Shattered Headlight lenses!!??!!

[Mntnbkr]

Well the 5 was in the local dealership for a few days for a few odds and ends last week - including the dreaded rear suspension clunk - after new bushings, filing down the welding burr on the coil spring, AND a new rear right shock/strut, all is almost entirely better - it is actually a car I enjoy driving again and no longer sounds like a taxi suspension with 200,000 miles on it ---

EXCEPT...when I got home to check out/admire the 5 (wife had picked it up while I was at work) only to find both headlight lenses shattered. They are both partially shattered- not all the way through the lens because when I washed the 5 it did not seem like any water got it. I'm sure it is screwing up the light diffusion from the projector and it looks like crap.

It definitely happened while at the shop and for lack of actual knowledge, I would say it is vandalism, but I'm amazed that there would be no other damage to the car - not even the hood around the lights. The other possibility that I STRONGLY suspect is frontal impact - either from/into another vehicle or into a packing stop (there are some deep gouges and yellow paint on the underside of the front bumper/dam, but other than hairline stress cracks in the paint by the lower inside corner of the foglight "boxes" there is no other damage and I would be amazed that all the impact force/energy would be tranferred into the lenses without something else showing damage or misallignment.

My wife took it back to the dealership today and the manager and service guru were helpful, but the only thing they could come up with is that they might have cracked due to heat put off by the bulbs (which I have changed to Sylvania Silverstar Ultras - NOT HID and by no means a hot bulb - especially since it is on the other side of the projector lens. The car has less than 25,000 miles on it and most of that is day travel (i.e. no headlights on)... A good idea, but unless the Stanley lens is absolute junk - highly improbably...Stanley has made how many billion headlight lenses successfully??

Now they want us to bring the car back next week to show the Mazda rep/district manager - fine if this helps us reach resolution, but we are getting tired of making trips to the dealership.

Does anyone have any thought or ideas or experience on this - impact ? or heat ? or?

Thanks for reading and thanks in advance for any feedback.

 

[njaremka]

pics? i would bet something hit them, and the dealer doesnt want to cover them.

 

[Mntnbkr]

Agreed - especially since they replaced the battery and that is behind the drivers side lens - they could have hit it with the battery. The odd thing is that it is BOTH headlights (pass side to a lesser degree). I don't think it is the typical vehicle to vehicle type hit since the headlights are well back from the leading edge of the car would have hit the bumper or hood first. Could it be from a hit flexing the whole bumper assembly?
Pics are on the camera at home - should be able to get them tonight.

 

[deepfry]

The lens on a stock headlamp made by Stanley would crack due to heat from a halogen bulb that meets or exceeds OEM standards?

You just have to give credit to dealership for their creative thinking when it comes to finding excuse.

Can you tell if the cracks started from the inside or from the outside of the lens glass? Any signs of an impact point?

 

[Mntnbkr]

Agreed - sounds bogus...'A' for creativity. But if it gets the headlights replaced, that's all I care about. Whatever helps them sleep at night.
The cracks originate from the outside and do not go all the way through the plastic - approx halfway I would guess. Most cracks are at a pretty shallow angle Possible impact point on drivers side but not overly obvious - none apparent on pass side. NOT from road debris as there is no damage to the hood or other front body panels. A quick and very precise 'pop' from a baseball bat is the best explanation...but not likely.
?

 

[Mntnbkr]

Bump...
Has this happened to anyone? - especially anyone involved in a minor front end accident? I really wonder if that collision force is being tranferred to the headlamp assemblies due to poor design and that is where the front end flexes? I'm hoping someone has some experience with this - I need to have some knowledge ammunition for the Mazda rep next week as everyone seems to be grabbing at straws right now.
Thanks.

 

[njaremka]

regardless of HOW it happened, if you are sure it happened at the dealer, they should be responsible.

 

[808mz5]

i had cracking of my headlight about a year ago... it looked like little scratches on the inside.. probably heat related... replaced under warranty...

 

[Mntnbkr]

If this works (first time) - here are the headlamp assy pics showing the cracking/crazing.
Any ideas? - could this have been front end impact?
Thanks for any feedback - I am getting ready to do battle with the stealership - hopefully they do not make this difficult...

 

[autoxes]

If this works (first time) - here are the headlamp assy pics showing the cracking/crazing.
Any ideas? - could this have been front end impact?
Thanks for any feedback - I am getting ready to do battle with the stealership - hopefully they do not make this difficult...

View attachment 138585

View attachment 138586

I'm not a thermal engineer by any stretch of the imagination, but those cracks are definitely not indicative of damage that would be caused by too much heat from the bulbs. In cases where temperature plays a part in a failure, it is typically one large crack rather than a spiderweb sort of crack. I would bet someone backed into it. Or vandalism, like you said.

 

[Mntnbkr]

HELP - BUMP - To The Top.

Has ANYONE seen or experienced this? The dealership is still stringing this one out and trying to not accept blame and pin responsibility on Mazda of America - we are now waiting on the rep to show up next week.

If the stealership and MofA taking the irresponsible route, short of legal action or an insurance claim, can anyone steer me to a source to buy these - maybe a good junkyard that would have these from a rear-end smash job on a 5. New, they are in the ballpark of $1000+.

Thanks,
Dave

 

[themagni]

This is NOT professional advice, and should not be taken as such. I can't say anything about it without seeing the parts in person.

Those look like impact marks.

Heat would likely discolour the lenses, yellowing them prematurely. It would also cause ripples in the material. What's the cover made out of? If it's polycarbonate (Lexan) it bubbles and turns brownish gray when it melts. If it's another plastic, it will get extremely brittle if it gets pressed on. If you touch it - USE GLOVES - it should fall apart in your hands.

That's assuming that it's possible. It's probably not. From what I could see, the SSU bulbs are a 55W bulb. (And yes, that's just a little less than the heat given off by a bog-standard 60W incandescent light bulb.) Thermodynamic calculations on a similarly-sized system estimate that the 5's panel will dissipate about 70W on a 40C (104F) day. That's without taking into account wind chill.

In other words, it's more or less impossible for those marks to be caused by heat; partly because they don't look like heat marks, and party because you're not generating enough heat to muck up the plastics.

If something was dropped on your hood, it's quite possible that the easily-swappable hood was swapped with another one. Do you know any places with a large inventory of Mazda hoods?

 

[Mntnbkr]

Well, the rep and the dealership weighed in today and both said Pound Sand - the dealership wil not accept responsibility that they did it, and the Mazda rep will not accept it as inferior product.
Essentially no one can figure out how it happened, (not readily apparent to be collision (no other significant front end damage from dealer's responsibility standpoint) and no apparent thermal issues (from Mazda's responsibility standpoint), so no on is accepting blame. Lucky me.
I will now try to contact the rep or Mazda corporate directly since they list for $1200 per set.
Can anyone give me a line to buying a set, such as a good online junkyard or aftermarket source?
Any help or ideas for sourcing a set is appreciated as I am left holding the short end of the stick.
Thanks

 

[themagni]

My experience is that Mazda doesn't care what happens to you, as long as the dealership is pushing out cars. I've written to say what bad service I got, how I was treated badly, and no response came forth. Quite simply, they just don't give a fark.

Personally, I love that my windshield was obviously made by blind and/or stupid people. It's warped and causes a lot of distortion.

Will your insurance cover it? What about the bumper to bumper warranty? If that's not covered, then you'll probably have to pay your deductible.

 

[mazdadude]

My local dealer does a complete walk-around of the vehicle, and notes any damage to the car, before I hand over the keys. Do you know if they do this at your dealer?

 

[icefisher]

Can anyone give me a line to buying a set, such as a good online junkyard or aftermarket source?
Thanks

What model year is your 5?

I agree with above poster... ask your dealer if they did a walk-around inspection. My local dealer does this as well.

You said your wife picked it up. I assume she did not notice this issue at that time or she would have said something, right? If there was no inspection and the problem was not pointed out to the dealer before the vehicle was taken away, legally speaking you are in a tough spot.

Is there another dealer within driving distance that you can take it to for a "second opinion"?

 

[mazdadude]

FYI: There is a pair of 2006 Mazda5 headlamps on ebay right now.(boobs2)

 

[Mntnbkr]

A pre and post walkaround is a very good idea - I would almost insist on one if the dealer did not offer (which they did not do the pre - I dropped it off). My wife did do one on pickup, but as she said, she did not check the plastics (head/taillamps) - how often are those really damaged...she was looking for body and paint damage from door dings and the like. (My favorite being from our LAST mazda dealer where we bought the 5 - a shop guy washed the car and decided to continue drying the hood AFTER he dropped the chamois on the ground. It made for some really nice 3' long scratches across half of the hood.) We did not spot the headlamp damage til 2 hours later at home...so you are right, legally difficult. Mazdadude - thanks for the ebay lead. If that pans out I owe you for the tip. Sure would be a hell of a lot better than an insurance claim for $1200 through the dealer.
Thanks folks - keep the ideas coming, Nice to have some support when you feel totally screwed by the dealer and manufacturer of your vehicle.

 

[Mntnbkr]

It's official, Mazda rep and the dealership have officially said f.u. I may try Mazda corporate, but not hopeful. Maybe I should have gone into the dealership yelling and threatening a court date...

Also, ebay did not pan out - turns out one of the lights had a broken tab and the vendor would not allow for return if it did not work - his rationale was that it was already in a 5 with a broken tab, and if it worked there it must work in mine. ???? Who said it worked in the 5 it came out of??

A new idea from a friend - fill the cracks with the same liquid polymer used to repair a windshield with a rock ding or small crack. If it can fill voids in glass, I would assume it could do voids in plastic. Does anyone have any experience with this repair product? Does it age ok - no yellowing or other bad qualities. Any brand recommendations and ok to pickup at any automotive store or is there a better 'industrial' version?
Thanks.

 

[mazdadude]

Not cool at all!

Sorry that the ebay ones didn't pan out, I did not look closely at them but glad you did.

Can you "feel" the cracks on the outside? I would be very hesitant to put any glues or adhesives on it.

I have looked at the pics many times, and it is hard to figure what made those cracks. Do you think maybe someone was pushing down on each corner to check the struts?

Also, yes I would call Mazda NA, and let them know about your troubles at your dealer.