Fml - chip on windshield

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Ohliuw

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8BEDA936-FD09-4AF3-B7E2-9D08BF756D15.webp Ok, so this sucks. The car has less than 1000 miles and is less than 2 months old.

I am driving on the perfectly clean highway (Like spring was 5 months ago, so there should below the speed limit (conserving battery) and out of the blue I hear this bang on my windshield and then this...

So I called the insurance, they said if it can be repaired, it won’t cost me anything. $500 deductible if I replace. I have original replacement parts in the insurance so I will get original glass. To fill the crack, should I go to a dealer or a shop specializing in glass repairs?

What would you do?
 
Direct to Safelite is super easy if you just want it filled for free. They’ll come to your house or work and do it if you want. The repair will not be invisible...it’ll just prevent the crack from spreading. A repaired crack like that will look much like a bug spot that cannot be cleaned.

I can’t tell where it’s located. If in steering wheel area you may not have an option. Glass company won’t do a repair in direct line of sight in front of driver....

Might as well take it to dealer if you want it replaced for $500. There are no aftermarket windshields for this car, glass is coming from Honda anyway....and most dealers will sublet the labor out to to a glass company such as Safelite anyway, but then dealer will calibrate the cameras if necessary after the glass company installs the glass.

Your choice on whether you place a higher value on $500 or having perfect glass. Me? I’m not expecting any car to stay flaw free, so I’ll keep the $500 in my pocket every time and opt for the repair. Wait for the second impact that really cracks it. Then give up the $500.
 
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The hole itself is relatively small, and is more or less at the center of the windshield.

I am also leaning towards a fill just because it might happen again. I had one done on my old box, and I stopped noticing it after some time.

To get it filled, I guess it doesn’t make any difference if I go to the dealership or glass repair shop since they outsource?
 
To get it filled said:
A glass repair shop is going to have more experience at doing this sort of thing. In my area even independent body shops farm-out glass work to the local glass guy...
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Yeah no dealer I ever knew of did any windshield replacement, much less chip repairs, in house. All call in a glass company and simply serve as a middle man.
 
If you are going to fill it, avoid temperature changes to the glass and bumpy roads - could make cracks run. Also don’t get windshield cleaner on it, especially rain-x, as it will make the cracks more visible after repair. Longer you wait, less likely the repair will go as well as it will now.
 
Went to the closest glass repair shop. They guy said it’s slightly bigger than the loonie size that is usually the guideline for repair, but he said he has been successful with similar chips, so he is giving it a try tmr.

What is interesting to me is that he said that he had done another Clarity recently ... We live in the woods and is almost impossible to get a Clarity (Wait is 6 months if you can even get one). That’s not a coincidence.

It makes me think There is something wrong with the Clarity windshield in general, like being too “soft”?

I’ve had several cars for 10+ years and have often had rocks hard hit the windshield - only one resulted in a chip on a 15 years old car.

On the other hand, the hit on the Clarity was way “softer” than the ones I had previously endured in the harsh Quebec winters.

Is there anyway to collect stats on repairs or to have some sort of strength test performed?
 
Our Clarity windshield has taken two big hits from rocks. One of the two was so hard I couldn't help but pull over to look for a crack. I found a scratch near the center, but that's all. I don't think the Clarity's windshield is softer than others. Of course, now that I've written that...
 
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I think all cars windshield is pretty much the same hardness. They do crack easily. I wish they will get rid of these ash-soda glass and just use Gorilla glass :D
I understand road derbies hitting windshield and causing cracks. But my 2016 Honda Pilot windshield cracked when the wiper arm fell onto the glass without the wiper when I changed the wiper.
 
All they have to do to make it stronger is to make it ticker and heavier. No mfr has incentive to do that cuz the guvment forces them to prioritize getting another 0.1 mpg across the fleet over durability.

Clarity glass no different than any Honda glass or any other mfr glass for that matter. Mfr incentive is to make it as thin as possible, while still passing each country’s safety standards. None of them care about cracks and chips.

And all an individual has to do in order to mitigate the cost of losing money on a senselessly expensive and lightweight piece of glass is purchase zero deductible glass insurance coverage, which is cheap. For about an extra $15/year, I can break as many windshields as I want compared to my previous $1000 comp deductible. If I hit a deer, or flood or hail or theft or fire, I still pay $1000. But if windshield takes a rock and needs replacement? Free. Most insurance companies offer a free glass rider with a high deductible other comp loss coverage and it’s extremely reasonable. You don’t need to go to full zero deductible comp coverage. If your insurance company doesn’t offer such a thing for cheap, switch insurance companies.
 
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Ohliuw said:
It makes me think There is something wrong with the Clarity windshield in general, like being too “soft”?
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More likely it's the angle and size of the glass and the angle of the hood. I know that on my old Forester (with a very upright windshield) rock hits were common. The deteriorating state of our roads (and infrastructure in general) certainly doesn't help.

I've had a chip repaired already (after about 9 months of driving the car). Tons of construction vehicles on the Long Island Expressway don't help with the rock problem. Sigh.
 
JustAnotherPoorDriver said:
More likely it's the angle and size of the glass and the angle of the hood. I know that on my old Forester (with a very upright windshield) rock hits were common. The deteriorating state of our roads (and infrastructure in general) certainly doesn't help.

I've had a chip repaired already (after about 9 months of driving the car). Tons of construction vehicles on the Long Island Expressway don't help with the rock problem. Sigh.
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Back in the day...I had a 1982 Chevrolet Silverado. I had 4 cracked windshields over 8 years of ownership all due to rock hits...and to many dings which didn't spread to count. I always assumed it was a combination of angles, height etc causing it to be "just about right" for the perfect rock hit.

Always something.
 
I would guess that the acoustic glass used for the Clarity's windshield is thicker and heavier than non-acoustic windshields, but I doubt that improves its resistance to sharp rocks.
 
craze1cars said:
. If your insurance company doesn’t offer such a thing for cheap, switch insurance companies.
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I will definitely change my coverage.

My biggest issue with this is that few 2-3k windshield replacements would put heavy weight on your future insurance premiums.

I might not now much about cars, but I do know a lot about math. So the chances that probably the only 2 Clarities within 30 miles having windshield repairs during the “clean roads” season are quite slim. Now, the sample is pretty small, so it’d be nice to get more reports on people with chip/crack experiences.
 
insightman said:
I would guess that the acoustic glass used for the Clarity's windshield is thicker and heavier than non-acoustic windshields, but I doubt that improves its resistance to sharp rocks.
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Common sense is that a manufacturer wouldn’t want uncrackable windshield - just imagine all the extra revenue generated by those $2k+ replacements....

Edit:

Found this: “ Acoustic vinyl also allows vehicle designers to reduce the thickness of the windshield without adversely affecting noise levels. “

So if the glass is thinner, it would make sense to chip easily instead of leaving the typical small dent...

I will talk today to the glass guy to see what he thinks
 
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Ohliuw said:
I might not now much about cars, but I do know a lot about math. So the chances that probably the only 2 Clarities within 30 miles having windshield repairs during the “clean roads” season are quite slim. Now, the sample is pretty small, so it’d be nice to get more reports on people with chip/crack experiences.
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It's probably not just thickness but also shape and overall stress on the glass. Perhaps some designs can get away with less thickness than others. We have had people come on here and say things like "I have been driving for fifteen years on these same roads without a single crack, had my Clarity two months and had a crack". Each individual incident cannot be used to prove anything. Combined they do at least create an impression that the Clarity windshield might be more vulnerable. But there just isn't enough statistical data to make a convincing argument one way or the other.
 
More food for thought:
If I understand it correctly, the windshield is acoustic glass which has a middle layer of some super duper golly gee wiz space age film/polymer/laminate that reduces the sound transmission.

So the total thickness may be the same as required but it’s two thiner pieces of glass laminated to that middle whatever. Doesn’t that mean the piece of glass on the outside is thinner and more easily cracked by an impact? Might this explain the seeming large number of windshield cracks reported? As in the windshield thickness and structural strength passes muster but the design makes it more susceptible to impact damage.
 
KentuckyKen said:
More food for thought:
If I understand it correctly, the windshield is acoustic glass which has a middle layer of some super duper golly gee wiz space age film/polymer/laminate that reduces the sound transmission.

So the total thickness may be the same as required but it’s two thiner pieces of glass laminated to that middle whatever. Doesn’t that mean the piece of glass on the outside is thinner and more easily cracked by an impact? Might this explain the seeming large number of windshield cracks reported? As in the windshield thickness and structural strength passes muster but the design makes it more susceptible to impact damage.
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My guess is that total thickness is greater, but you may have hit the nail on the head (or the rock on the windshield, choose you own metaphor).
 
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