yesterday my windshield cracked. 99 gs 400. i was starting to wash car in sun 68 degrees. started hosing car just to wet it down before actual washing and heard a pop sound and couldn't figure out what the noise was. when i went to put soap and water on windshield there it was starting right in top middle and going down even with the bottom of the rear view mirror and then turning toward passenger side for another 9-12 inchs. i got home maybe 45 minutes before this and crack wasn't there then. i've never heard of a windshield cracking because of cold water, did i do something wrong? i did a search and found some people think the oem windshields are weak. any comments?

 

I would have believed it if it was 105 degrees outside and you shocked it with cold water. What i think happened is that you had an existing crack (even if tiny) that was aggravated with the cold water!

Oh well..nothing that about $700 can't fix!

 

That's a nice drop in the bank. Are you under warranty?

-Anthony

 

no warranty. just bought car used march 31 has 47000 miles. have windshield replacement on insurance with farmers. my wife had a toyota solara that needed a replacement last year and the local auto glass shop put in a toyota oem window with no out of pocket charge. i hope the lexus gs400 window is not a problem

 

ya i was going 2 say, my insurance cover sthat here in florida cus of the hot weather, but it looks lkike u'r covered than... good

 

a few months ago a rock hit my car's windshield and chipped it. i did a google search and landed at http://www.uswindshieldrepair.com. i decided to give it a try since they are not too far from me. while the gentleman was repairing my windshield, i was asking about different kinds of damages and repairs. he took me to his office and showed me some samples of his work. he can repair cracks up to 24 inches long. best part is, he even guarantees his work for life. take a look and see if they have a branch near where you live. good luck with your repair. also, give your insurance a call to see if they honor windshield repair. i called my insurance afterwords; they asked me to send in a copy of receipt and reimburised the total cost of repair. according to my insurance rep, windshield repair does not fall under comprehensive part of your insurance, so won't affect your rate at all.

good luck with your wildshield.

 

Just replace it. I got my windshield replaced 2 months ago for 200 bucks on my 98 gs300 . It was not oem but it is the same quality. I used to work for a auto glass shop and I know it is of the same quality.

 

But my Lexus dealer fixed the rock chipped on my 99' Gs300 windshield for $50.00, you can't really see the chip unless you're all up into the windshield. Nice job! Also, I know in Florida, too bad we aren't in FL, the state will pay for your windshield repair. To replace my OEM windshield, the dealer wants $1000.00. Lot of money....

 

Hey 3dog,

I just had a similar problem...It had snowed maybe 3 inches outside and then we had an ice storm. My car was covered with snow and ice, but I cleaned it maybe a day or two later. Hadn't driven my car a couple days since the GS isn't that great in bad weather. So I took a ride to work with my husband and finally when I pulled my car out after a few days, I noticed there was a huge crack in the bottom center of my windshield towards the outside-probably a foot and a half long. This was definitely not there before. I think Lexus has weak windshields. What's your take?

luvmylex

 

I think toyota in general has weak windshields.

My wife's 2000 Camry had a long crack on it after a snow storm
So did my 1996 Es300 from a pebble
And my friends 2000 4runner

 

I had a 97 Accord EX Coupe with a medium-sized rock chip in the windshield. A friend of mine started the car to warm up one morning and had the front window defroster on full heat, so the windshield was freezing cold and then got warmed up very quickly from the hot air. As we all know, pretty much all matter (including glass and seals) expands with heat and contracts with cold. If the windshield's integrity is already compromised then this can cause it to split or at least weaken over time.

I've generally found that the thicker and higher quality windshield on a car, the less common it is for this to happen, which means the GS shouldn't be very susceptible to this.

Also, the stronger the chassis of a car is, the less likely this is to happen, as there is less flex around the windshield's frame. The GS has a pretty strong chassis, which also means the GS shouldn't have as much of a problem with this. But in all reality, body on frame cars/trucks/SUVs are the least susceptible to windshield cracks from body flex, as the windshield frame and surrounding components have very little to do with the structure's integrity over bumps... unlike with a unibody car where when you hit a bump, your quarter panels, roof, etc, etc, all work together to keep the car unitized- which also brings the windshield into the picture.

In the end, all cars can have cracked windshields... but certain cars like the GS are less prone to it because of a stiff frame and thick high quality windshield.

I actually have had a couple of very sizable rock chips on my windshield for 20k miles now on my 99 GS4, with all sorts of extreme weather and driving and so far nothing has cracked. But if it does, I have glass coverage, plus I work for an insurance agency so I get cost on automotive glass repairs among other things.

 

man i forgot about this thread because i started it last june. i got the lexus oem windshield and had to pay $100 deductable. i saw the invoice for $900.


funny thing is my wife bought a gs400 in sept and about a month later the windshield got hit by a piece of flying gravel. she forgot to ask for the lexus oem windshield but they didn't charge her the deductable.

what is even more weirdness is she had a 2003 acura tl type s she traded in on the lexus and last spring it needed a windshield replacement because of a rock.


i think that is enough windshield replacement for this family. the insurance company will start having a cow.(farmers)

 

come to think about it i just got a crack from a damn rock the other day... time to repair my windshield

 

OEM PPG windsheilds are made 100% up to factory spec for like $300-400 depending on the window installer..