Try to imagine ...

I have been away from home for several weeks. My 981 has rested in my garage during that time. With much excitement, I went our this morning for a drive. Sat behind the wheel and I see a 10 inch crack running across the windshield. I know it wasn't there when I parked it. There is no evidence of any impact on the windshield - just the crack. Any ideas how this could happen?
Anyway, I have an appointment for Thursday at the dealership to get it replaced. Not too thrilled about that but its gotta be done. Hopefully it will be done right and will be like new before BRBS.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/16/2014 08:38PM by Lawdevil & CURVN8R. (view changes)

If so, a small crack could've gotten started and then expanded because of even slight temperature changes, or just because of glass's nature.

It definitely was not cracked when I bought it new almost two years ago. Don't recall any really bad bumps either.

my experience is that eventually Porsche windshields get pitted and need to be replaced. I imagine you'll bring it to your dealer and let them handle the replacement, likely through an outside vendor. And as to whatever cracked it, better the windshield than sheet metal.

"A mile of highway will take you one mile. A mile of runway will take you anywhere."

From folks are writing here, it must be that most Porsche owners see a lot of pitting in their windshields. My 08 Boxster windshield with 26K on it is far far worse than my Subaru with 58K. If the light catches it right, it looks like the night sky with little "stars" all over. Is there something about the glass that is different about glass in other cars? Does Porsche use a special light weight glass to save weight which is more susceptible to nicks?

1999 Arctic Sivler/black/black (sold)
2008s Silver/black/black - so predictable
2011 Outback
8/24/2011 first Grandson

... what my OEM windshield looks like with 246,000 miles.
When heading into turn 17 at Sebring, right at sundown there's one lap where I'm completely blinded for a second.
I does seem that Porsche glass pits easier than others.
Happy Boxstering
Pedro

Pedro Bonilla
1998 Boxster 986 - 311,000+ miles: [www.PedrosGarage.com]
PCA National Club Racing Scrutineer - PCA National HPDE Instructor - PCA Technical Committee (Boxster/Cayman)

---

Racecar spelled backwards is Racecar

"Racing is life. Anything before or after is just waiting" ... Steve McQueen as Michael Delaney in "LeMans"

"If you wait, all that happens is that you get older"... Mario Andretti

"Being second is to be the first of the ones who lose" ... Ayrton Senna




Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 05/19/2014 11:30AM by Pedro (Weston, FL). (view changes)

With 10K on the 981, the pitting is getting to be a distraction in when the sun is low on the horizon; our old 987 had the same issue.

means the front of the car catches less of the stuff than other cars. Instead this stuff makes it past the front of the car (though the larger items sometimes impact the front trunk lid) and thus the windshield gets hit more.

I note that the front of my Boxster does not show much in the way of any effects from all this stuff. I have driven through sand storms on i-40 in Albuquerque and on I-10 in west Texas and afterwards I expected the front of the car to look like it was sandblasted but there was no sign of any damage from the sand storm.

The pitting is getting pretty bad with the Boxster even with this replacement windshield. Not as bad as Pedro reports with his car but there are some angles to the the sun that really highlight the amount of pitting.

have lots of sand-blasting and track rash.

But i expect you are right. I know there are a very small number of global supplier of automotive glass, most is likely similar - maybe with a grade or two.

Grant

Grant

gee-lenahan-at-gee-mail-dot-com

Anything laying on the floor that suggests it fell and perhaps on its way down hit the glass and cracked it?

My Boxster's windshield had a chip that developed into a crack that eventually spanned the whole width of the windshield to the point I finally had to have the glass replaced. Wasn't much of a chip to start with and it stayed small for a long time, but it seemed to grow every time I looked.

Shortly after I got the new glass installed got new chip in the new glass. So far -- for several years now -- the chip has not grown. Have a few small but nasty looking chips in the 996 glass too. They have not grown, either. Both windshields are quite pitted with the Boxster's particularly bad.

No - no one borrowed the car and there was nothing around the car. I can't see any chips but I suppose there could have been a minuscule chip somewhere that spread into a crack due to temperature changes while I was gone. I can't think of anything else - unless there was an unseen flaw in the glass.

I'm pretty sure the dealer subs out the job - the service guy said the windshield guy normally comes on Thursdays.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/17/2014 02:05PM by Lawdevil & CURVN8R. (view changes)

then.

Not sure how much temperature variation the car's going to get in the garage.

Even outside going from overnight cold to day time hot and back again it took a long time for the crack to grow in my Boxster's windshield. And the replacement glass even with several nasty (but small) rock chips has not developed a crack. Same with the 996.

Yes, the dealer almost certainly farms this out. This can be good news, as the installer has lots of experience.

When it was time to replace the glass in my Boxster, I learned that letting insurance handle the replacement cost me my deductible -- $500 -- but required this work be done by someone under contract to the insurance company. Safelite Auto Glass was the glass installer. For an alternative, I priced this at some dealers. $1300 was the quote. (And my investigation was the majority of dealers would just let their regular glass guy do this. While I was worried about having some indy installer do this the prospect of paying another $800 on top of my deductible was also a concern.

I settled on letting the guy selected by the insurance company do the job. I figured if the repair was subpar I'd have some leverage since I had used the company selected by the insurance company.

The installation went ok. The guy had lots of experience. The insurance company adjuster said he'd direct Safelite to send their bust guy. He was pretty good. I checked on the progress every so often and every time I checked the installer was on his cell phone while working on the car with the free hand.

Before he started the process we checked the new glass. Factory as near as we could tell, and we went over every decal or other marking on the original glass and the new glass.

Anyhow, the installation went well and the glass has been trouble free now for more than a few years. It is pitted nearly as bad as the original glass but it has held up well.

Since I cannot find any evidence of an impact, I am going to try to get the dealer to cover it under warranty. Not sure how successful I will be.

You might recall the first style drink holders in the 986. I hardly used mine, yet once having gotten a small, covered coffee, the cup flipped out as I gently (in consideration of the cup) went across a curb cut. The HVAC display went bonkers, displaying otherworldy symbols. No amount of drying out helped, so I went to the dealer. They said the damage was caused by me. I argued that the cause was a design flaw, as evidenced by the redesigned holders to be found in their present model year inventory. They replaced the HVAC under warranty.

Of course, in your case you would be arguing for a manufacturing defect.

Had the windshield in my 2001 Boxster S replaced last year at the dealer and they used Safelite. It turned out great! Could not believe how much easier to see out the window. Windshields can be damaged and will crack while sitting if the weather changes. Just happened to my 2013 Audi S4 last week. Got a rock tossed at us on Tuesday while on a trip and went out to the car on Thursday and noticed a crack after it was sitting.

Neil

Well, I had the windshield replaced at the Porsche dealer today. Initially, the dealer quoted about $1075 and State Farm would allow $1050. The dealer matched the State Farm estimate and gave me a discount on an oil change so that I was not even out the $50 deductible. And I can't tell any difference from the original windshield. Very happy with Hennessy Porsche! While not cheap, I have always been happy with their service.

It seems that you, like me, can actually feel good about a good repair experience. The anxiety goes away, there's something of a fresh start, and there's a little "restoration of faith in humanity."

Glad to hear that you got it resolved in a positive way, Mike. Nice to know that you'll be able to have a clear view while dancing around the Diamondback with CURVN8R.

I know it's nerve racking, thinking about having them pop the old windshield out and what damage that might cause, but I had a windshield replaced on my Passat a number of years ago. It looked like new and I had a nice clear windshield to boot, with no damage to the rest of the car.

Looking forward to getting CUIRVN8R and CURVEN8R 2 together again. Just a bit different than two years ago.

I'm ready to take a new picture of the CURV[E]N8R twins!

With people in the photo, if you can, Mike!

"A mile of highway will take you one mile. A mile of runway will take you anywhere."