I got my paperwork today concerning a lawsuit filed in the state of CA, Bauer vs. Toyota, that has something to due with the windshield on our xB's having a tendency to crack prematurely.

Seem that anyone that went to the Toyota dealer and took their car in for a windshield crack that seemed to come from nowhere, it part of the lawsuit. The plaintiffs (Bauer) lawyers made
Toyota give the names and address of anyone who came in complaining of cracks.

From what I understand the paperwork to read, Toyota took your name and address and phone number from the list and only supplied the number of people and their location due to a privacy concern.

The paperwork is an authorization for Toyota to release your complete name, address, and phone to the lawyers so that they may contact you. Which I plan to do !!

This is great news!!! Finally something may be done about our cracking windshield problem!!

My story:
About 2 years ago I was just driving along (the only one on the road) and my windshield cracked right before my eyes. I took it in to the dealer and they checked it out. The service manager came back with a magnifying glass and said a rock hit the windshield and caused it to crack. He then showed me this little nick that was not visible to the naked eye and you could only see it under the magnifying glass. After he did this I knew he was a liar and I was beat. Now with this lawsuit, maybe he will finally get his.

Thank you Bauer........ whoever you are.

 

Wow... My window is still going strong! I hope it stays that way!

 

3+ years 79K miles still factory windshield a couple chips but no cracks yet.


Scott

 

mine cracked but had safelite change it and now it will not stop leaking..safelite has allready put in 2 and still leaking looks like #3 is next ..i got this streak thats permantly stuck on the inside of my window thats so annoying..

 

my girls tC window is cracking and she only has 12 thousand miles on it

 

when i bought mine used, the windshield leaked. took it in 3 times before i insisted on a NEW windshield. a couple months after they changed it, it cracked from end to end, with no chip. then, another big one, with no chip. and now, a big one from a chip. Sucks!

 

my windshield cracked too from nothing. from the bottom center upward at the bottom edge of the glass. i was very frustrated. wish there was something in the the state of washington going on for this.

 

My windshield looks like a damn war zone 3 or 4 chips, one C shaped crack from a rock as big as my fist that came off the the back of a dump truck, and two M&M sized spider webs from pebbles. THIS GUY isn't changing it out until the day before he gets the car re-inspected (yearly in VA) and then I am going to look at selling it. I have the worst damn luck ever with vehicles, dents, dings, tires, and windshields. I finally owe less than what this car is worth and need a bigger car. Sticking to Toyota so no worries there.

 

mine looks like the lunar surface and cracked

 

my Tc's window has a big ___ crack in it

 

I HAD a link that I was going to post from a car forum, from a few more people who have gotten the same letter...but the thread is full of morons.

I stopped reading after "I hear 1 to 2 complaints a week about the newer model, so this is clearly not fixed on the 2009's." If these people think that Toyota would just happen to engineer the same problem into two unrelated vehicles, then we have nothing to learn from them.

Something that just occurred to me: How come nobody's hired some kind or forensics expert to examine these windshields? We basically have circumstantial evidence and personal testimony on either side (dealer vs. owners). Any civil lawyer would require proof.

It's well known that a rock chip can take months to turn into a full-blown crack, as the glass heats up, cools down, and changes shape, so even witness testimony isn't going to go very far. My brother has a crack in the windshield of his Saturn that gets half an inch longer every month or so. I'm not saying anybody is wrong, but this is why nobody is getting results.

A microscopic examination would make a rock chip - or lack thereof - academic. The lack of a chip would provide strong REAL evidence of a stress crack. Anything else is basically inadmissable.

If anyone is in a position to do this, it would be a huge help in your case. Someone try it!

 

Good call.... As for the scientific approach to the windshield... Anyone who has ever skipped a rock accross the top of pond water can get this one.... our windshields are too upright, and the glass is to thin / weak to absorb the force of a rock coming at it. The "crackzone" is about 6 inches up fron the bottom and below 5 inches from the top of the windshield. Anything bigger than a skittle that doesn't crack your windshield you are a lucky ****. If anyone's reading this and you've been fortunate enough to evade being hit from a rock so far... when it happens I recommend keeping some baby wipes in the car because that $hit is so loud I almost crapped myself.

 

4 years and 2 months later, my '05 still has the original windshield. I have a small chip in it from a rock kicked up by a truck but so far so good.

 

my mothers EF civic goes through 2 or 3 windshields a year
and sambar never broke one and we used to live in alberta
where the cold winter and MASIVE amounts of sand is dumped on the roads

 

That sounds about what mine did also.

This lawsuit, from what I can figure out, is nation wide. It only concerns the people who went to the dealer and complained. This is all new and I'll let everyone know any details I find out.

In the mean time, I suggest going to the dealer and complain, if you have one of those cracks that seem to come from nowhere.

 

You are correct. And this is what I tried to tell the dealer, in my case.

There was no chip, and the only thing I could determine was a stress crack. And when the dealer brought out a magnifier and told me it was a chip, I knew I was licked.

Funny thing, just like you said in your post, right above the crack, about 6 inches away, was a chip. It did not crack.

I used to have a Jeep CJ-7. Talk about a vehicle that sucked rocks into the windshield !!! That thing was straight up and down !!! So I understand that our xB's have a grater tendancy to have rock chips in the glass.

I do not understand the reason they crack without a cause, though.

 

I don't see why this would be difficult to prove one way or the other with the right equipment. A crack associated with an impact will have a very clear impact crater. A stress crack would have clean (relatively) edges all the way up and down.

I'm not talking about a magnifying glass here. I'm talking about a microscope. With forensics being what they are these days, I'm sure it's possible. I realize it would be expensive, but for people who are on their 4th or 5th windshields, it could be worth it. If we're at the point where we're suing the company, somebody should quit assuming and PROVE.

I imagine an expert opinion would go a hell of a long way in this sort of case...to have someone who's studied glass fractures for 20 years say conclusively "No, this glass was not struck by an object anywhere along the fracture line" would basically win the case for you. LOL, assuming he doesn't say "Nope, here's your impact!"

 

I'm on my 13th or 14th windsheild in 1 year, the original I had a stone come through and land in the passenger seat, all but 1 of the replacements were replaced due to the installer's ____ty work

 

Jesus do you drive through Lebanon on your morning commute?

 

no, only 2 were busted, the others glass pro installed