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General Cracked windscreen on 1 year old Panda

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General Cracked windscreen on 1 year old Panda

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neweycoop

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I have an 16 month old Panda which has got a crack 16 inches long diagonally from the top corner of the passenger side. There are no chips and I've not had anything hitting it that I know of - it just appeared!
Two questions - is it safe to drive and should my dealer replace it free of charge?
Thanks in advance, regards, NeilC
 
I think you'd have a job on your hands getting the 'screen replaced under Warranty unless you can conclusively prove it failed due to poor workmanship or materials. It could be either of those but proof is the difficult thing, body flex may be the culprit, even crashing through a pothole, or maybe Giovanni fitted it wrong... try by all means, they can only say Yes or No... but I feel the onus is on you sadly to prove it didnt suffer some sort of trauma in normal service.
 
I'm sorry, but I'd be REEEEEALLY surprised if a 16" crack "just appeared". If it were down to workmanship it would probably have happened a lot closer to new. Chances are you probably hit a pothole sometime and running along the road at a particular speed just caused the stress in the glass to become a crack.
 
Yep, sudden change in temperature or if you should go over a bump at the right moment or pick up a stone or slam the doors too hard and you'll hear a noise similar to ice shearing followed by a sudden blast of cold air and you'll be wondering why the front of your car is full of lots of bits of windscreen glass - that's if the bizzies don't pick you up first.....
 
Pandablues said:
Yep, sudden change in temperature or if you should go over a bump at the right moment or pick up a stone or slam the doors too hard and you'll hear a noise similar to ice shearing followed by a sudden blast of cold air and you'll be wondering why the front of your car is full of lots of bits of windscreen glass - that's if the bizzies don't pick you up first.....
Click to expand...




Get with the times Toughened glass windscreens went out with ark ford started using laminates in the 1920's
 
I think you'd gave a case. VW Audi group cars are know for it. Had it on my Seat Altea. Something to do with the angle of the body on the production line when the windscreen gets bonded in. For reasons I don't understand apparently on the Altea at some point it gets tilted and during that stage the windscreen is bonded in. Once the body's level, this can put stress on the screen so anything, temperature variation or going over a bump can force a fracture. On mine I simply drove through a dip, the suspension compressed and the crack just appeared. If there's no evidence that it started with a stone chip they should replace it. Seat replaced ours without question.
 
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p111dom said:
I think you'd gave a case. VW Audi group cars are know for it. Had it on my Seat Altea. Something to do with the angle of the body on the production line when the windscreen gets bonded in. For reasons I don't understand apparently on the Altea at sone point it gets tilted and during that stage the windscreen is bonded in. Once the body's level, this can put stress on the screen so anything, temperature variation or going over a bump can force a fracture. On mine I simply drove through a dip, the suspension compressed and the crack just appeared. If there's no evidence that it started with a stone chip they should replace it. Seat replaced ours without question.
Click to expand...

Yes, but this isn't a Seat Altea and this doesn't seem to be a common issue.....
 
No matter if there's no evidence of an initial chip then that points to a small if not microscopic manufacturing defect.
 
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To be fair you wouldn't expect a windscreen to crack after hitting a pothole.

If it already had a chip or crack, then maybe but not a windscreen that has no visible defects.

The car isn't dangerous to drive as such, but obviously you'll be wanting to get it replaced asap!

You could try the dealer, they can only say no I guess. It does sound odd. Failing that it's the excess on the insurance and get a new windscreen.
 
Don't see that as an excuse to me. Should be able to withstand any pothole that doesn't damage the rim. If there's no dent in the wheel then I'd stand by a defect.
 
p111dom said:
Don't see that as an excuse to me. Should be able to withstand any pothole that doesn't damage the rim. If there's no dent in the wheel then I'd stand by a defect.
Click to expand...

So how would you prove it then :confused:

Fiat are ultimately innocent until you can prove their neglect / failure in fitting the screen.
 
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