A few people have complained about it lately and I have had a cracked windshield recently as well. No toher forums I've been to have had this many problems. It may be a type of glass they're using or the design that allow it to crack easier than other windshields?

 

I remember reading somewhere BMW and Lexus have softer windshields. My 98 has tons of small chips in it in addition to two larger chips.. When i drive against the sun it looks like I have small raindrops on my windshield.

Ed

 

i just posted a new thread in the rx 300 forum about my cracked windshield. It was the oddest occurance I have had. My windshield has cracked in a 4" circular pattern with no impact point showing. I'm thinking there is some issue going on with Lexus' glass.

 

I don't know that the glass is any different in a Lexus than any other vehicle. I think it is just that us Lexus owners tend to demand perfection, so we notice imperfections in glass that people in the Ford/Chevy crowd would not. Don't believe me? Pay attention to your domestic rental car the next time you go out of town on business: The cheap feel when you stick the key in the door to open the locks, the fact that there are generally 2 keys (one for the doors/trunk and one for the ignition, the poorly made buttons, the loud noise the door makes when you shut it, the sound of the cheap buzzer telling you to put on the poorly designed seat belt that feels like some sort of Chinese torture as it binds against your body, the hollow sound as you head down the highway feeling every bump, etc., etc., etc. Get the picture? We are picky owners for the most part, and that is precisely why we have chosen to drive a Lexus.

 

Well said!

 

Just came across this....very well said. Its as when anyone complains about there domestic vehicles, or any other for that point, all my friends know it by now. I always state "Should've bought a LEXUS!!!!" .

 

Lexus as well as other luxury car manufacturers use what is called "low durometer windshields". In plain english, that means "soft". They sell them as noise reducing windshields as "softer" so they absorb sound & road noise better. Harder windshields would be more resistant to road hazards, but they would definitely cause noisier cabins.
On my 07 ES350, my windshield took a small rock at slow speed (about 30mph) and it cracked the windshield on the 2 week old car ! Not a cheap windshield either....$1350 dollars.
It's a symbol of the times I guess.

You'll also notice many of the cracks that happen are usually around the outer perimeter of the glass as the glass is more stressed towards the edges.

 

My SC300 has a bunch of tiny little cracks in the windshield. It does crack a lot easier compared to my Saturn or Chrysler.

However, what HD-GS4 said is so true! I notice everything wrong with my Lexus compared to my domestics. I know they're pieces of junk, so I don't expect a lot more out of brands like Lexus, BMW, or Mercedes. Even Honda's feel nicer than most domestics I've been in.

 

yes the lexus windshields are very "soft". a lot of 3GS people complain about their windsheilds pitting very easily.

 

So, maybe I wasn't just seeing things. I do have a lot of pitting in my windshield. I guess it's time for me to get a new one.

 

It's pretty bad on the Honda S2000 too. Don't think it's so much the soft windshield as the height off the ground. Luckily in SC, if you have full coverage insurance you get free windshield replacements.