Poor roads and a cracked windshield on my Ikon

[benbsb29]

They say what has to happen will happen, and there is nothing much you can do about it. Was rather unfortunate when it happened to me, and there was nothing I could do about it, except lament over it.

Was using the new shortcut from Hosur road which joins onto Sarjapur road (Bangalore) after picking up wifey from office on Saturday, around 1PM. This road is excellent in some stretches with low traffic density, and the rest of it is yet to be laid. Some parts of this road call for more of SUV behaviour. We were inching along slowly giving due respect to the road, which was littered with small stones and mettle. As we were making progress, we noticed a Santro xing which was literally racing through this stretch like a madman. This crazy act of his resulted in a stone which was kicked up, and hurled as a projectile at my car. It happened in a flash.. the stone kicked up by the Santro, it heading towards my car, and taking a bounce on my car's windshield. As it bounced away, my heartbeat skipped. It had left behind a crack in the windshield.

Stopped, and examined the damage done. I feared i would need to have the entire windshield replaced. Went home, calmed down, and began to think more logically. This time round, realized that the crack was more towards the lower portion of the screen, and so wudnt hurt with continuing with it for the time being. Also, the rains during the Bangalore TBHP meet,as well as running the wipers over it clarified that it wasnt chipping away or anything. Hence, my car now carries around the bruise, and i a sad story to tell.



P.S. : Sorry about the poor quality pic.

[navdeep]

this is frustrating .. did you try to catch the driver of Santro. But was the hit so hard that it cracked the windshield or something to do with the quality of it.

replace the bigger pic with a smaller pic

[benbsb29]

@navdeep: Needless to say, the Santro was nowhere to be seen. Also, its definite he wouldnt have agreed it came pff his car. Wasnt a deliberate attempt by anyone. Was more to do with the size of the stone, and speed at which it was hurled.

Reg the pic, tried resizing using imageshack. somehow didnt work despite trying twice.

Edit: Done now.

[akroy]

Ya, I did see that crack during the team-bhp meet. That is unfortunate benny... See that u get that replaced soon...

Abhi

[headers]

Yup..a very similar incident has happened to my accent crdi on the GQ..

Was actually tailgating a tipper and it was pelting stones like there's no tomorrow.. before i realised..a BIG stone fell on the road and bounced up to hit my windscreen..[i have nightmares of this in slowmotion and 3D].

This has induced a small crack ..say around 5mm on the windscreen.. Only hope it does not increase..

Also..the entire windscreen is spotted and looks like i will have to go for an insurance claim in case this worsens..

I drive this car only on the Highways..and do a lot of night driving too..

What do fellow members suggest?

[benbsb29]

@akroy : Since my windshield doesnt have any scratches or anything of the sort, and also since the crack is to the bottom half of the screen, i have decided to continue with the same for now. I dont see the need to spend money on changing it as of yet. Insurance is offerred at 100% on glass, and 50% on labour, is what I was informed. Sealant is not covered here.

[esteem_lover]

Benny,
replace the windshiels ASAP. Insurance should take care of the cost. Your expense would be minimal. do it fast.

[normally_crazy]

Benny ,

try Windsheild Experts. they should be able to remove the small crack quite easily.

[sammyboy]

oh shucks ,this is heart breaking . NC is right Benny check with windshield experts , they might be able to do something about it.
Banglore CUSTOMER CARE NO.
080-25590101

[benbsb29]

Thanx for the responses guys. Will try them out. Wud have to wait till after the coming weekend, as i am planning to head hometo Kerala, not by the car, though.

[suman]

Uh-oh, really sorry to hear Benny, sounds like its windshield cracking season all over! Same thing happened to my Fiesta about 10 days back when the kids were returning from school. Stone thrown up by a truck going the OPPOSITE side of the dual carriageway .....hit the front windscreen.

Windshield Experts have fixed it this morning but it was a slightly large chip so the job hasn't been a 100% satisfactory one from what my wife just informed me.

Do check out Windshield Experts, but from what I can see from the pic, its a little too big to be repaired. And don't drive with it - cracked/broken glass is BAD energy!

[hellstar]

The windshield experts themselves on their website recommend that not all cracked windshields can be replaced , they say that their fix cannot restore the protective features of the windshield once its has been cracked.

The best way is to replace anyways . but do your reading at their website Windshield Repair, Auto Glass and Auto Safety Glass Replacement Services Center India and take a call

On a personal not the cracks looks to me also like its a tad to big to be patched up with the techniques which these windshield experts have.

[benbsb29]

@Suman, sorry about your Fiesta. Do you have any pics from the incident? Also, an 'After' pic would help. How much did it cost you?

@Hellstar : I guess its something to do with the way the pic was taken, and also N70 being really bad with close-up shots. I shall try and get a better shot though.

Will meanwhile, consult the docs/Winshield Experts.

[suman]

Originally Posted by benbsb29

@Suman, sorry about your Fiesta. Do you have any pics from the incident? Also, an 'After' pic would help. How much did it cost you?

Sorry buddy, no pics.....they charge 800 to repair it....500 if you give them a copy of your policy (no, you don't lose your "no claim bonus")

[akroy]

Originally Posted by benbsb29

@akroy : Since my windshield doesnt have any scratches or anything of the sort, and also since the crack is to the bottom half of the screen, i have decided to continue with the same for now. I dont see the need to spend money on changing it as of yet. Insurance is offerred at 100% on glass, and 50% on labour, is what I was informed. Sealant is not covered here.

Benny, Unless u are in high speed u may not know the extent to which the damage can cause... at higher speeds this crack can agrevate but since if u continuing in city drive then u can continue like this....
In city too do a complete test of water seepage as it is raining too much these days...and using wiper can also worsen it with time...

Abhi