT.... I suppose it is the cost of driving a car here in Colorado. I typically do not claim something on insurance just because I just don't want to....HOWEVER....with the Tesla, I think we will if it comes to that point.