vintage42

http://www.myscionsucks.com/index.html

iyzmi

I foresee this being moved to the xB section...

Archngl

as do I.

ZOMGXB

[edited after i noticed i had stupidly addressed this post to the author of the website, when it was posted by a third-party. www.mybrainsucks.com ]

Full of lulz! This dude had better hope he doesn't get sued by any of the copyright holders of those images from the story. That would be kind of ironic.

I'm now hoping for another question to your FAQ: Sooooooooooo why hasn't MY windshield cracked yet? Temperature changes cause frame stress and windshield breaks, eh? Mine is driveway-kept, and has sat out in the sun, the snow, freezing rain, and every temperature from -25 to 108 degrees (and this is Chicago, so we're talking 3 months there, tops). sum1 expln plz??

Now, I'm not disputing that this particular Scion was posessed by Satan, which is why this dude won the Lemon Law case. But it's definitely accurate to call the site MY Scion Sucks, since 30K later and my Scion is still, quite conspiciously, not sucking.

I may email with another question...he let the same people put in the same glass after the same break, what, seven times? My now sister-in-law went through this same sort of nonsense with an Escort back in the day, and after the second time the replacement windshield broke, she found a new bodyshop. Problem solved itself after that. Too bad his pattern recognition isn't as good as his website.

Good luck with the new wheels! [ignore this part]

bB2NER

Yeah, my original glass has 2.5 years and 30 + k miles and only has 2 small chips and light pitting.
That site is def. sour grapes

xb_buyback

Sour grapes? Indeed it is. If you had to put up with the crap I had to with my xB you would be pretty upset as well. How about getting 4 new windshields in 2 weeks? Does that sound like time well spent to you? How about missing 3-4 days of work so you can hang around a service department on people who don’t even show up? If I can save someone the stress and headache I had to go through, or at least prepare them for it, then the site has served its purpose.

Yes, I have quite accurate pattern recognition as well. Safelite Auto Glass, who replaced my windshield, is a recommended glass provider by my insurance company. Not only did they install the glass, I watched them each and every time it was installed. They replaced the windshield with a two man crew and had no problems what-so-ever. I have watched many windshields be installed into cars and they were doing their job correctly. The real thing you should be asking is, why did both the OEM and third-party glass break? Why did it break in almost the same spot each time? And why, if it is not an issue, did Toyota/Scion tell me it was, but it isn't officially recognized? I have also added your question to the FAQ about your Scion in Chicago.

If any of the companies that owns the copyrights to the images contacts me I will gladly take them off the site. I am only using them to bring a bit of humor to a very bland and boring subject. I did update the copyright information at the bottom to include their use using the "fair use provisions". Maybe I will do some quick illustrations of the photos and place them on the site instead.

I have also heard the cars with the windshield issue tend to be 2006 models. I can't back this up other than a few posts on some message boards, but if you search for Windshield: Visibility issues on the NHTSA website and look under the model year 2006 they have 14+ complaints, I do not believe the other years have any.

I am also glad that your xB doesn't have any problems like that. I really did love my car and I waited almost two years before I purchased it doing research and the windshield issue never did come up. I hope that you never have to deal with anything as big of a headache as this xB mess was. I am certainly glad it is behind me, but I also want to help others as much as I can with my experience.

I want to thank you from dropping past the site and even though it didn't really help you or pertain to your cars I hope in the future if someone has a complaint about their windshield mysteriously cracking you will remember the site and point them in the right direction. I am not saying that every windshield that gets cracked has the stress crack issue, but if there was no impact and the windshield cracked on its own while not moving I would suspect something else might be going on.

xBster

Hmmmm...I have an '06...18 months, no cracks, no complaints. Sorry about your luck. Glad I wasn't included in the Statistics...

vintage42

It is presently in the Scion xB 1st-Gen Owners Lounge.
Do you mean it should be in the Aero & Exterior section (Aero parts and exterior dress items)?

YELOSUB

Well, I have never experienced STRESS cracks but I am on my 5th windshield due to impacts....Az roads SUCK!

stew32

The cracked windshield seems to be a fairly common occurrence with the xB. However, since there are many that do NOT have the problem, I'm not convinced it's a design flaw.

I'd take a good look at the install as the Toyota dealer wanted to do. My experience with windshield replacement people is that most of them do a poor job. I've had leaks around windshields, visibly defective glass, scratched paint, and mutilated weatherstripping. I doubt the installer followed the Toyota procedure to replace the windshield. The most obvious place to look is if they used new moulding. There are also two "stops" at the top of the windshield that supposed to be new with windshield replacement.

Why did the original windshield crack? No idea. Maybe it was damaged in transit, replaced before purchase and not installed correctly. I'd assume the dealer would have a glass place do the repair the same as anyone else.

brambling

I'm putting a lawyer on retainer just in case my windshield cracks!!

So the frame warps in the sun so much it causes the windshield to crack!? :? Doesn't the frame bend more when you're turning or hitting bumps in the road?

Sunny

Wait, he paid 25k for his xB? that's when he should have sued.

ShadowOnTheBayou

I had my '06.5 for less than a month before I got a crack going horizontally across my windsheild starting on the driver's side. It happened in December while I was doing 10mph on a road with no other cars.

The cold outside and heat inside combined with driving caused the glass to crack. I haven't even bothered getting it replaced yet because I know Toyota will give me the run around. I'm not going through the insurance company, either.

Tomas said that he had good luck with Fuiya (I think that's the name) glass after his had cracked.

There certainly is a design flaw in this car.

YELOSUB

^^^nk, lol...I bet he was having "frame bending" due to the panoramic sun roof they installed...

ZOMGXB

Gah, you answered my question! Are you allowed to DO that on the Internets?!

Well, that makes sense, since there's a lot of people here who don't have cracked windshields. Your was definitely highly defective. As I said before, it was a lemon. That's why you won.

This is the first time I have said this on this forum, but it geniuinely seems like there was something seriously wrong with the car in this case. Nothing else makes sense. I can't find anything bad on SafeLite. I've heard that a lot of companies use sub-par replacement 3rd party glass, but even still that should have gotten you through more than the weekend. The car had something wrong with it.

I'm sorry you had to go through MONTHS of crap, but unfortunately every lemon-buyback I've ever heard of has gone that way. It totally sucks, but it just comes down to money - they'll fight until you win a lawsuit. That's why lemon laws exist. I hate to say it, but it could have been worse - a guy I went to school with had the same thing happen on his brand-new Cavalier's autotrans. If you think having the windshield replaced every month sucks, try having the transmisison replaced every month.

Your model-year answer brings me to another question... Can the company really call it a "defect" if it only affects certain cars? I mean, like, even though there was obviously a nail or something stuck right through the frame in yours, it wouldn't make sense for them to issue a recall or anything if it was one bad day at the Scion factory. I can see why they'd be especially reluctant, when I bet every third day some moron comes rolling into the dealership with a tack hammer stuck through the windshield and the same 20 pages of printouts. To give an inch, in this case, is to get sued for a mile.

I will say that you must be the most reasonable human being alive, because if I went through what YOU went through, I'd be a raving, foaming maniac. Obviously YOUR car had something sinisterly wrong with it, so to have someone go LOL STAY AWAY FROM TRUCKS would make me insane.

Lastly...I hope you do website design for a living, because if not: you should. It's damn fine!

vintage42

*His xB and many others caused their windshields to crack in situations where most cars don't. All the xBs have the same thing "wrong" with them, whether a crack has occured yet or not.
*He did not win a lawsuit because he did not sue. His lawyer merely informed Scion about the evidence he had collected.
*His car had the same defect that we all have, and we are all subject to having the problem.
*Scion cannot recall the xBs because there is no "fix" possible, and no admission of the problem, either.
*Scion realized it was much cheaper to re-purchase the car under the lemon law, and re-sell it, than to admit in a lawsuit that there was a design defect, and pay for that owner's 8 windshields plus hundreds or thousands of past and future windshields like Honda did for the Element. That is because there are no continuing 1st Gen xB sales to offset the cost.

The Windshield Website indicates that for that reason (i.e. no more 1st Gen xBs) the class action lawsuit that worked for Elements will not work for the xB. Scion is going to only deal with the problem one owner at a time , and some may not get satisfaction.

brambling

It is possible to measure the strain of the glass...just install some strain gauges and take readings before and after installation. Toyota's Service Manual details the factory recommended procedure for replacing the glass correctly.

I feel like I'm reading the stories about how cell phones are killing all the bees... I've got a beehive in a tree in my backyard, and a flood light on a pole near it. I'm thinking of running an extension cable, hanging the cell phone next to the entrance to the hive. In a few days I should be over my bee problem, right!?

As far as a "design defect," well, this was made in Japan as a city car. In America we make daily 80MPH commutes weaving around construction equipment caked in mud and gravel...

bB2NER

I still think the DC strut brace would help in the windshield cracking deptment.
Another reason for them cracking might be the fact that the vehicle didn't get to "sit" while the adhesive fully cured. Whenever I have a windshield replaced the car doesn't move an inch for atleast 48 hrs.

xb_buyback

I hear you there. I thought the same thing as well. I had curing times everywhere from 4hours-72hours. I had the windshield replaced one Friday morning and didn't drive the car until Monday morning. Well, when I got in the car there was already a crack and the car hadn't even moved.

Very possible, but the other cars that are having the same issue, with the same crack, do not have sunroofs. The regional rep who looked at the car didn't even bat his eyes when he saw that I had one. This was also installed at the dealership before I purchased the car.

Thanks! I appreciate that very much!!

vintage42

My xB is a year old with 12,000 miles. It has a sunroof and no strut brace:
http://s49.photobucket.com/albums/f2...%20and%20Dash/
I have driven it fast over rough roads, and the car is tight and handles well. I tried a strut brace for a few thousand miles, and sold it. It did nothing and interfered with servicing.
I think the windshield has not cracked because I keep it garaged, don't wash it when its hot, and have not had anything hit the windshield that I could hear.