As I was driving on the freeway today doing a speed under what I have done before I heard a loud 'crack' and looked for flying rocks but I saw none. What I did see though was a nice crack in my windshield. Once stopped I didn't see Any impact mark..only the curved crack that started at the very edge on the lower driver's side. After a few hours it's grown to about 8in in length. nice.. I am wondering if anyone has had such things happen, and those who had windshields replaced, if they lasted as well. Thanks!

 

slightly off topic...
Given the cost of a new or replacement windshield, one should check with their insurance company to see what type of coverage they have! I did this after reading a similar post a few months ago...and modified my coverage!

 

Brandon,

I had a similar experience with a Ford Excursion windshield cracking from the lower left corner inward. This happened while the truck was parked on a cool fall day... When the dealership service manager looked at it he said it was stress crack, caused by improper installation, and replaced the windshield under warranty.

When you have your windshield replaced make sure they install a TCH windshield not one for a regular Camry. If you do a search here you'll find some threads here discussing the differences between the two. One major difference is the cost, as the TCH windshield is much more expensive than a regular Camry's....

Good Luck with the dealer...

 

This can happen on any vehicle and is due to thermal shock - internal stress between the laminated layers as temperature changes. The good news is that most insurance companies will give you a new windshield for a small deductible and most windshield places will eat the deductible. The TCH has a differerent and more expensive windshield. It is metal oxide coated and causes problems with Sunpass type transponders, GPS and Radar.

 

This is exactly what happened on my Sienna, same noise, same position, same original semi-circular crack followed by long strands. If you heard the loud noise with the instant curved crack in the glass, it is very plausible that its a typical stone impact even if you didn't see it , especially down low its harder to notice flying objects when the background of the roadway is moving too (as opposed to the nice high impacts where you get a half a second to say "oh sh.." just before the rock hits).

Whether or not you actually see an impact mark depends on the shape and makeup of the rock. A nice smooth dense oval rock might not cause the glass to fail right at point of impact, but rather in a circular pattern around the point of impact.