There is a large crack (32cm) in the windscreen of my daughters Ford Fiesta, it does enter the line of sight in front of the steering wheel.
Insurer will only deal with Autoglass and local garage refuse to deal with insurer.
She has now been told the seals and windscreen are on back order and will be at least three weeks.
Does anyone have any experience with this. I'm not sure if the car is legal and/or safe to drive.
My understanding is it's technically illegal. However you could say it's literally just happened, but I expect they're used to that.
What car is it? Most don't use seals anymore, they're bonded in with basically a mad strong mastic. Think that started on most cars from the late 80s so seems a bit odd.
It's not legal to drive unfortunately. Nothing you can do, as much as that stinks..
Obviously many people are out there driving with similar, but it's not an approach I'd endorse.
Ah I see you said fiesta. Assuming it's not a MK3 or older then I'm confused. One other thing to remember is that the bonded windscreen adds structural integrity to the car. So the crack does compromise it a bit .
However you could say it's literally just happened, but I expect they're used to that.
If your screen randomly explodes at 60mph, it will end very badly. Just take a moment to think about that.
Thanks for the advice - sorry should have said Autoglass say the right and left windshield moulding that is not available in the UK. Its a MK7 model. Guess she has to say the car is undriveable and see if the insurance will cough up for a hire car.
However you could say it's literally just happened, but I expect they're used to that.
If your screen randomly explodes at 60mph, it will end very badly. Just take a moment to think about that.
The sentiment I agree with, but to be a pedant, windscreens are laminated glass, which doesn't smash into a million tiny pieces, it's pretty bloody tough stuff. Tends to stay as big lumps.
How does the cost of the windscreen at the independent stack up against the windscreen excess on her policy? Is it a fancy screen with rain sensors etc?
I should say that there's no way that I'd let my daughter drive with a footlong crack in her windscreen, so basically unless you can get the insurer to budge and allow her to use someone else, you're weighing up the costs of not having the car for a few weeks alongside the excess.
Thanks for the advice - sorry should have said Autoglass say the right and left windshield moulding that is not available in the UK. Its a MK7 model. Guess she has to say the car is undriveable and see if the insurance will cough up for a hire car.
TBH, unless you are just using it for a cheeky drive to the corner shop, I wouldn't drive it at all.
is she your favourite child or do you have others?
Is it a fancy screen with rain sensors etc?
Unless it's an absolute bog basic Fiesta, it's got a quick clear windscreen, so not particularly cheap.
So autoglass can't sauce a rubber trim peice. Nothing to stop you ringing lots of Ford garage and factors to see if anyone has a pair kicking around.
Autodoc might even list them , so you provide the cover trim , they provide a new screen and the skillset to glue it in .
Not that I'm encouraging her to drive it but it will not explode or even fail in normal use. There is some serious knicker twisting going on in this thread.
It shouldn’t be a problem, unless the car has an MoT coming up fairly soon; that would mean an automatic fail. Modern screens aren’t like the old school zebra zone screens that can suddenly explode while you’re driving, which happened to me once with my old Chevette, which came as something of a shock, while driving in the dark!
I’ve driven quite a few vehicles with big windscreen cracks, it’s not a problem some had had the crack for some time. She won’t get into trouble, she won’t suffer the wrath of the police, it won’t disintegrate into a lap full of glass fragments.
This is something I dealt with on a regular basis as part of my job - the only time it caused awkwardness was when I was delivering a car to a dealer, and on the way a bolt from an oncoming truck came spinning towards me and hit the black edge of the screen, causing a crack several centimetres long. Impossible to avoid on a main road, the bloke who did the arrival check wasn’t best pleased, that was about £1000 worth of heated screen, as it was a Ford!
Not worth a young driver getting pulled and points. Some good suggestions about sourcing the part then getting autoglass to replace the windscreen, or wait. Some parts take a fair few weeks to obtain.
Meh, my record is 5 screens in a year. I’ve had a screen changed for an imminent MOT, then it’s cracked the day of the MOT.
Two days after picking up a brand new vehicle, a ratchet strap end nearly came through the screen.
Badly cleaned down trucks, insecure loads and thin modern screens mean we tend to let a few cracks develop on our work vans before getting a screen changed.
Obviously it’s not ideal, company policy is get it fixed immediately, but sometimes it’s weeks before a screen is available.
I’ve driven quite a few vehicles with big windscreen cracks, it’s not a problem some had had the crack for some time. She won’t get into trouble, she won’t suffer the wrath of the police, it won’t disintegrate into a lap full of glass fragments.
Statistically that may be true, but come to the attention of a traffic cop and it certainly could land you a fine. They are quite picky about people being able to see out and it might be possible to talk your way out of it with lies about “it just happened” but it would be perfectly possible to argue yourself into 3pts + fine!
in the even more unlikely scenario she was involved in an accident and it came to light that the relevant area had a crack insurer might be difficult but police certainly would (how would the know? People say silly things in the stress of a bump!) and in the even less likely scenario of a serious or fatal accident they may well find out via the insurer and suddenly prosecution are no longer having to prove the manner of your driving - they can use the “obviously dangerous condition” line - even if this wasn’t the cause of the collision!
Last time I had a big crack in my windscreen autoglass gave me an appt for 3 weeks time and told me not to worry about it as they never go. Currently have 2 cars outside each with a big crack, I'll give it a month or so as they seem more likely to crack in winter
The car is insured. She has a fault with the car that it covered by insurance. They are responsible for fixing it and if they cannot do that in a reasonable time without inconveniencing her then they are liable to provide an alternative.
Not sure why you are trying to risk your daughter / criminal driving to help the insurance company do something that they are ste up to do and have processes in place to do.
Strange thread
The crack will continue to grow until it reaches the edge of the screen where it will stop. Unless it actually, really is exactly in her eye line and causing trouble with forward vision, get it changed before the next MOT.
Well I'm currently driving around with a crack in my windscreen bigger than that but it's on the passenger side (stops an inch past the centreline) and it passed an MOT like it too! The tester said that as long as it doesn't distort the view it's fine, surprised me but looking at the rules online it is correct.
As to your insurer only dealing with Autoglass? You have the right to insist on using a different repairer if Autoglass cannot do the work in a timely manner, they just may charge you a higher excess. I did this for my last windscreen replacement as they wanted to use a really poor quality no-name one that is known for being crap on my car, went through a local guy who managed to find a Fuyao one (still a cheapie but at least it's OEM-equivalent) and that's the one that's currently fitted with a crack. When I get this one changed I'll be insisting on a good quality one going in as the Fuyao one scratched and chipped up really quickly, looking worse than the OEM one did after 9 years in just over a month!
When I get this one changed I'll be insisting on a good quality one going in as the Fuyao one scratched and chipped up really quickly, looking worse than the OEM one did after 9 years in just over a month!
Actually, this is a good point. When I had a replacement on my Transit, the new one had more failed quick clear elements than the OEM one that was probably 4 years old. Including a strip of 5 or 6 right in my driver's eyeline that is at least quite annoying if not genuinely dangerous.
When you get it fixed, assuming it has quick clear, ask about the acceptable failure rate, accepting there's always a small number of blown ones.
Our insurance windscreen guys stopped using cheap screens due to issues, as I experienced myself. First one had a distortion and the second one the heater element failed instantly. Apparently the Transit connect is a shit of a job.
Statistically that may be true, but come to the attention of a traffic cop and it certainly could land you a fine. They are quite picky about people being able to see out and it might be possible to talk your way out of it with lies about “it just happened” but it would be perfectly possible to argue yourself into 3pts + fine!
You'd have to show that it either obscured the driver's view of the road or was otherwise insecure/dangerous. There's plenty of unswept windscreen on most vehicles that you aren't "able to see out" of under some weather conditions, but it isn't necessarily an offence.
A crack from edge-to-edge that passes through a swept area is considered to make the 'screen insecure and is more easily proved in Court
Having said that, get it changed because it'll wreck wiper blades in addition to other risks. Genuine trim strips are available for £25, get on to your insurer to either get it sorted or provide a car ASAP
