GenVibe - Community for Pontiac Vibe Enthusiasts

Well, I got my new windshield installed today. It had developed a 12" crack starting in the bottom drivers side. Insurance covered the whole thing. New windshield looks great. No wind noise or leaking that I can find. Took almost two weeks to get the gasket in to replace it.

Did you get a rock or it broken by itself, without any reason?

As far as I can tell, it just broke. I looked and looked for a place that a rock might have hit it, but found nothing. Neither could the glass guy. I still find it hard to believe that it would just break though.

If it broke by itself, without getting a hit, it should be under the warranty and not covered by your insurance. May be I'm wrong, but if your windshield had a default, it should be covered by your warranty.

Too hard to prove it wasn't a rock that hit it.

That is exactly what they said at Toyota. To hard to prove. No worry though, in South Carolina there is no deductible on glass and it does not affect your rates.

If you have 17" wheels/tires with the sunroof, body flex may have caused the crack. Just as a car with a frame will crack a windshield if the frame is broken or rusted out, driving this car under extreme conditions with the sunroof may be problematic. If it cracks again, I'd be concerned. GM will not even offer the sunroof with 17" wheels on the VIBE. Maybe this is why.

quote:GM will not even offer the sunroof with 17" wheels on the VIBE.They will next year.

quote:GM will not even offer the sunroof with 17" wheels on the VIBE.They will next year.They have probably engineered more reinforcements into the sunroof area to accomodate the 17" wheels for the next model year..

I don't get it? How can the size of your wheels impact the windshield or whether or not you have a sunroof? I was never able to understand that...

Grip and tire sidewall height. To add the sunroof, support bars in the roof must be removed. Removing the bars make the car more likely to twist. Add to that, lower profile tires that grip better and you get even more body twist. Also, since the overall diameter of the tires remain the same, when you add 1" taller tires you decrease the tire sidewall height by 1/2". A tire with 1/2" less sidewall height grips better but also absorbs less shock from bumps in the road. Think of it like running in dress shoes with a thin sole or running in sneekers that a thick sole. The thicker sole absorbs the impact better so your foot doesn't have to.

Never realized HOW much engineering is involved in a car. Amazing. Thanks for putting it so clearly!

GM did more research on the sunroof/17" rims and realized that they could make it with bigger than they thought. The new Vibe GXP should have 18" rims and a sunroof. I hope it comes out soon. I may have to trade mine when it comes available.

Oooh...GXP...I'm THERE baby!

It's very rare for a windshield to just break by itself, as most such occurences happen within the first week or two of having a new windshield in, when it's tested as far as stresses and adjustments.One of the easiest ways of checking for a rock chip (You may have already done this) is to run your fingernail down the crack. Your fingernail can feel the tiny miniscule imperfections that the eye can quite easily miss.