My wife recently purchased a 2010 MINI Cooper hardtop in December. Yesterday, after washing the car, we noticed several small pits or dings in the windshield. We recently had an unusual amount of snow and ice, and the roads have been salted and cleared several times. Also, she is a major highway driver; I'd say 70% of the time.

Is it unusual to have this many dings so early on given the circumstances?

Can MINI owners recommend a good method of repair? Are DIY kits any good or should we hit up a professional?

Finally, and this is a little off the subject, a rock seems to have taken a small chip (1/2 cm) out of one of the vinyl bonnet stripes. Should my wife live with it, or is there an aftermarket alternative to replacing the entire stripe?

I really appreciate your response.

 

The windshields ding pretty easily (they're so vertical). If you feel pretty handy at DIY then go for it...otherwise it's not that expensive to have Safelite come and do it.

 

I've had some experience with windshield repairs. I've had my fair share. Unless the ding has cracked the glass, there isn't much that can be done. On my 06 GTO I had the glass company come and look at it and they said they would need to drill the spot to attempt to fix it. I had seen repairs before and they look like a bug smudge. I decided to just live with it.

As for the stripes. Unless there is damage to the paint. I wouldn't bother replacing. but that is just MHO.

 

I hate to tell you, but windshield issues are a MINI problem.
There are a few threads thread about it.
Here is one of them:

Windshield Damage

Welcome to NAM!
I hope that you and your wife enjoy your new MINI

 

Get used to it. I had one fisheye ding within a week of owning mine and have about three little chips that didn't crack the glass in the first month.

I've since learned to stay away from other cars.

 

So, should I be looking into a DIY kit, or a full replacement? Or, nothing? They are very small pits. I believe one may be a couple millimeters in diameter. I originally mistook them for water droplets when I first saw them.

 

Did they crack the windshield all they way through, or is there just a little pitting?

If you're thinking you'll replace the windshield every time you get a little a pit or two, you're going to go through a lot of windshields.

Besides, if they're not cracked all the way through, there's not much that can be done about them.

Get a glass shop to repair the fisheye or bullseye cracks then replace the windshield when you get one big enough that it can't be repaired or you get a collection of several.

 

They don't go all the way through. There are about three to six small pits.

Thank you all for the advice.

 

a few windshield thoughts

- as stated above the MINI glass is fairly upright and rock hits tend to do more damage then on a more slanted design. Wanna see rock hits? I drove an early Izuzu Trooper. Absolutely FLAT windshield nearly vertical.....

- I've had three windshields on a GEN1 MINI, and never noticed a difference in performance from first to last ... OEM to SAFELITE. GEN2 has had no noticible damage in 3 years, still on the original glass....but I see fewer trucks on the highway and drive MUCH less highway now.

- my insurance company will send SAFELITE out to repair a chip/crack at no cost no matter what the deductable. Getting you to take a repair is better then replacing glass anytime. Which is not to denegrate the repair process... A repair is intended to fill a crack with epoxy so water does not get it there /// cuz water can expand/contract with temp changes and cause additional cracking

- "but can't I buy that repair kit and do the same thing?" Almost .... a commercial company brings a kit with a vacume pump to really get the glue in there & suck out any air/water . . . your call on that one. And if insurace sends them at no cost . . .

- glass issues - non collision - are covered under comprehensive coverage for me. I found that changing my comp deductable from $250 to Z E R O was about $20 a year! That was on 4 cars and 2 teen drivers btw . . . your rates may vary.

= lastly: my state says it doesn't matter what your deductable is. If the front glass damage is covered (comp' coverage for me) the ins company must replace at no cost to owner if a certain amount of damage exists - usually the "can a dollar bill cover the crack" test....but even then all I'VE had to say was "I want it replaced."

And no, my rates have NOT increaded because of using this .... but glass is the only claim I've had in over 30 years ... but I have averaged a glass claim a year

just food for thought .... check you comp' coverage details!