I don't think any car company would cover a cracked windshield when the car is many months old. Maybe if it occurred in the first week or two of ownership, but even then most manufacturers would push back.
ALL other companies have manufacturer's warranty that lasts, at least, 4 years / 50K miles (for premium brands). All manufacturing defects should get covered during that period, not just the first few weeks of ownership.
If the windshield cracked due to manufacturing defects in glass, or pre-loaded stresses during installation, it would get covered by every other OEM. And the dealer would go to bat to see that it gets covered (dealer's and owner's incentives are aligned).
With Tesla, there is no dealer.
So its up to the owner to argue, escalate, appeal, and justify his/her own warranty claims.
Some folks find that idea more palatable than others. Whatever stresses and costs one might have incurred (or avoided) dealing with a dealer during the purchase process, are substituted for the similar during the service experiences due to the lack of that same dealer intermediary.
It's how the cookie crumbles.
Please help me understand something, like in most every car manufactured today, the windshield is bonded to the frame using an adhesive, so how is it that stress cracking is a bigger problem with a Tesla than any other car manufactured using the same method of assembly? Does the car flex in such a way that it cracks the windshield and if so, why wouldn't every Tesla have the same problem?
Three variables to consider:
- Tesla frame could flex more than that of mature automakers, leading to greater flexing and stresses on the glass panels (I haven't seen any published chassis stiffness #s for Model 3).
- Model 3 has significantly larger glass surfaces areas, thus glass is exposed to greater torsional loads.
- Tesla production QC has been notoriously sub-par. The quality of materials themselves, as well as quality and integrity of glass installation process, are always question marks.
There are a lot of things that can crack a windshield. I think you'd have to come up with some proof that the crack is a stress crack due to a defect in manufacturing, and I have no idea how you'd prove that.
Sorry, that's dead wrong.
It is the responsibility of the auto-OEM to prove that the failure is caused by external factors (rock or another object hitting the windshield), not the other way around. If a part failed, it should be covered by the manufacturer's warranty, by default, unless another cause can be established.
Luckily, it's a pretty simple thing to verify - any external (or internal) impact would leave a pit or a cavity at the point of impact.
HTH,
a
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