[Angry Andy]

This morning I did my usual routine, got out of shower at 6am and used my phone to "precondition" my Bolt so when I get in it at 6:10, its warm inside.

Hop in the Bolt, put in reverse and back out of my driveway. Little bit of water on windshield so I use the wipers front and rear, then notice some foggy window developing....so I push the defrost buttons for both front and rear windows.

I *IMMIEDIATELY* hear the "POP", and notice the crack all the way from drivers side to passenger side just above where the air vents push air up into the window.

The warm (if not hot) air from my preconditioned heating system hit the cold (it was probably 40* when I left) windshield and in my opinion; caused the window to crack.

I have not called Chevy yet to see what they will do about it, because I am assuming they will say they are not responsible for the crack. Yet there are no marks anywhere on the outside of my windshield from rocks or chips which could cause a crack.

This *WILL* happen more often if something is not done about it....I am in warm California and I can't imagine that people back east wont do exactly what I *USED* to do every morning.....

Suggestions anyone????

 

[llninja]

Bring it back to the dealership. Tell them what happened. As long as there isn't some obvious dimple from some flying debris that could have weakened the glass, I would think they would consider this a flaw in the manufacturing. It will be interesting to see of other bolt owners start to have this problem. We might not know until next winter when things get cold again.

 

[jbakerjonathan]

This sounds like a manufacturing defect. The glass didn't get the proper tempering.

 

[Fyodor]

It happens. There is probably a manufacturing flaw in the glass and not a design problem.

 

[KenC]

Picture? Does the crack go to the edge and disappear under the molding? Perhaps there's a stress point when they installed it.

By the way, is the windshield double-laminated?

 

[Mister Dave]

I have not called Chevy yet to see what they will do about it, because I am assuming......

Suggestions anyone????

Don't assume?

 

[Angry Andy]

Pics.....Hope they come out, first time resizing and attaching on this forum.

 

[phil0909]

Wow, that's some crack! No wonder you're angry.

I wouldn't have thought auto windshield safety glass could be so fragile. But the internet seems to say this does happen, particularly with newer cars having better defroster heating.

Still, it sounds like you should have been fine. It wasn't that cold, and you did pre-heat the cabin, so the windshield should have been warm enough for defrosting. Sounds like you did nothing wrong, and Chevy should replace your glass forthwith. I suspect the posters saying it was just a defective piece of glass are right. If they were all like yours, we'd probably be hearing about more cracks by now. Good luck.

 

[DonC]

Pics were very helpful. I doubt very much if this will happen to other Bolt EVs. Agree with the comments that it's likely just a bad piece of glass or a faulty install. I'm confident that GM knows how to spec a windshield so you can use the defroster. My guess is they will take care of it without question.

Don't assume?

This.

 

[freshcut]

Definitely bring it to their attention. I'm almost certain they're replace under warranty. I had the windshield on a Mini I used to have crack due to an extreme temperature change similar to your situation and after confirming it was due to stress rather than an impact, they covered it without question.

 

[Joe67]

This morning I did my usual routine, got out of shower at 6am and used my phone to "precondition" my Bolt so when I get in it at 6:10, its warm inside.

Hop in the Bolt, put in reverse and back out of my driveway. Little bit of water on windshield so I use the wipers front and rear, then notice some foggy window developing....so I push the defrost buttons for both front and rear windows.

I *IMMIEDIATELY* hear the "POP", and notice the crack all the way from drivers side to passenger side just above where the air vents push air up into the window.

The warm (if not hot) air from my preconditioned heating system hit the cold (it was probably 40* when I left) windshield and in my opinion; caused the window to crack.

I have not called Chevy yet to see what they will do about it, because I am assuming they will say they are not responsible for the crack. Yet there are no marks anywhere on the outside of my windshield from rocks or chips which could cause a crack.

This *WILL* happen more often if something is not done about it....I am in warm California and I can't imagine that people back east wont do exactly what I *USED* to do every morning.....

Suggestions anyone????

My suggestion, do as you are going to do, visit the dealership and get a diagnosis before making this claim on a forum.

I hope it works out well, keep us posted with the facts

 

[BAZINGA]

I have not called Chevy yet to see what they will do about it, because I am assuming they will say they are not responsible for the crack. Yet there are no marks anywhere on the outside of my windshield from rocks or chips which could cause a crack.

This *WILL* happen more often if something is not done about it

Suggestions anyone????

Take car to dealer and or contact a Volt Advisor

Complaining here and doing nothing seems odd to me. I'd be face to face with my local dealers Service Manager and prepared to escalate as far as needed.

 

[bro1999]

This morning I did my usual routine, got out of shower at 6am and used my phone to "precondition" my Bolt so when I get in it at 6:10, its warm inside.

Hop in the Bolt, put in reverse and back out of my driveway. Little bit of water on windshield so I use the wipers front and rear, then notice some foggy window developing....so I push the defrost buttons for both front and rear windows.

I *IMMIEDIATELY* hear the "POP", and notice the crack all the way from drivers side to passenger side just above where the air vents push air up into the window.

The warm (if not hot) air from my preconditioned heating system hit the cold (it was probably 40* when I left) windshield and in my opinion; caused the window to crack.

I have not called Chevy yet to see what they will do about it, because I am assuming they will say they are not responsible for the crack. Yet there are no marks anywhere on the outside of my windshield from rocks or chips which could cause a crack.

This *WILL* happen more often if something is not done about it....I am in warm California and I can't imagine that people back east wont do exactly what I *USED* to do every morning.....

Suggestions anyone????

If there's no evidence of an impact mark on the windshield, should be a pretty straightforward warranty claim.

btw, I've had some sub-freezing mornings in MD in my Bolt, and no cracking windshields when turning on the defroster. Probably yours was just some manufacturing defect. Crap happens. That's why they have b2b warranties.

 

[Coppersnowboarder]

The only similar experience that I have had was owning a 12-volt windshield defroster that felt like a simple hairdryer. I placed it against the windshield of my 1969 VW Microbus during a below-zero ice storm. The windshield cracked. I spent the next 66 miles trying to see the highway ahead by looking out the open side window.

 

[Qinsp]

I've had 2 kinds of cracks like that when defrosting on cars. One was after a windshield replacement, the other was a VERY small rock chip at the very edge of the glass. First it was a chip, then a 1/4" crack, and next time I turned on the defroster, it went all the way across.

 

[fotomoto1]

Our Subaru Outback had a similar issue with weather package equipped windshields. The official cause given was a reaction between the wiring bonding agent to the glass. Thousands either got reimbursed like us or replaced by recall.

 

[NYRob]

The windshield might have gotten chipped on it's edge at the factory during install, the heat from the defroster twisted/stressed it to failure point.

 

[jason.meador]

Definitely bring it to their attention. I'm almost certain they're replace under warranty. I had the windshield on a Mini I used to have crack due to an extreme temperature change similar to your situation and after confirming it was due to stress rather than an impact, they covered it without question.

I had the exact same experience in my first Mini and they replaced it, no charge. Contact Chevy, I will bet they do the right thing.

 

[masters]

I have had two rocks hit pretty hard and was glad mine didnt break. I hope they have experience replacing them.

 

[peteblair]

I do the same thing you do with my Bolt. It's been in the 20s and teens some mornings, mostly 30s recently though. I have not had the same issue you did. I suspect like others have mentioned, glass defect or possible damage to the edge which isn't visible.