So this morning, my wife goes out to her car, and turns it on to warm up. It was about 20 deg. outside. She starts her car, turns on the heated seat, turns on the defroster full blast, like she always does, and goes inside to finish getting ready. She comes out to her car about 15 mins later gets in, looks over, and thinks to herself, "Why is there still ice all over that window?" Then she realizes that her entire passenger window is shattered and bowed outwards. Her windows are tinted, so it kept the window all in 1 piece. We call the local police who dispatch an officer. He searches the car high and low, and finds NO signs whatsoever of forced entry, or attempted break in. WTF???!!!!! I used painter's tape to tape the window up, and we called roadside assistance to carry it up to the dealership. Anybody have any experience with this? I think the dealer should cover this. Any thoughts?

 

A slight scratch in a window, and a temperture difference, and bang!! It does happen. Folks usually see a tiny chip in a windshield turn into a full spider crack on a cold day....my guess, a defect in the glass (maybe dammage) a big temp change..boom!!

 

Ive heard of this happening before not specifically on Mini tho. It could just be a perfect combination of temps or a "not perfectly" tempered glass. I know this was a big issue on 05-07 Cadilact STS's but was due to the molding not having flex or something. Depending on your state with full coverage insurance should cover it but see what MINI says first.

 

Thanks Zippy. Am I right in thinking that this is something the dealership should cover?

 

Yeah, M'Cooper, I think it's a defect in the glass. Especially with the way the glass was pushed outwards from the car. It was definitely weird. Thank god for window tint! lol

 

Worth asking on a new car, especially if it is the first time ot has been exposed to very cold weather...like a car thats gets garaged regularly....worth asking. But if not, i still would chaulk it up to "crapp happens", and atleast the tint prevented a mess!!

 

Most likely, MINI will not cover this. It is very difficult to prove if it was caused by a fault on their part or third party damage. By third party, I mean flying rocks/debris, vandalism etc. Odds are, you will have to go through your insurance company to fix this.

This happened to a friend of mine's car. There was already a small (smaller than a dime) nick in the windshield. A cold day and the desire to crank the heat up to full blast too soon, and voila! He had a large spider-web looking crack with a long section that shot across the windshield. Thermal expansion at its finest!

 

Thanks for the info guys. I guess I will prepare to be screwed in the morning then.

 

Weird. While not the same, I had this happen on my house. One of our french doors to the patio just up and shattered one morning. I was in the room but not looking at the glass and POP. Turned around and the entire double pane glass was shattered. At first I thought it was shot, but there was no hole in the screen door so it couldn't have been that.


I never figured out what caused it.