Windshield crack and warranty?

The first picture is what Ford saw when I took it to them. No impact visible. They looked it over real good, took pictures and said they had to submit for warranty approval. This crack happened between the time I got back to work from lunch and quitting time. This was 2 weeks ago today and they have not contacted me at all. I did contact them 1 week ago and they told me that Ford required a "flash light test". They said they had to figure out what the "flash light test" was and would get back to me. That was a week ago. This morning I googled it and Ford actually has a GSB titled "Windshield Damage vs Defect GSB". Took me all of 5 minutes to find Fords "procedure" to determine if it's a warranty or not. The GSB describes how to use a flash light and ball point pin to determine if an impact has occurred. If not then it's a warranty issue. I could not find an impact site. I have less than 3000 miles on this thing.

Well at lunch time I decided to take it in to the local Safelite glass shop for them to tell me what the cause was. These guys are pretty good. They did find the source of the crack. It was under the plastic shroud about an inch down and between the glass and the body. Second pic. They told me that because the ball point pin detected no impact on the outside of the glass, it was from something between the glass and the body and was in their opinion a warranty issue but would be happy to fix it for me. In Florida front wind shields are a freeby insurance wise unless you actually took a hammer to it or something. If it is not really a warranty issue I don't want my insurance Co. to pay for it. Plus at < 3000 miles, I want a FORD wind shield put in and calibrated by Ford. Not sure why I'm having such a hard time with Ford? Any suggestions on how to deal with them would be great.

Thanks

My guess would be there is some kind of foreign body that got in the urethane (the black sealant it's bedded on) before the glass got laid on it, or the bead of urethane was too thin and let it hit the metal frame, also would make it warranty. There is also a chance you had an imperfection in the glass when it was made, again, would be warranty.

If it were me I would find an independent glass shop to do the work. Most Safelite shops cut corners to keep prices low and keep the insurance companies happy. Tell them you want to be sure to get an OEM Ford glass to replace it also.

Or a rock hit it. Hard enough hit would transmit the force through the thin weather stripping


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not sure if I will help here but the windshield is laminated, 2 pieces of thin glass with a plastic layer between them if the outside glass cracks sounds like they blame you if the inside breaks they assume you couldn’t have done it and take responsibility, lam glass is always easily cracked mysterious seemingly

Safelite does a great job here. They replaced 3 windows in my 2017 Lariat and 3 in my 2014 XLT. All from rock strikes. I suspect that is what caused yours and it does not take much. They replace using only OEM Ford glass. Just let your insurance do it. That is what you pay them every month for. For the thousands I have paid my insurers over the last 40 years I am happy to let them replace windshields. My glass company here replaces with the exact same windshield the truck came with.

Mark Hounschell said:

I want a FORD wind shield put in and calibrated by Ford. Not sure why I'm having such a hard time with Ford? Any suggestions on how to deal with them would be great.

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You're having a "hard time with Ford" because it's a WINDSHIELD that's got a crack in it. You expect FoMoCo to worry about your cracked windshield?!

Go get a replacement windshield put in at no cost to you and ask for FORD factory glass.

And let me know what a windshield "calibration" is - I must've slept through that class

WhatExit? said:

You're having a "hard time with Ford" because it's a WINDSHIELD that's got a crack in it. You expect FoMoCo to worry about your cracked windshield?!

Go get a replacement windshield put in at no cost to you and ask for FORD factory glass.

And let me know what a windshield "calibration" is - I must've slept through that class

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The calibration would be for the rain sensor different thickness glass could affect functionality. That's what I would assume.

OP just get the glass replacement from safelite. They can get you OEM glass.
And if the calibration is off take it to the dealership and let them recalibrate under warranty

Well, today The Dealer called me and told me that a new warranty windshield had been approved and was being ordered today. Glad I held out. Sucks I had to fight for it.

MEATSWORD said:

The calibration would be for the rain sensor different thickness glass could affect functionality. That's what I would assume.

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Well, the safelite guy mentioned 3 different things that had to be checked after the replacement. I hope the dealer knows as much about it as safelite does. I get the feeling this dealer may have never replaced one.

WhatExit? said:

You're having a "hard time with Ford" because it's a WINDSHIELD that's got a crack in it. You expect FoMoCo to worry about your cracked windshield?!

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I expect FoMoCo to honor the warranty. Why should I NOT?