Okay, folks. . . I’ve had my Cooper for a little under a month and I’m crazy about it. I have a problem, though, and before I approached my dealer I thought it would be helpful to get some input from all of you. Here’s the chronology:

10/19—I picked up my Cooper.
10/25—I noticed a windshield crack in the wiper area which at the time I thought to be caused by a rock. Now I’m starting to wonder. My dealer replaced the windshield, but not under warranty. It cost me my $250 deductible.
11/5—I noticed water dripping from my rearview mirror. Took the car in for service and it turned out that the water was coming from a stress crack at the very top of the windshield, by the molding. This windshield was replaced under warranty.
11/13—On the way home from work today, I noticed another stress crack, this one at the edge of the windshield on the driver’s side.

As I said, I love the car but going on windshield #4 with less than a month on the car is insane. I know one other person on this message board has reported going through a similar number of windshields.

So here are my questions:

1. Could there be some reason that some Coopers are prone to repeated stress cracks while others aren’t?
2. What kind of remedy can/should I seek from my dealer?

Thanks for listening,

Greg
:???:

 

Sorry about the weird symbols in my post. Ignore the &&&&s and you should be able to make sense of the chronology.

GE

 

Sorry to hear about your problem.

I would definitely contact MINIUSA and demand a reimbursement for the windshield that was replaced at your own expense. It seems to me if the second windshield was replaced under warranty because there was some problem or defect with your vehicle for which you are not responsible, then it follows that the same problem or defect probably caused the damage to your first windshield. (This assumes that your second windshield was not improperly installed by your dealer).

Anyway, I have not had this problem. Have you been putting undue stress on the vehicle (eg. driving over speed bumps at high speed) causing your MINI's windshield to crack? In any event, I don't think you could cause so much stress on the vehicle as to cause the crack in the whindshield (see as the MINI is one of the stiffest vehicles sold in the U.S - stiffer than BMW 3 series from what I've heard.)

Hope your problem is resolved in your favour!

 

DaveInDenver (DiD) has had a similar issue.Here's his thread.

 

No, I haven't been going high-speed over speed bumps or anything. . . just regular suburban/urban Atlanta driving. If anything, I've tried to be more careful than usual with it since the first (second?) stress crack.

 

Sorry, that was not an insinuation I had intended. I think Dave has experienced stress cracks and also did not believe them to be from hard driving. I was mostly joking with him about that in the thread.

...I thought it might be comforting to know you weren't the only one.

I'm sure once DiD sees your thread, he will have some comments and maybe even insight?

 

>>Sorry, that was not an insinuation I had intended. I think Dave has experienced stress cracks and also did not believe them to be from hard driving. I was mostly joking with him about that in the thread.
>>
>>...I thought it might be comforting to know you weren't the only one.
>>
>>I'm sure once DiD sees your thread, he will have some comments and maybe even insight?

I wonder if something about some window frames is just out of whack enough to stress the glass? I suspect this might happen on some vehicles and never on others. Sounds frustrating as hell, but not quite as bad (although more expensive if it is not warranty) as the VW famous window regulator problem where the windows would suddenly crash down into the door frame. I spent 3 months with my windows jury rigged in the up position before VW could get the proper parts to fix it.


_________________
~Yucca Patrol~


"Good judgement comes from experience, and experience comes from bad judgement."

 

>>>Anyway, I have not had this problem. Have you been putting undue stress on the vehicle (eg. driving over speed bumps at high speed) causing your MINI's windshield to crack? In any event, I don't think you could cause so much stress on the vehicle as to cause the crack in the whindshield (see as the MINI is one of the stiffest vehicles sold in the U.S - stiffer than BMW 3 series from what I've heard.)
>>
>>Hope your problem is resolved in your favour!

I am curious to know how "driving over speed bumps at high speed" could cause the stress cracks? I would think that with the cobby styling on these cars that the frames would not bend or flex a whole lot.

Also, I have not seen a reply from Dave in Denver, but I used to visit Denver at least twice a year, and I went through at least 5 windshields in 4 years. The use of sand and salt on the roads leads to a lot of debris on the roads. Now, I am not saying that this is the cause of Dave's problems, but I can attest to the fact that the Denver roads and highways are not conducive to keeping an intact windshield.

Barb