re: Cracked Windshields on CX-5's and Poll

[yrwei52]

Does Your Windshield Have A Crack Caused By Stress Fracture?

I have the SCB.... Maybe that's why my quote is so high

Some OEM windshield has all the sensors pre-glued on the glass hence the price is high.

If you cracked your windshield by a stone and it's small (like within 1.5" in diameter?), try to repair it first. I have a local guy repair a stone crack on our CR-V and the result is very satisfactory!

If you feel it's a stress crack, may be you can try to get it replaced by the new car warranty?

 

[stevins]

Yea... My crack is a foot long and it was a stress crack.

 

[Kedis82ZE8]

Do you have the Smart City Brake system? Im getting a quote from Safelite for $750.

For some reason they show Forward Collision Alert along with SCBS for the '15. If you drop off FCA ('16 option) it drops price down to $519.95

 

[stevins]

For some reason they show Forward Collision Alert along with SCBS for the '15. If you drop off FCA ('16 option) it drops price down to $519.95

Interesting thanks! Also coupon code GLASS20 gives another $20 off

 

[Rarebit]

Non-identical products can meet standards. Some barely meet a standard, but still pass. Others exceed the standard, and some by a lot, but they all pass the standard. It is conceivable that Mazda windshields meet the standard yet are inferior to windshields in other cars. Note that I'm not making any claims about this one way or another. I'm simply stating something that should be obvious. I've yet to see a standard that says "no better than . . . "

 

[MikeM.]

Non-identical products can meet standards. Some barely meet a standard, but still pass. Others exceed the standard, and some by a lot, but they all pass the standard. It is conceivable that Mazda windshields meet the standard yet are inferior to windshields in other cars. Note that I'm not making any claims about this one way or another. I'm simply stating something that should be obvious. I've yet to see a standard that says "no better than . . . "

Absolutely, and that was my point in response to the claim that CX-5 windshields in Taiwan are identical to US CX-5 windshields because they passed the same standards.

 

[yrwei52]

Does Your Windshield Have A Crack Caused By Stress Fracture?

Yea... My crack is a foot long and it was a stress crack.

And the crack is from the upper middle sensor area?

Interesting thanks! Also coupon code GLASS20 gives another $20 off

So your CX-5 is out of new car warranty? Even if it does, I'd try to show Mazda with all the info here and from Taiwan to argue the problem you have is manufacture defect.

 

[yrwei52]

Does Your Windshield Have A Crack Caused By Stress Fracture?

Non-identical products can meet standards. Some barely meet a standard, but still pass. Others exceed the standard, and some by a lot, but they all pass the standard. It is conceivable that Mazda windshields meet the standard yet are inferior to windshields in other cars. Note that I'm not making any claims about this one way or another. I'm simply stating something that should be obvious. I've yet to see a standard that says "no better than . . . "

Absolutely, and that was my point in response to the claim that CX-5 windshields in Taiwan are identical to US CX-5 windshields because they passed the same standards.

If you compare windshields among different car models which have same certification then of course they may have totally different quality depending on design and specification. But we're talking about the same part from the same manufacture - Mazda, although it actually made by other venders. So you're implying that Mazda used different grade of parts under the same part numbers and exported to other countries? If that is the case, it proves my suspicion that quality on each part from Mazda is not consistent, hence makes huge discrepancy among different CX-5 owners on many aspects. Such as you're lucky enough having a pretty sturdy windshield whereas stevins' developed a stress crack within 2 years like many CX-5 owners did in the US and Taiwan. Or you don't have seat rail issue but KCSam and Speedie95 do. Speedie95 even experienced a bad replacement rail and needs a replacement replacement rail!

And remember Mazda of Taiwan has admitted the windshield on '13~'15 CX-5 is indeed inferior and prone to crack after the protest! Mazda of Taiwan claimed all 2016 CX-5's imported from Japan have stronger windshield and they also offer free replacement if the windshield developed a stress crack on older model years of CX-5.

 

[stevins]

And the crack is from the upper middle sensor area?

Yes, the crack starts from the top/middle of the windshield and goes about halfway down, don't think it goes in front of the sensor.

 

[yrwei52]

Does Your Windshield Have A Crack Caused By Stress Fracture?

Yes, the crack starts from the top/middle of the windshield and goes about halfway down, don't think it goes in front of the sensor.

It seems most stress crack on CX-5 windshield developed from upper middle sensor area. Since Typhoon Soudelor is right on top of my current place and I have some spare time to do some research. Here is what I've found from NHTSA website with number of complaints filed against Mazda CX-5:

Mazda CX-5	# of Visibility Related Complaints	# of Total Complaints	Percentage
2013	10	60	17%
2014	70	97	72%
2015	8	23	35%
2016	4	4	100%

As we can see here, majority of complaints are visibility related among 18 categories you can choose for complained parts and almost ALL of them are windshield cracks from visibility related complaints! Other complaints under different categories, if any, are mostly single digit number of complaints.

Just for comparison purpose, I checked 2014 Honda CR-V and 6 out of 140 total complaints are visibility related. Among the 6, none of them is windshield related! 4 of them are wiper issues, 1 for sunroof, and 1 for distorted outside rear view mirror! I also checked 2014 Toyota RAV4 and 1 out of 17 total complaints (what a good quality!) is visibility related. Again the single visibility complaint is related to wiper!

To me, this is overwhelming evidence to show that there are issues on CX-5 windshield!

And stevins you should report your windshield issue to NHTSA too and take these evidences to Mazda dealer and try to get free replacement for your cracked windshield especially if you still have warranty!

 

[TW00Si]

I don't frequent the forum but I'm glad I found this thread. The '14 CX-5 GT with tech package didn't see too many miles the first year but now it's got around 14k. Just this past weekend coming back from a road trip, my wife noticed that a crack developed from the center, starting from the very top of the windshield and making its way down the center and around the plastic enclosure. At first she called Safelight and had progressive on the phone to have an appointment scheduled and replacement put in for an estimate of $386. I knew this was way too cheap for a windshield so I asked her to call again to find out if it's OEM, obviously it wasn't. OEM estimate is at $720. A claim has been filed now with progressive and the oem windshield is in order. But now, I think I need to call the dealership and see if I can get this covered under warranty after reading about the same issue happening.

 

[Brucifer]

2016 CX-5 GT with Tech Package with 1000 miles. Star fracture on lower driver side from rock. Safelight sealed.

Only posted in case windshield stress could be cause for easier rock damage. I understand each incident is special.

Didn't answer poll because can't confirm if stress related.

 

[ALafya]

My windshield instantly cracked 16 inches, probably from an impact by a small rock. There is a crater and there was a sound but it was not that loud compared with other impact sounds I heard before.
Looks to me that the windshield *is* brittle. While this is the only high profile vehicle I owned, never did I had any vehicle windshield crack in many years of driving except one small crater which was fixed with resin once about 10 years ago. I did definitely experience many impacts, some way louder than today's, none of which left anything except maybe small pit marks.

I can only say that going in, I suspected an increased risk and made sure there is 0 deductible. We'll see how long it will take to get it fixed.

 

[Kedis82ZE8]

I just want to say I am not disputing anyone's experience here. Just my personal experience as I don't seem to have as much as a micro chip on my windshield. I am surprised because my other cars have 20+ ding repairs. I dropped the comp deductible to the floor as a proactive measure. Assuming we get some snow this winter in the mountains and CX-5 makes it through this winter without a ding going over the passes I will bring back up to the typical $500-$1K deductibles I normally carry.

 

[AF_Bob]

I also changed my comp deductible from $500 to $100 after reading numerous posts about cracked windshields. Even a dealer I visited in Marietta, GA said they had seen 2015s with cracks but no 2016s and they have been out a while so I'm hoping that problem is fixed.

 

[ALafya]

New OEM windshield installed today. Would have cost ~$660, if I had no coverage.
Installation took 30 min and the installer said that now days they are made thinner to save weight, so it is not uncommon for them to crack in this manner and that even a small hit could make them crack in this way.

I found it interesting that no star shape appeared on the glass around the point of impact, except for the small impact pit, only a single long crack appeared instantly at the time of the hit. The installer said this can even happen because of my weight at the driver seat, since there was no passenger with me.

 

[Kedis82ZE8]

New OEM windshield installed today. Would have cost ~$660, if I had no coverage.
Installation took 30 min and the installer said that now days they are made thinner to save weight, so it is not uncommon for them to crack in this manner and that even a small hit could make them crack in this way.

I found it interesting that no star shape appeared on the glass around the point of impact, except for the small impact pit, only a single long crack appeared instantly at the time of the hit. The installer said this can even happen because of my weight at the driver seat, since there was no passenger with me.

Independent or national shop install?

 

[ALafya]

Independent or national shop install?

Advanced Auto Glass, a local independent. I found them on Yelp and called them up on Sunday (yes, they answered the phone). On Monday morning they said they could install it the same day, as the windshield was available in stock. I had them scheduled for the next day, while I ensured they can directly invoice my insurance, by calling my agent.
They came to my workplace and fixed it while I was on lunch, after I opened the doors for them. I only had to remove tapes few hours after the installation. Life-time warranty for the work.

 

[yrwei52]

re: Cracked Windshields on CX-5's and Poll

... the installer said that now days they are made thinner to save weight, so it is not uncommon for them to crack in this manner and that even a small hit could make them crack in this way.

Although this might be true, but from overwhelming number of complaints for cracked windshield on CX-5 from NHTSA data, considering much less total number of CX-5s sold in the US comparing to Honda CR-Vs and Toyota RAV4s, there is no doubt to me Mazda CX-5 has much weaker windshield than everybody else!

 

[msazone]

Sadly I am not going to consider any Mazda anymore. Got my new 2016 Mazda CX-5 2 months ago and recently made a friend to get one too. Just few days back the windshield was cracked from the top center down to the middle of the glass like a S shape. Was driving not fast and didn't hear or see any rock hit. Brought to the dealer and he said it was a rock damage. He showed me the dent was like a super small pencil dot and said it's not covered by the warranty. I have other cars and those windshields have many larger dents but have never been an issue. The windshield is poor and weak. It's not a shield. It's just a piece of poor quality glass. Talked with my insurance agent. She was surprise that a windshield can be that poor and mentioned that Honda does cover this kind of issue especially for a brand new car. She thanked to me for the information said would never get a Mazda. I really should get a CR-V instead before.