[PGA]

Few months ago my Indica met with the same fate. I hung on with the cracked windshield for three months. The crack increased from few cms to about a foot in that period. I got it replaced with a chinese windscreen which was about 2500 bucks cheaper than a genuine part, as the car is now 9 yrs old and does only local city runs.
While discussing the issue with my mechanic, he told me that had I brought the car earlier to him with a smaller crack he would have drilled a small hole on the edge of the crack and filled it with a sealent to stop it from propagating further. Since it is the technique to stop propagation of cracks in metals I didn't enquire any further and let him carry on with his job. But now thinking about the issue, I wonder if it is possible to drill a millimetric hole in the toughend laminated windscreen. If possible, then I am sure it will stop propagation of the crack.
Any inputs please.

[vasanthn21]

Originally Posted by PGA

Few months ago my Indica met with the same fate. I hung on with the cracked windshield for three months. The crack increased from few cms to about a foot in that period. I got it replaced with a chinese windscreen which was about 2500 bucks cheaper than a genuine part, as the car is now 9 yrs old and does only local city runs.
While discussing the issue with my mechanic, he told me that had I brought the car earlier to him with a smaller crack he would have drilled a small hole on the edge of the crack and filled it with a sealent to stop it from propagating further. Since it is the technique to stop propagation of cracks in metals I didn't enquire any further and let him carry on with his job. But now thinking about the issue, I wonder if it is possible to drill a millimetric hole in the toughend laminated windscreen. If possible, then I am sure it will stop propagation of the crack.
Any inputs please.

Wikipedia says it is possible. Look at post #9 in this thread, also someone else mentioned about this treatment being available at windshield experts. I will find out this weekend.

Originally Posted by saadat1992

The same thing happened to my Friend's Liva and Innova.
Both cars were on the highway, the Innova in the front and the Liva was behind it.
When they entered a new patch of road that was just laid, the truck in front of the Innova chipped a bunch of small stones on to the innova and the Innova in turn chipped a few on to the Liva. Both the cars' windshields were damaged. The Innova's windshield got two small holes while the Liva's got a very tiny hole.
Toyota advised to change the windshield of the Innova and they told them not to worry about the Liva.
So, if the crack or hole is big, you better get it replaced.

Interesting anecdote about both cars getting damaged on the same road, but under the circumstances you describe I guess any car on that road would have similar damage.

The crack is not big, it is about 2 cms. Anyway I will be visiting the experts during the weekend. Also an article (link posted earlier) mentioned it is better to tape it up to prevent water and dust getting into the crack and propogating it, I will do it first thing tomorrow morning.

[siddheshb]

My brand new Ikon (12 years back) suffered similar damage when a medium sized stone fell off a truck coming in the opposite direction - I saw it come at me, was pretty sure I was going to get a destroyed windshield, but thankfully, the damage was limited to a chip of glass - although it never cracked or gave me any other trouble. More like a beauty spot. I never replaced the glass till the day I sold my Ikon.

Now, my Endeavour has an almost exactly similar beauty spot, this time on the passenger side of the vehicle. Again, I have no plans to change the windscreen.

I guess unless you have cracks or it seriously irritates you or hampers visibility, you are good.

[RSimonS]

About 2 years back while coming back to Bangalore from Mysore a Wagon R over took me from the left side kicking up all the dirt and mud on the kerb. We heard a not so loud click sound, it was not very loud and could not see any visible damage on the screen so we continued with our journey.

After couple of days we noticed a small crack with a spot right at the centre of the screen. it was only there on one side of the screen and may be a cm long. On consulting a service advisor whom I know, he suggested me to take a chill pill and forget about it. He asked me to look for options only if the crack is expanding.

Everytime I see the spot, it remindes of the trip back from Mysore and also the Wagon R who gifted it to me.

[abikr]

i went to Windshield Experts (WE) on Basavanagudi road. they quoted 5600 net if they sourced the glass from their own supplier and 5900 if they had to get it from an outside supplier for me.

i then called Aadya ho quoted me 6k + service tax + Rs 100 for service without insurance. He also quoted 1.56k if i availed insurance. i dont want to use the insurance as the renewal is in this Sep and the NCB thru Future Generali - if i dont use the insurance- is about 8.5k.

Are WE good and trustworthy enough for me to take advantage of that savings compared to Aadya? WE said they would source a glass from Asahi or Saint Gobain.

[sgiitk]

@abikr; WE are an operation of Asahi. The brands you name are OE for almost all Indian cars. They are reliable and quick. It is the same as OE except you will not have the car brand logo on the glass.

[vasanthn21]

Originally Posted by siddheshb

My brand new Ikon (12 years back) suffered similar damage when a medium sized stone fell off a truck coming in the opposite direction - I saw it come at me, was pretty sure I was going to get a destroyed windshield, but thankfully, the damage was limited to a chip of glass - although it never cracked or gave me any other trouble. More like a beauty spot. I never replaced the glass till the day I sold my Ikon.

Now, my Endeavour has an almost exactly similar beauty spot, this time on the passenger side of the vehicle. Again, I have no plans to change the windscreen.

I guess unless you have cracks or it seriously irritates you or hampers visibility, you are good.

Thanks for sharing your experience. Luckily, the crack on my windscreen is not hampering my visibility at all.

Originally Posted by RSimonS

About 2 years back while coming back to Bangalore from Mysore a Wagon R over took me from the left side kicking up all the dirt and mud on the kerb. We heard a not so loud click sound, it was not very loud and could not see any visible damage on the screen so we continued with our journey.

After couple of days we noticed a small crack with a spot right at the centre of the screen. it was only there on one side of the screen and may be a cm long. On consulting a service advisor whom I know, he suggested me to take a chill pill and forget about it. He asked me to look for options only if the crack is expanding.

Everytime I see the spot, it remindes of the trip back from Mysore and also the Wagon R who gifted it to me.

The crack on my windscreen is about 2 cms. Hopefully it will not expand.

@siddheshb & RSimonS: A question to both of you.
Did you cover the crack with a tape? If not, didn't water and dust get into the crack and make it look bad?

I read on one site that if you don't tape it, dust and water can get into the crack thereby expanding it! A cleaner cleans our windscreen every day, so I am a bit worried about water accumulating inthe crack gradually!

Originally Posted by abikr

i went to Windshield Experts (WE) on Basavanagudi road. they quoted 5600 net if they sourced the glass from their own supplier and 5900 if they had to get it from an outside supplier for me.

i then called Aadya ho quoted me 6k + service tax + Rs 100 for service without insurance. He also quoted 1.56k if i availed insurance. i dont want to use the insurance as the renewal is in this Sep and the NCB thru Future Generali - if i dont use the insurance- is about 8.5k.

Are WE good and trustworthy enough for me to take advantage of that savings compared to Aadya? WE said they would source a glass from Asahi or Saint Gobain.

@Abikr: WE are good and trustworthy. I had got my windscreen changed from them 9 months back. They did a good job. The problem with my glass was that of glare! WE guys suggested never to use a cloth to clean the windscreen, never to wipe it without washing with water first, and never to use borewell water. I have been sticking to this, use only newspaper to clean the windscreen after washing with purified water! So far so good.

[anandpadhye]

This is a pain of driving on Indian roads - open trucks carrying sand, spraying it on all the vehicles behind them, a lot of vehicles without proper mudflaps helping the cause even further.....

As I do a lot of highway driving (and love to do it the night as and when possible), quaility of the windshield is super critical for me. The Laura windshield now has some tiny spots where the sand grain/pebbles have chipped the glass off. As long as the oncoming headlights are not sprayed/defragged by these, I have decided to live with them. If the light gets sprayed in the rains/nights, I will try glass polish or a replacement.

Regarding WE - I contacted them when a concrete lump from a construction site fell on the Tucson's windshield and made a hole and crack on the passenger side. They were not much interested in the business and after many follow ups from me quoted more (money and time) than the Hyundai service center! May be because Tuscon is a CBU and Asahi do not make this windshield locally?

Finally, I got it replaced at the service center for around 18K (14K for the glass, rest for some fillers, rubber, sealant and labour).


EDIT: Now I do not drive behind a truck or a vehicle without mud-flaps as far as possible, and even allow another car to pass me and get stuck behind the truck, thereby shielding me until both of us can overtake the truck...he he he....

Cheers!

[siddheshb]

Originally Posted by vasanthn21

@siddheshb & RSimonS: A question to both of you.
Did you cover the crack with a tape? If not, didn't water and dust get into the crack and make it look bad?

Interesting question - and no, neither for my Ikon and nor for my Endeavour, the cracks didn't look bad at all! Didn't cover them with anything - THAT would definitely make it look very bad. In fact, in my Endy, it gleams like a small diamond stuck in the glass

I guess just normal cleaning and care kept them looking good enough.

By the way, in both cases, there is no through and through aperture - you cannot feel anything to the touch from the inside of the cabin, but there is a definite "hole" from the outside.

[vasanthn21]

Originally Posted by anandpadhye

As long as the oncoming headlights are not sprayed/defragged by these, I have decided to live with them.

Regarding WE - They were not much interested in the business and after many follow ups from me quoted more (money and time) than the Hyundai service center! May be because Tuscon is a CBU and Asahi do not make this windshield locally?

EDIT: Now I do not drive behind a truck or a vehicle without mud-flaps as far as possible, and even allow another car to pass me and get stuck behind the truck, thereby shielding me until both of us can overtake the truck...he he he....

Cheers!

Yeah, with oncoming headlights getting defragged, it gets very very difficult to drive especially if it is raining, that is the reason I changed the windscreen before one of my highway trips, did not want to take the risk.

I am surprised with your experience with WE. I had a totally opposite experience.

Like your idea of letting a car get in between you and the truck in front.

Originally Posted by siddheshb

Interesting question - and no, neither for my Ikon and nor for my Endeavour, the cracks didn't look bad at all! Didn't cover them with anything - THAT would definitely make it look very bad. In fact, in my Endy, it gleams like a small diamond stuck in the glass

I guess just normal cleaning and care kept them looking good enough.

By the way, in both cases, there is no through and through aperture - you cannot feel anything to the touch from the inside of the cabin, but there is a definite "hole" from the outside.

The damage on my windscreen does not look like a through and through aperture, but I am not sure. I cannot feel anything when I touch the windscreen from inside the car, but I guess that is because of the layer of lamination material being on the inside.

[siddheshb]

Originally Posted by vasanthn21

The damage on my windscreen does not look like a through and through aperture, but I am not sure. I cannot feel anything when I touch the windscreen from inside the car, but I guess that is because of the layer of lamination material being on the inside.

Generally, car windshields have multiple layers of glass and lamination - that's what I remember learning in school. And that's why they don't smash into pieces. You should be good.

[RSimonS]

Originally Posted by vasanthn21

@siddheshb & RSimonS: A question to both of you.
Did you cover the crack with a tape? If not, didn't water and dust get into the crack and make it look bad?

I have done nothing, just left it as is

[kannan666]

I have had a small chip on my Esteem's windshield when a pebble struck it way back in 2006. It has remained the same now for more than six years, will try and post a picture of it here soon.

[Sweet Chariot]

My bro's 2001 Palio had a crack because of a similar stone hit and he claimed insurance for the glass. Rs 5400 was the price of the glass and approximately 3k was what insurance provided. the original glass had made in brazil but the new one was made in india. green tracks had done a good job on the installation fortunately.

[callvvijay]

I experienced the same thing in April'2011. Was driving back from Bangalore to Chennai in my friend's Swift Vdi. I had borrowed my friend's car for that trip just because I thought that I could save my wallet from the high petrol cost.

Was nearing Vellore when a small stone flew over on to my windshield from the Figo in front of me. Clank!! There was a small crack on the windshield but was able to drive back till Chennai. Checked with Windshield Experts in GP Road and was suggested to go for a new windshield.

Had to spend ~ Rs.5500/- (don't remember it exactly). Was laughing at myself for the plans I had made to save high petrol cost! -