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My wife has a 2020 Toyota Corolla. Less than 3 months old and it’s got a bad crack in the windshield. Toyota says a replacement is 6 months out and there are 8

My wife has a 2020 Toyota Corolla. Less than 3 months old and it’s got a bad crack in the windshield. Toyota says a replacement is 6 months out and there are 800 on backorder in North America right now. So, it’s not just Tesla. Can happen to any manufacturer.

JohnJamesRambo 7y ago
Can’t you just go to one of the dozens of windshield replacement businesses in your area? You drive it there and they plop in a new windshield for very reasonable rates. They will often even come to you to fix it.
- raverbashing 7y ago
  Right?! Six months for a windshield replacement is ridiculous, especially for such a name brand
- jedberg 7y ago
  Most likely if the dealer is replacing it, it's a manufacturing defect. In which case you can't go to a third party if you want OEM glass and/or have Toyota pay for the replacement, not to mention possibly voiding the warranty.
- Infernal 7y ago
  I have wondered about this between my 2008 Honda and my 2019 Honda. The 2008, I have had the windshield replaced twice, no sweat, once due to a rock from the road and once due to a hailstone. On the 2019, there is a suite of sensors behind the rearview mirror that (I presume) handle lane detection and object avoidance (emergency braking) duties. I don't know what assumptions those sensors (or the software behind them) might make about the properties of the glass they're looking through, but I wouldn't blindly have the shop on the corner replace the 2019 windshield like I would on my 2008.
  - leesalminen 7y ago
    Pretty much. Same deal on the Corolla. Just out of curiosity I checked safelite.com and they don’t even offer a replace option on this year/make/model. Only repair, and this crack is well beyond the repair limit.
    - redis_mlc 7y ago
      In aviation, we stop-drill the ends of cracks in aluminum to stop propagation by diffusing the stress point. If you need to wait 6 months, you might want to investigate doing that.
      - hinkley 7y ago
        Honey I’m going out to drill some holes in your windshield. ... okay?
      - greglindahl 7y ago
        That's what the "repair limit" is.
      - fludlight 7y ago
        Drilling specialty tempered glass is not advisable.
    - lostgame 7y ago
      Return the Corolla while you still can. This is hot garbage.
      - jsight 7y ago
        Because part availability isn't 100% just yet, it is "hot garbage"? That seems like a stretch. TBH, this kind of thing happens pretty regularly with various parts. Usually the delay doesn't end up being 6 months, but often those kinds of estimates are on the pessimistic side. It isn't unusual for places like Safelite to be dependent upon the manufacturer's glass, especially on newer cars.
- rkangel 7y ago
  Where are they getting there windshields from? If they're just a customer for manufacturer made windshields then you'd have the same issue.
- pixelbath 7y ago
  Not if you want it replaced under warranty for free.
- auiya 7y ago
  Which sounds great until you realize the windshield you need requires automatic rain sensors, or has an antenna built in, and none of the cheap Chinese replacements are equitable drop-in swaps. Also, those "very reasonable rates" end up translating to shit-poor work in many cases. Anecdotally I've been through 3 windshields at one of these places. Each time it was improperly sealed, leading to water incursion damage. Eventually I did the right thing and went to a dealer who actually knows what they're doing. The cheap place ended up being the most expensive route I could have possibly taken. Maybe those trained monkeys can ham-fistedly install an older Ford F-series pickup truck's windshield and it's fine, but for modern cars I won't take chances anymore.
darkerside 7y ago
Why is the dealer fixing a cracked windshield? Is this somehow under warranty?
- natch 7y ago
  People have a perception that third party parts are inferior. Maybe Toyota limits access to some OEM parts by others for whatever reason.
  - benrbray 7y ago
    Maybe this is true, but for newer cars, installing third party parts or even having the car looked at by a third party will void the warranty. So at least during this early period, the incentives are such that you're better off taking the car to the dealership so you still have the warranty later when you really need it.
    - wiggles_md 7y ago
      There are some limited exceptions, but generally speaking what you are saying would be in violation of Magnuson-Moss. Unless it can be proven by the warrantor that the 3rd party labor or parts caused the fault, the use of 3rd party labor or parts does not void the warranty.
    - gambiting 7y ago
      >>Maybe this is true, but for newer cars, installing third party parts or even having the car looked at by a third party will void the warranty. Unless the law varies hugely where you live compared to the rest of the Western countries, that's just simply 100000% not true. You can do almost any modification to your car and it doesn't void the warranty, unless the manufacturer can show that the fault occured due to the modification being fitted(so no, a manufacturer cannot refuse engine repair because you used a 3rd party windscreen or fitted custom rims on the car, unless they can prove that either of those caused the engine damage).
      - 7y ago
navigatesol 7y ago
>So, it’s not just Tesla. Can happen to any manufacturer. How many Corollas are on the road? How many Teslas?
chaosbutters 7y ago
um, my Nissan got a windshield crack, I went to the dealership to get it fixed and they said run away. We [Nissan] will charge you ~$1000 and it might take the whole day while if you go to safelite, they'll do it in 2 hrs and <$300. I'm super thankful the sales clerk was nice and honest. Windshields are the exception for car repair and you shouldn't have been going to toyota.
pixelbath 7y ago
I'm surprised to see Toyota doing this again. I bought a 2010 Camry for my wife and the dashboard started melting into a shiny puddle of sticky mess within a year. It took 18 months to get the replacement because of the same sort of backorder. This was a few years after the whole "stuck accelerator pedal" hoopla relating to floormats. I resolved to never buy a Toyota vehicle again after that. I wonder what happened to their whole Kaizen philosophy?

JohnJamesRambo 7y ago

Can’t you just go to one of the dozens of windshield replacement businesses in your area? You drive it there and they plop in a new windshield for very reasonable rates. They will often even come to you to fix it.

raverbashing 7y ago
Right?! Six months for a windshield replacement is ridiculous, especially for such a name brand
jedberg 7y ago
Most likely if the dealer is replacing it, it's a manufacturing defect. In which case you can't go to a third party if you want OEM glass and/or have Toyota pay for the replacement, not to mention possibly voiding the warranty.
Infernal 7y ago
I have wondered about this between my 2008 Honda and my 2019 Honda. The 2008, I have had the windshield replaced twice, no sweat, once due to a rock from the road and once due to a hailstone. On the 2019, there is a suite of sensors behind the rearview mirror that (I presume) handle lane detection and object avoidance (emergency braking) duties. I don't know what assumptions those sensors (or the software behind them) might make about the properties of the glass they're looking through, but I wouldn't blindly have the shop on the corner replace the 2019 windshield like I would on my 2008.
- leesalminen 7y ago
  Pretty much. Same deal on the Corolla. Just out of curiosity I checked safelite.com and they don’t even offer a replace option on this year/make/model. Only repair, and this crack is well beyond the repair limit.
  - redis_mlc 7y ago
    In aviation, we stop-drill the ends of cracks in aluminum to stop propagation by diffusing the stress point. If you need to wait 6 months, you might want to investigate doing that.
    - hinkley 7y ago
      Honey I’m going out to drill some holes in your windshield. ... okay?
    - greglindahl 7y ago
      That's what the "repair limit" is.
    - fludlight 7y ago
      Drilling specialty tempered glass is not advisable.
  - lostgame 7y ago
    Return the Corolla while you still can. This is hot garbage.
    - jsight 7y ago
      Because part availability isn't 100% just yet, it is "hot garbage"? That seems like a stretch. TBH, this kind of thing happens pretty regularly with various parts. Usually the delay doesn't end up being 6 months, but often those kinds of estimates are on the pessimistic side. It isn't unusual for places like Safelite to be dependent upon the manufacturer's glass, especially on newer cars.
rkangel 7y ago
Where are they getting there windshields from? If they're just a customer for manufacturer made windshields then you'd have the same issue.
pixelbath 7y ago
Not if you want it replaced under warranty for free.
auiya 7y ago
Which sounds great until you realize the windshield you need requires automatic rain sensors, or has an antenna built in, and none of the cheap Chinese replacements are equitable drop-in swaps. Also, those "very reasonable rates" end up translating to shit-poor work in many cases. Anecdotally I've been through 3 windshields at one of these places. Each time it was improperly sealed, leading to water incursion damage. Eventually I did the right thing and went to a dealer who actually knows what they're doing. The cheap place ended up being the most expensive route I could have possibly taken. Maybe those trained monkeys can ham-fistedly install an older Ford F-series pickup truck's windshield and it's fine, but for modern cars I won't take chances anymore.

darkerside 7y ago

Why is the dealer fixing a cracked windshield? Is this somehow under warranty?

natch 7y ago
People have a perception that third party parts are inferior. Maybe Toyota limits access to some OEM parts by others for whatever reason.
- benrbray 7y ago
  Maybe this is true, but for newer cars, installing third party parts or even having the car looked at by a third party will void the warranty. So at least during this early period, the incentives are such that you're better off taking the car to the dealership so you still have the warranty later when you really need it.
  - wiggles_md 7y ago
    There are some limited exceptions, but generally speaking what you are saying would be in violation of Magnuson-Moss. Unless it can be proven by the warrantor that the 3rd party labor or parts caused the fault, the use of 3rd party labor or parts does not void the warranty.
  - gambiting 7y ago
    >>Maybe this is true, but for newer cars, installing third party parts or even having the car looked at by a third party will void the warranty. Unless the law varies hugely where you live compared to the rest of the Western countries, that's just simply 100000% not true. You can do almost any modification to your car and it doesn't void the warranty, unless the manufacturer can show that the fault occured due to the modification being fitted(so no, a manufacturer cannot refuse engine repair because you used a 3rd party windscreen or fitted custom rims on the car, unless they can prove that either of those caused the engine damage).
    - 7y ago

navigatesol 7y ago

>So, it’s not just Tesla. Can happen to any manufacturer. How many Corollas are on the road? How many Teslas?

chaosbutters 7y ago

um, my Nissan got a windshield crack, I went to the dealership to get it fixed and they said run away. We [Nissan] will charge you ~$1000 and it might take the whole day while if you go to safelite, they'll do it in 2 hrs and <$300. I'm super thankful the sales clerk was nice and honest. Windshields are the exception for car repair and you shouldn't have been going to toyota.

pixelbath 7y ago

I'm surprised to see Toyota doing this again. I bought a 2010 Camry for my wife and the dashboard started melting into a shiny puddle of sticky mess within a year. It took 18 months to get the replacement because of the same sort of backorder. This was a few years after the whole "stuck accelerator pedal" hoopla relating to floormats. I resolved to never buy a Toyota vehicle again after that. I wonder what happened to their whole Kaizen philosophy?