My roof was closed when it shattered, so there goes your theory...

 

Any device that deploys specifically to deflect something away should be able to withstand the expected impacts at any speeds within the normal operating range of the vehicle...

 

If you have read this statement it says any vehicle built between March 04 and July 05, which means if you look at the driver side door where the Vin is located with the gross vehicle wieght ect. it will have a production date, if the car was produce during or after 08/05 you will be fine, just because you bought it in August doesn't mean that it has had the SSC applied, do us all a favor and just look, 08/05 or later your Ok 07/05 or earlier you will be receiving a letter. To the next hand, this is a Wind deflector not a rock deflector and it does do its job in this sense, yes Toyota did not take in account that maybe a rock would hit that thing fast enough to shatter the glass, but like your wind shield it is glass and anything traveling at a fast enough speed, with enough force will break the glass, and we pay our insurance companies the money we do every month to cover us from having to come out of pocket for these every day occurrences, the vehicle was built to US standards and the glass that is used meets all requirements. To the laminate, it is placed under the wind deflector and it will not stop the glass from breaking but it will stop it from falling in your lap. This is all Toyota is trying to prevent as they will be liable if you get injured. Stop complaining and realize that stuff happens, people don’t think far enough ahead, and at this point they are trying to fix it as much as possible. On to the Rattles, look forward to future SSC for these problems, your angry words are not being missed and or forgotten about, the technical team is looking into these issues and working towards future ease of all these problems. If you have a problem after this is all said in done, don’t buy this car or go get a different one, every vehicle has its little issues, mine has had a high pitch whistling noise since the day I’ve bought it, and after 30,000 miles I have a field technician doing his best to find and fix the problem. I will bring my camera to work on Tuesday and take a picture of the laminate they are talking about, I have a vehicle on my show room that has this done from the factory, (to those that don’t understand, it was built during or after 8/05).

~Ben~

 

hmmm, matte black? Does this mean that the laminate isn't transparent?

BTW, There's a good reason that tempered glass is used in all windows of the car but the forward facing glass. Tempered glass is much more resistant to cracking than laminated glass. Tempering puts the surface in compression, which means that rock impacts are less likely to cause damage.

The downside of this is that when the impact is severe enough to cause damage to the glass, the entire glass fails. The interior of the glass is in tension, so any crack that gets through the outer layer of glass will immediately propogage throughout the glass, turning it into kibbles.

Tempered glass used to be used in windshields, as it was better than plain glass in break resistance and safety. However, when tempered glass windshields did break the entire windshield dropped in the driver's lap. Laminated glass eliminated this problem. However, laminated glass cracks with less impact than tempered glass, a fact that many Scion owners have reason to lament. If laminated glass were used in side and rear windows they would be damaged much more often and by lesser impacts than they presently are.

The article cited earlier in this thread concerning the Canadian professor who wants laminated glass required in all glass had a couple of fallacies in it. The professor used a 5-pound rock to simulate a child's head hitting the tempered glass pane. This was dramatic for the news cameras, but not realistic. The reason that the rock shattered the tempered glass easily is because it applied a highly concentrated point load, something a flesh-covered skull can't do nearly as well. The fact is that if an unprotected head hits a tempered glass window hard enough to shatter the window, being ejected from the car will be the least of the victim's worries. He will most likely die of head trauma, not the ejection.

George

 

In the clear!!! I just went to check for the MFG Date and it said 9/05. How long does it take to build a tC anyways??

 

y don't scion just replace the whole glass roof to plastic with some scratch resistance coating (like on some of our glasses that we use to read or see). Lighter, and no safty hazard.

 

Even "scratch resistant" plastic will scratch more than most customers want. Ask anyone who has had a plastic windshield on a motorcycle.

George

 

For the same weight, a clear plastic roof would not have the rigidity or strength of tempered glass, and would not only be a weaker chassis element, but would likely "drum" from the airflow over it.

(Also, to fit the top of the vehicle without major changes, the plastic would have to be the same thickness as the original glass, which would bmake it lighter, but much weaker.)

Aside from man-made sapphire, or the new 'transparent aluminum', tempered glass is about the overall strongest 'clear' material we have.

Too bad transparent aluminum is so expensive...

(Transparent aluminum is not just in Star Trek IV, but in the USAF labs... USAF News.)

 

Hey, Detroit is trying to make a big deal out of this:

http://www.freep.com/money/autonews/...e_20051020.htm

I hope this isn't pleasure at another's misfortune? How low would that be?

I guess its just a straight reporting of the unvarnished facts...

 

hey Tomas!! That transparent aluminum is awesome! it uses it as a "strike plate" and can resist sand and knicks.. uses glass as a 2nd bonded material.. wow.. very cool stuff you found!

And yeah I do remember Star Trek IV when Scottie was trying to talk to that Macintosh computer.. to tell it how to make transparent aluminum.. lol

But I wonder how long it is before this commercially available for cars.. Very cool stuff, I want some!

 

As being one of the three open and active reports with the NHTSA - Case #10119997 Action Number PE05021. Think I will get my $832.87 back I paid for a Glass SUB-ASSY. SLID replacement?

Mine broke on April 26th of this year while I was driving down the road.

When I was dealing with this initally the dealer pretty much told me to eat it because in their eyes it was not their problem the wind deflector broke.

Getting the recall news has made my day.

 

actually yeah i think you should, now that toyota has admitted there is a problem with the sunroof.. if nhtsa does a recall it's guaranteed you'd get your money back, but at this stage, you might tell scion customer service you want your money back.. see what they do.. I would say a lawyer would be your last resort.

But yes they should pay you back, since they now admit a problem..

 

i went to the dealer 9am saturday morning to get my 5,000 mile service done. figured i'd be out by 11 the latest. well i ended up leaving at 2:30!!! turns out they decided to take care of this sunroof recall. i'm glad they did it, but damn it took forever. good thing longo has a starbucks and subway on location!

 

Reads like a straight news story to me. Might be helpful for those tC owners who don't read SL!

George

 

So what did they do exactally? Did they put something on the top side or under the wind deflector? I dont see putting something on the outside taking that long...

EDIT: NVM, I read some of the previous posts!

 

ok, i don't get it. it says my tC was made 10/04 so i'd be up for the recall. but my vin is JTKDE177150026019 . according to the earlier post, my vin isn't covered in the range. i guess i'll wait for the post card

 

It looks like you VIN is right in the range, no problem...
(yours is underlined)

'05 ***DE167**0001012 - 0063405

'05 ***DE177**0001011 - 0026019 - 0063402

'06 ***DE167**0067193 - 0072437

'06 ***DE177**0063406 - 0072439

 

oh ok, i got consfused, i guess the 0's should be replaced with x's, thanks

 

Lemme do one more listing of just part of the range, OK?

***DE177**0001011
***DE177**0026019
***DE177**0063402

Your's (JTKDE177150026019) really does fit right in, "0s" and all.

 

yeah, i thought they were going to put something on the outside from the stuff i read on here earlier, you know, like a rockblocker type of thing. put no. it's goes on the inside so they have to remove that whole piece. funny thing is, i had complained about a metal click sound that my sunroof makes the first time i open it, and only the first time after it's been sitting for a while. they said that this recall was supposed to take care of that, but i didn't see how because when you first open the sunroof to that first position, it doesn't move that wind deflector at all. anyways, my point is i still hear that metal click coming from the drivers side when i open the sunroof to the first position. does anyone else have this problem? i know it didn't do it before.