Rear Window Explosion

[Mojo72]

The rear window exploded while I was driving this morning. Thankfully I had already dropped my daughter off at school, but I'm still wondering how this could have happened. The weather was cold at about 15 degrees ambient with the wind chill hovering around zero and I was driving on a normal paved road when the BOOM happened. The safety glass worked as designed with all the glass shards falling directly into the cargo bay and not on the back seat. I don't believe I was hit by anything so I'm left wondering if the back defrost caused it.

[tpollauf]

I guess it was your Vibe's turn to "blow" a window It seems like this happens to a few of us every year. Some under the extreme heat of the summer, and others during the extreme cold of the winter. Here's one of a few posts where it happened to other GenVibers: viewtopic.php?f=11&t=29541&p=333605&hil ... ss#p333605" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[lannvouivre]

I can hardly wait for it to happen to me!

[vibolista]

May want to shut off the rear window heat when the temperatures drop really low.

I've never had that happen to me in any car and I've driven in -35 to -40 F air temps (wind chill has no significant effect on inanimate objects, although it will help strip away heat you are trying to make in a running vehicle). In those kinds of temperatures, it felt like the whole car was going to shatter. Seats get rock hard, springs and shocks don't deflect much and tire's flat spots take about 10 miles or more driving to fade away. Engines and transmissions make painful noises that you would never hear under more normal conditions. Quite the interesting experience, but wouldn't really care to do it again anytime soon!

[sam]

My rear window blew today 2-3-13 I'm in Cleveland No temperatures below 8 this year. Garage kept. Had my 04 out in 24 degrees today. Light snow Rear wiper and defroster on for one hour. Rear window was in place for whole trip. Parked at home One hour later returned to garage to haul out snow blower.Temp same 25 degrees Window shattered. Unheated garage. Began the calls services Quoted 290-330 for glass and install. We'll see the final tomorrow
Sam

[Mojo72]

That sucks! I thought I was getting away pretty good with Safelite Auto Glass replacing the rear glass at $255.40 with my USAA discount until they found the rear wiper assembly corroded to the point where the motor and wiper arm couldn't be saved. Now I'm looking at an ADDITIONAL $626.85 for an entire new motor, armature, and misc. parts to restore the back window, wiper, and defroster. Yea, this is going to my comprehensive coverage. A friend of mine thinks that micro cracks developing over the life of the glass might have set the stage for the rear defroster to trigger the massive fracture. Anybody have any theories that they want to share?

[tpollauf]

Anybody have any theories that they want to share?

Hmmmmm. No theories BUT I'm glad the 2nd gen Vibes have "fixed glass" on the hatch The likeliehood of one of those blowing out would be slim to none! The fact that the first gen Vibes have operable glass just means more constant movement, plus several open/close procedures for those that use that feature. It's possible that it is related to the "looseness" of the glass compared to the rigidity of fixed glass. Just a theory

[A Psycho Martyr]

This is nuts!
I've never seen this one here before....
now I'm all scared to use my defrost.lol
Good thing I'm in Bama. Weather doesn't get TOO extreme here,
just humid as heck and hot

[sam]

I got through my blown rear window last Week I got the beast in to a Ford dealer The glass gut had to come and do it No one in their body shop can replace Windows I tested the wiper and 3rd brake light before signing off on $460 So My 200 plus insurance The next day The door ajar light was stuck on The remote didn't work or the wiper I went back. My stupidity. Did you know the rear window is hinged? I didn't Thought it was a fixed glass like a Caravan Shut the window Turn off door ajar Turn on wipers and remote I think the thing was half open in the first place and hit a bump(s) breaking it. Nothing like knowing your own car or paying 200 bucks to find out Dumb.

Sam

[A Psycho Martyr]

hahaa....

man that's rough

[Mojo72]

Safelite completed the repair on February 16th with the installation of the wiper motor, rear defrost, and wiper arm assemblies. Even after reusing the old defroster controller and wiper arm, the final bill before deductible was $1,107.36. Ouch!! That's just about half of the total maintenance/repair dollars I've invested in my Vibe since buying it used in January 2008. Well, it's still been a very good car and with just over 128,100 miles on the odometer, I now have even more incentive to drive it past 200,000 miles.

[maaadtrip]

$1100 for the rear glass and wiper?! I can't help thinking it would be far less to rip it out of a write-off or parter at a scrap yard. It doesn't look like it would be tough to 'plug n play' another window.

[Blanco_Diablo]

You could just follow Brandon's (A Psycho Martyr) tutorial on how to remove the rear wiper assembly and roll without it. Would save you a lot of cash over something that I have never found to be all that useful... my back wiper always just seems to smudge everything on the rear window.

[trb]

WOW that is a crazy price! I just looked on http://www.car-part.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; in Michigan and used windows start at about $100 and a complete rear hatch starts at about $300 with the window and wiper and everything. Glad I can swap out anything myself if my son has any problems with his 06 Vibe.

[kostby]

Here's another thread I contributed to: viewtopic.php?f=11&t=34222&hilit=+safelite#p382658" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Mine shattered in July 2011.

And that thread contains a link to another thread from 2004: http://forums.genvibe.com/zerothread?id=13678" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[A Psycho Martyr]

Just found out that the Hyundai Veloster's Panoramic sunroof is doing this too.lol

[Mojo72]

WOW that is a crazy price! I just looked on http://www.car-part.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; in Michigan and used windows start at about $100 and a complete rear hatch starts at about $300 with the window and wiper and everything. Glad I can swap out anything myself if my son has any problems with his 06 Vibe.

Thanks for the link to Car-Part.com! If my out of pocket wasn't limited to the insurance deductible, I probably would have gone in that direction.