Sooo....

My 08 MCS has been parked in the garage for a coupla days, and I wander out to admire it again this morning. What do I see? A crack in the windshield.

On the passenger side, it runs from the roofline in a reverse "J" shape toward the rain sensor. Approximately 6 inches long. Didn't see it last time I was out (Friday), and definitely haven't run into anything, dropped anything on it etc. etc. Now, my friend did slam the door with gusto on Friday, after I'd taken her out for a ride, but surely the car should be able to withstand more than that?

What's the story on this as far as warranty goes? Took delivery on Feb 16th (had to go straight to shop for body work on the door)...

Bummer.

 

When I had my 04MC it had a cracked windshield after I had it about a year. It was a stress crack and the dealer replaced it under warranty. Check with your dealer, it should be covered. I think MINI windshields are made out of spun sugar. I've already replaced two on my 06MCS from rock damage.

 

Thanks for the info, Silverbullit.

Is there a way to differentiate a stress crack from an impact crack? Is the dealer going to believe me when I tell them exactly what happened (- or didn't happen). I looked in the "under warranty" section of the accompanying manuals, but didn't find anything for windshields.

And...about how long should a replacement take?

 

I would just say you don't know what happened, you walk out and there's the crack. They can tell if something hit the windshield and it doesn't sound like that happened. It's probably just a stress fracture that was waiting to happen.

 

Our Jeep lost a window recently after 6 years of no problems, just broke. It was under warranty & was fixed.

 

I don't know about your state laws but in FL if you have a cracked window it's 100% FREE to be repaired by your insurance company. I had 2 in less then a year done on my old Tacoma.

 

I thought they had this solved from back in the R-53 days . I went through two myself .

 

State Farm just dropped the window coverage, you have to pay, less deductible, now.

 

I went through 4 in my old R53, hopes its fixed with the R56

 

I pay for no-deducible glass coverage in NY that came in handy when my passenger window was smashed during a theft. I have three small scratches/dents on the windshield so far from road debris I'm sure. Are these easy to fix? I never cared about stuff like this in my other cars, but my mini ...

 

That doesn't apply here in FL. It's illegal to drive around with a cracked windshield so the Ins Cos. are required to cover it 100% and they may not increase your premium because of it. They are also not allowed to charge you for such coverage. That said, i'm sure the price is tucked in there somewhere!

 

Just as an FYI update:

The dealer swiftly identified the crack as a stress crack (which was rapidly getting longer - aghhh), and the car is in the repair shop right now. The dealer gave me a loaner car and it's all being taken car of by MINI.

Also, called my insurance company. They will replace a windshield as part of my regular damage coverage, where I'd have still have to pay the deductible. They have a "glass program" as part of the regular policy, which will repair minor dings, cracks etc, where the entire windshield doesn't need to be replaced.

Given the price the dealership told me that a replacement windshield is ($1500.00 ), I'll happily pay the deductible if the situation arises.

 

Is your dealer going to warranty it? Here in Chicago I've seen alot of minis at my dealership getting windows replaced, including my own all under warranty. these winshields crack so easily since there under tension when they are installed. Mine started a to crack from a couple of hard turns. You might want to call a different dealer if they won't replace it. My SA says it's a known problem, and has never been denied a warranty claim from mini yet.

 

That price of $1500.00 for a windshield is a "bit" high. Safelite replaced both my rock damaged windshields for about $230.00 each and came to my house to do it. They also did a great job and were very careful with the car.

 

Just to be clear, yes, it's being replaced under warranty.

 

Great news!