What a sucky day! I drove from CT to Brooklyn, NY today, on the way down, I'm stopped in traffic on the Hutch and just happened to check my rearview mirror, all I could see was the grille of a Lexus RX300 closing in fast, I knew there was no way he could stop in time, I dump the clutch and pull to the left shoulder, the Lexus comes to a screeching halt alongside my passenger door The driver mouths "I'm sorry". No contact, no foul, I go on my merry way, just happy that I didn't put it in neutral, like I normally do when traffic is not moving.

On the way back home tonight, just as I cross the NY/CT state line on I84 in Danbury, BANG! I couldn't figure out what the hell it was, until my son says "Dad, a rock just bounced off the windscreen", ARRGGGHH! Major chip just above the wiper blade on the passenger side. Does anyone know if there are aftermarket winshields for the MINI yet? I hope not, since I have full glass coverage and I don't want anyone but the dealer working on my car. Just yesterday I had a new one put on my other car, Geico is going to blacklist me, this will be my third glass claim in six months, but first one on the MINI.

X2

 

C'mon, someone here has to know if the windshield is a available on the aftermarket or not?

X2

 

I'm having my windshield changed this week by a local glass business, and I believe that they had to order all parts (winshield and upper molding) from MINI. (It has taken them 3 weeks to get everything... argh!) I can let you know when my new windshield is in place whether it is MINI or not.

 

Thanks, I would really appreciate that, I also had a run in with a monster pothole, I was about to go out a short while ago and noticed the runflat is bulged and split, I didn't check for damage last night because the car still drove straight and true and the flat tire warning never came on. I'm now in the market for my second runflat replacement, looking at the tire, I would have never made it home and probably had a broken wheel if it was a regular non runflat, the heavy duty construction definitely saved my bacon. :???:

X2

 

X2-
You may do some forum searches for your windshield problem. God knows enough of us have had a problem. Mine was replaced at the MINI dealer with an authorized MINI windscreen. Took about 6 hours. A hassle, but no big deal. I've heard of some owners looking for different glass suppliers because the MINI glass is so thin and fragile.
Good luck!

 

Maybe it's the season for it (with roads it the condition they're in this winter, it probably is) but we got a rock chip in the windshield of our Civic today. I'm going to look into chip repair since it's smaller than quarter size. This may work for you as well.

Good luck,

Mark

 

There are no aftermarket MINI front windshields at this time. All of the glass for the MINI, is supplied by a U.K. glass vendor to BMW. I also just obtained a dime sized windshield chip on the left side, just above the wiper blade/arm. I checked this out, prior to filing my insurance glass claim.

 

PPG makes one ! i took mine to henderson glass and they where going to order it from ppg but i told them to hold off and i was going to let the dealer mess with it because i want the origanal equipment that is sopossed to go in this car

 

Hmmm.... Although I understand the desire to have the dealer work on the car, I'd be tempted to go for the PPG glass. It might be a little stronger than the OEM glass. ....Merely conjecture on my part.

 

I finally got my windshield replaced yesterday, and they did not use OEM glass. The replacement glass is made by Pilkington, but OEM moldings were used. I wasn't present during the installation, so I can't comment on glass thickness, etc. compared to MINI glass, but it looks fine to me...

We'll just have to see how it holds up...

 

New Englanders above CT might be interested in this...

I was asking Gary at MINI of Peabody about windshields the other day. I have 5 chips and am thinking about getting it replaced later in the spring under the "free" windshield replacement allowed under all MA comprehensive auto insurance policies. So, I asked Gary if they did windshields. He said that they do, but that they don't deal with insurance companies. He also noted that as far as he knew, regular auto glass companies WOULD NOT use OEM glass.

This means is that if I go for an insurance replacment, I have to either accept non-OEM glass or pay Peabody out of pocket to do it. Paying out of pocket means not only holding the bill until I'm reimbursed, but it also doesn't guarantee that the insurance company will pay the full cost. The reason Peabody doesn't deal with insurance companies is that most (all?) won't pay what it actually costs to use OEM glass and install it with BMW/MINI labor. Gary noted that they get considerably more from BMW to cover a warranty glass replacement than they would get from an insurance company to do an insurance replacment.

This kinda sucks. I think what I'm going to do is to a) see about getting the glass repaired vs.replaced; or b) see if I can find a glass company that WILL use OEM glass (pretty unlikely in this state); or c) live with the chips until I get a real crack and then do whatever I have to at that time. :???:

 

X2,
I'd pm DaveinDenver. I believe
he is on his fourth or fifth windshield.
Resident expert.
Nice fellow as well.

 

>>I finally got my windshield replaced yesterday, and they did not use OEM glass. The replacement glass is made by Pilkington, but OEM moldings were used. I wasn't present during the installation, so I can't comment on glass thickness, etc. compared to MINI glass, but it looks fine to me...
>>
>>We'll just have to see how it holds up...
>>

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe that the OEM glass is actually made by Pilkington! So, it sounds as if there are several after-market solutions (Pilkington, PPG, ???). I too had been wondering if the replacement glass might be stronger. Hummmm.

 

>>So, I asked Gary if they did windshields. He said that they do, but that they don't deal with insurance companies.<<

Does this strike anyone else as odd? How can they just NOT deal with insurance companies? I mean, if your company is willing to let you have it repaired at the dealership, then you mean the dealership will simply refuse the business? Odd.

 

Jsun, I'm a little confused in what you are saying. I had my windshield replaced at the Peabody dealership last month (Feb 13th), I actually made the Insurance claim while I was there and got a claim # over the phone. It was replaced with the OEM glass.

I think the windshields glass is actually installed by a third party using the Peabody facility with glass was supplied by Peabody. The installation looks perfect, I can't tell that it was replaced, the inspection sticker was reglued without the usual clear 'replacement' sticker.

 

Ate a rock this weekend. Quarter sized chip, lower right. Talked to Gieco; got the 'sublet charge, probably will have to pay dealer out of pocket, we do have glass folks but don't do dealer replacement, etc' speech. The sublet charge is what they call farming out work onsite. Haven't talked in detail to MINI Manhattan about how they handle it. Has anyone the NYC area shopped around to see of NJ or LI dealers would be better, price-wise?

So what are the numbers? Dealer cost for new windshield?

Has anyone gone down the road of pay dealer and submit claims? What's the spread?

 

>>New Englanders above CT might be interested in this...
>>
>>I was asking Gary at MINI of Peabody about windshields the other day. I have 5 chips and am thinking about getting it replaced later in the spring under the "free" windshield replacement allowed under all MA comprehensive auto insurance policies. So, I asked Gary if they did windshields. He said that they do, but that they don't deal with insurance companies. He also noted that as far as he knew, regular auto glass companies WOULD NOT use OEM glass.
>>
>>This means is that if I go for an insurance replacment, I have to either accept non-OEM glass or pay Peabody out of pocket to do it. Paying out of pocket means not only holding the bill until I'm reimbursed, but it also doesn't guarantee that the insurance company will pay the full cost. The reason Peabody doesn't deal with insurance companies is that most (all?) won't pay what it actually costs to use OEM glass and install it with BMW/MINI labor. Gary noted that they get considerably more from BMW to cover a warranty glass replacement than they would get from an insurance company to do an insurance replacment.
>>
>>This kinda sucks. I think what I'm going to do is to a) see about getting the glass repaired vs.replaced; or b) see if I can find a glass company that WILL use OEM glass (pretty unlikely in this state); or c) live with the chips until I get a real crack and then do whatever I have to at that time. :???:


this is what you do. my windshield cracked, the crack was about 6 or 7" long. we called the insurance company because i have full coverage. they said that since the car is so new they dont have a windshield to replace it, they said to bring it to the dealer and forward them the bill. so when i got it fixed i had to put the cost on my credit card but the insurance company came throught with the payment even before i got my statement. its not that big of a deal. you just have to tell the insurance company whats going on and how much it cost. i have geico by the way.
you dont need to replace the windshield if its a tiny crack. that can be patched up and geico sends someone to your house/apt. whatever.

 

I also caught a rock a few days ago ... very near to my sight line. It turned out that my insurance company (State Farm) waived the deductible for me to get it repaired. Given that I carry a $500 deductible, it was well worth the try. Harmon Glass in Allen Park, Michigan did an excellent job before any spider-webbing occured. Beyond the money savings, I really didn't want a glass installer to "learn" how to cut a Mini w/s on my car.