Windshield Chip at <1800 miles
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unasked for advice
My previous car (New Beetle) got a chip in the first two weeks, and never got another over the next 4 years. The first ding always hurts. My insurance did cover a chip repair, and it did not spread to a crack that would require a new windshield. And the glass company came right out to my work to fix it. If you have glass coverage, it is worth the preventitive fix. The chip is not invisible, but much less noticeable than before repair.
My previous car (New Beetle) got a chip in the first two weeks, and never got another over the next 4 years. The first ding always hurts. My insurance did cover a chip repair, and it did not spread to a crack that would require a new windshield. And the glass company came right out to my work to fix it. If you have glass coverage, it is worth the preventitive fix. The chip is not invisible, but much less noticeable than before repair.
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73 Posts
chip, chip, chip
Haven't bought a new car since 1970. That car got run into about 4 times in the first six months. After the initial shock of the first one it became kind of humdrum. 8)
Driving into Dawson City, Yukon is the worst road into the world due to some 6km of road improvement that has been going on way too long according to the locals. This patch of road has a speed limit of 50kmh. SUV's were travelling at less than 30kmh it is so bad. I was going even slower due to the low clearance. An oncoming bus, disguised as a motor home threw up a stone. Initially I was horrified and annoyed as was my wife. That was at 3,000km. Now, at 12,000km, we look at it and say "glad we got that out of the way, we won't be sitting on tenterhooks waiting for it to come...".
Glass insurance in the Yukon is expensive or not available. Most vehicles have cracked windshields. A fact of life up there. The chip has not spread and it was not repeated. The paint, despite lots of posts about being very thin, stood up very well. Most of the chips occurred on the wheel covers.
Haven't bought a new car since 1970. That car got run into about 4 times in the first six months. After the initial shock of the first one it became kind of humdrum. 8)
Driving into Dawson City, Yukon is the worst road into the world due to some 6km of road improvement that has been going on way too long according to the locals. This patch of road has a speed limit of 50kmh. SUV's were travelling at less than 30kmh it is so bad. I was going even slower due to the low clearance. An oncoming bus, disguised as a motor home threw up a stone. Initially I was horrified and annoyed as was my wife. That was at 3,000km. Now, at 12,000km, we look at it and say "glad we got that out of the way, we won't be sitting on tenterhooks waiting for it to come...".
Glass insurance in the Yukon is expensive or not available. Most vehicles have cracked windshields. A fact of life up there. The chip has not spread and it was not repeated. The paint, despite lots of posts about being very thin, stood up very well. Most of the chips occurred on the wheel covers.
I joined the "chipped windshield" club within 3 days of delivery of my Prius... DRAT.!! It was a "double hit" about 1/4" apart and couldn't be repaired, thus a new OEM windshield. No leaks, no squeaks, tech was able to retain my license and inspection stickers.It only took the shop about 25 mins for the installation after a one-day wait for the new windshield to be delivered.
I will tell you what causes chipped windshields and chipped paint on the front of the car, too.
High speed driving, and following too closely when driving at highway speeds.
My Corvette and my BMW both had lots of stone chips, even after just a few weeks of driving them. My Prius has none (that I know of yet). I drive my Prius much much slower than I ever drove any of my sports cars.
Think about it: When the car in front of you kicks up a rock or stone or other road refuse, that flying debris may or may not really be flying "at you." Instead, it has mostly been kicked upward, and it may even be moving forward, slightly away from you as you hit it.
When you hit it at 75 MPH, you are driving that foreign object into your windshield or paint at a 50% faster speed than if you hit it at 50 MPH. I don't know about the actual physics, but maybe the engineers here can give us a little layman's translation.
High speed driving, and following too closely when driving at highway speeds.
My Corvette and my BMW both had lots of stone chips, even after just a few weeks of driving them. My Prius has none (that I know of yet). I drive my Prius much much slower than I ever drove any of my sports cars.
Think about it: When the car in front of you kicks up a rock or stone or other road refuse, that flying debris may or may not really be flying "at you." Instead, it has mostly been kicked upward, and it may even be moving forward, slightly away from you as you hit it.
When you hit it at 75 MPH, you are driving that foreign object into your windshield or paint at a 50% faster speed than if you hit it at 50 MPH. I don't know about the actual physics, but maybe the engineers here can give us a little layman's translation.
:roll: Hi BIFF.... HOWEVER... My previous windshield hit (On my Jaguar, not the Prius) was when I was at -0- MPH stopped at a traffic signal. So your criteria don't always apply. A passing truck catapulted a rock into my windshield and replacement was required.
One answer never covers everything.
One answer never covers everything.
Good point. I almost got hit by a hammer about ten years ago when a work truck came around a corner too fast. The hammer fell off of the back and bounced and bounced and bounced again. Its first bounce was amazingly over four feet high. After several bounces, it finally came to rest less than two feet from my bumper!ChasSuitt said::roll: Hi BIFF.... HOWEVER... My previous windshield hit (On my Jaguar, not the Prius) was when I was at -0- MPH stopped at a traffic signal. So your criteria don't always apply. A passing truck catapulted a rock into my windshield and replacement was required.
One answer never covers everything.
That surely would have done more than chip or ding my car!
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181 Posts
my dad was in the army did two years at Ft. Greeley AK. we drove the alcan hiway and you are right, Dawson Creek IS the windshield chip capital of the world.
we caught several chips and had to have a windshield replaced because we could no longer see well enough to drive. of course this was when it was a 1300 mile long 2 lane gravel road. the new windshield was chipped about an hour after it was put in. i will say that it was a tough piece of glass because we took a hit from nearly every truck that past us and most of the rocks just bounced harmlessly (but very noisily) off.
we caught several chips and had to have a windshield replaced because we could no longer see well enough to drive. of course this was when it was a 1300 mile long 2 lane gravel road. the new windshield was chipped about an hour after it was put in. i will say that it was a tough piece of glass because we took a hit from nearly every truck that past us and most of the rocks just bounced harmlessly (but very noisily) off.
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73 Posts
Dawson
Sorry Dave, Dawson Creek is in British Columbia, Canada and is Mile 0 of the Alaska Highway.
Dawson City, on the other hand, is in Yukon Territory, Canada and is not on the Alaska Highway.
There is a free ferry in Dawson City that takes you onto the Top of the World Highway and you can follow that to Chicken, Alaska.
People often confuse the two but they are 1,258 miles (1966km) apart.
The Alaska Highway nowadays is a well-constructed paved highway with a very safe 100kmh speed limit.
Sorry Dave, Dawson Creek is in British Columbia, Canada and is Mile 0 of the Alaska Highway.
Dawson City, on the other hand, is in Yukon Territory, Canada and is not on the Alaska Highway.
There is a free ferry in Dawson City that takes you onto the Top of the World Highway and you can follow that to Chicken, Alaska.
People often confuse the two but they are 1,258 miles (1966km) apart.
The Alaska Highway nowadays is a well-constructed paved highway with a very safe 100kmh speed limit.
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105 Posts
Except when they tear it up, and then it's just a dusty gravel road. Grrr.
I use epoxy on my chips. Yummy. (joke) Cover the chip with some epoxy, let it harden, and then sand flat.
I use epoxy on my chips. Yummy. (joke) Cover the chip with some epoxy, let it harden, and then sand flat.
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181 Posts
my mistake... but as far as the alcan hiway goes... nowadays doesnt have much to do with the trips we made up and down that road. it was gravel road all the way to the border
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