Windscreen chip in black area of screen

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Geektastic

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#295211 13-Mar-2022 11:45

I’ve just been down to Canterbury and back. Courtesy of a truck that was going the other way, a loud crack on my screen resulted in a star shaped impact crack in the large black part of the screen where the wipers sit (car is a Mercedes E400d if that’s relevant).

Of course being the weekend, getting any service to look at it is not possible.

What is the situation with cracks in the non-clear part of the screen? Can it be fixed? Does it need to be fixed? Etc.

I’m hoping this won’t signal another fight to avoid dodgy Chinese glass being fitted!!

Linux

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#2885534 13-Mar-2022 11:46

Speak to your local windscreen expert and your insurance company if you have glass cover and check what they say

Dingbatt

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#2885537 13-Mar-2022 11:51

Unless it is in the Critical Vision Area (CVA) which is an area directly in front of the driver (see NZTA for exact), or the crack carries to the edge, then it can probably be repaired. Do you have glass cover?

It’s a total PITA, particularly in the weekend. The likes of Novus or Smith and Smith will advise pretty quickly. I think you are out of town so you may even be able to email them a picture.

Of course the irony of your final comment is even if your car was assembled in Germany (or S.Africa, Mexico, Thailand, China) then replacement components probably still come from China.

Edit: Changed CVA name.

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Geektastic

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#2885538 13-Mar-2022 12:06

Dingbatt:
Unless it is in the Critical Vision Area (CVA) which is an area directly in front of the driver (see NZTA for exact), or the crack carries to the edge, then it can probably be repaired. Do you have glass cover?

It’s a total PITA, particularly in the weekend. The likes of Novus or Smith and Smith will advise pretty quickly. I think you are out of town so you may even be able to email them a picture.

Of course the irony of your final comment is even if your car was assembled in Germany (or S.Africa, Mexico, Thailand, China) then replacement components probably still come from China.

Edit: Changed CVA name.

They might. However the glass with the manufacturers logo on always seems better! Maybe the QC is better.

Gordy7

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#2885539 13-Mar-2022 12:08

I had a windscreen stone chip that was hidden by the wiper arm - could not find the cause of the loud bang initially.

Three days later I noticed a crack that had started moving up the screen.

Three weeks later after the repair shop first received a scratched new screen and then had to get another, the crack extended right up through the drivers view area.

Luckily the weather was good and I didn't use or damage the wipers.

Cause of the stone chip was a logging truck coming towards me.

Gordy

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Bung

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#2885541 13-Mar-2022 12:30

Gordy7:
Three days later I noticed a crack that had started moving up the screen.

Even if the chip isn't in a critical area get it repaired/replaced depending on your policy. A crack can start from the damaged area some random time later.

mudguard

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#2885545 13-Mar-2022 12:43

Gordy7:

I had a windscreen stone chip that was hidden by the wiper arm - could not find the cause of the loud bang initially.

Three days later I noticed a crack that had started moving up the screen.

Three weeks later after the repair shop first received a scratched new screen and then had to get another, the crack extended right up through the drivers view area.

That's what happened to me. It grew slowly. Then over lock down 2.0 without driving for a couple of weeks it grew about 60cm over one night. Unusually I'd left the car outside for a week, so I wonder if it was a temperature change.

I tend to go through a windscreen per year. However I was three years into this one and generally loathe to get them replaced, I insist on getting an OEM replacement rather than generic. In fact I've just had the replaced one, replaced, as for the four months I've had this awful wind noise. I'd taped the edges of the whole screen with 20cm of tape, and pulled a piece off per day to isolate where it was.

To be fair, the tech that did it (got replaced last week) spoke to me, said he did it originally and showed me where he'd made a mistake leaving two air gaps. Fingers crossed, new screen has been silent. I was in rental cars all of January (same car as mine) so did a few audio and video recordings. Mine was about 5dB louder above 75kmh but sounded like radio static.

You can see the big chip, I'd had that for about a year, then got the lower one against the scuttle/body and then it grew very quickly from there.

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Jase2985

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#2885583 13-Mar-2022 15:22

Read the VIRM

https://vehicleinspection.nzta.govt.nz/virms/in-service-wof-and-cof/general/vision/glazing#tab1

specifically the tables and images tab which shows the sizes of the chips and their locations for fail on a wof.

I would be getting a chip repair done on it if you can

Obraik

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#2885633 13-Mar-2022 18:10

Happened to my Tesla a couple months back. I took it to Novus and they put some goo in the crack and it's been fine ever since.

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danielparker

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#2885636 13-Mar-2022 18:38

Obraik:

Happened to my Tesla a couple months back. I took it to Novus and they put some goo in the crack and it's been fine ever since.

Could you see that the screen was repaired afterwards, or does the goo make it as good as new?

Obraik

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#2885644 13-Mar-2022 19:07

The crack is less visible but not as bad and in theory shouldn't spread.

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Geektastic

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#2886020 14-Mar-2022 15:07

Spoke to the insurer.

They said take it to the usual suspects to see if it can be repaired. If it can’t, book it into Mercedes’ to have the screen replaced.

Fortunately for them, it was repairable so as long as it passes its COF next month they get off lightly!