NHTSA Complaint #10018773 — 2002 MINI COOPER

WINDSHIELD CRACK. THERE ARE NUMEROUS OTHER OWNERS REPORTING SIMILAR CRACKS IN THEIR WINDSHIELDS. MINI HAS STATED THEY HAD A PROBLEM WITH THE GLASS CRACKING DUE TO IMPROPER INSTALLATION IN PREVIOUS BUILDS AND CURRENTLY HAVE A SURVEY FOR THE DEALERS TO PERFORM AN INSPECTION ON ANY WINDSHIELD REPLACEMENTS CONDUCTED UNDER WARRANTY. THIS SURVEY IS EXPLAINED IN THIS BULLETIN SI M 51 02 03. THE PROBLEM IS THAT THEY ONLY INSPECT THOSE WINDSHIELDS THAT DO NOT HAVE EVIDENCE OF STONE DAMAGE. ON THE ATTACHED WEB SITES YOU WILL SEE AN OVER ABUNDANCE OF CRACKED WINDSHIELD POSTS THAT THE DEALERS ARE CALLING STONE DAMAGE RELATED. THEREBY INSURING THAT THESE WINDSHIELDS ARE NOT INCLUDED IN THEIR DATA AND ALSO THAT THEY ARE NOT REPLACED UNDER WARRANTY. I HAVE NO CHIPS BUT A LARGE NUMBER OF MARKS FROM DEBRIS HITTING THE WINDSHIELD. I CALL THEM STRIKE MARKS. THE EASIEST WAY TO DESCRIBE THE DAMAGE IS THAT IT IS SIMILAR TO A GLASS ETCHING PROCEDURE. THE LOCATION WHERE THE DEBRIS HAS STRUCK THE WINDSHIELD IS SLIGHTLY DISCOLORED, YET NO GLASS IS MISSING. IN MY OPINION THIS IS THE RESULT OF TWO ITEMS: THE WINDSHIELD IS VERY STEEP AND THE GLASS IN THE WINDSHIELD IS SUBSTANDARD; TOO SOFT AND TOO THIN. MINI USES THEIR WINDSHIELD AS A STRUCTURAL MEMBER IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE VEHICLE AND THEREFORE IT IS UNDER CONSTANT STRESS. I DO NOT THINK THESE STRIKE MARKS ARE SUFFICIENT TO CAUSE A STRESS CRACK PER SE, BUT IF THAT WERE SO (AS MINI ARGUES), THEN MY RESPONSE IS: THE WINDSHIELD IS NOT JUST TOO SOFT, IT IS TOO WEAK. GIVEN THE NUMBER OF STRIKE MARKS ON A WINDSHIELD IT IS HIGHLY LIKELY THAT A CRACK THAT MIGHT APPEAR FOR REASONS UNRELATED TO CHIPPING WILL EITHER CROSS A STRIKE MARK, OR WILL RUN ACROSS THE NEAREST STRIKE MARK. THESE STRIKE MARKS ARE A WEAKENED AREA AND WILL ATTRACT A CRACK. *JB THE FOLLOWING URLS ARE PROVIDED FOR YOUR ATTENTION: HTTP://MINICOOPERONLINE.COM HTTP://WWW.MINI2.COM/FORUM/SHOWTHREAD.PHP?S=&THREADID=21475 HTTPS://OL.MINIUSA.COM/OEMAINLOGIN.ASP