REAR WINDOW SHATTERING FAULT - dealers aware of fault

[Mini Virgin]

Hi there Just thought I'd share this with you all!

The rear window of my car was smashed last night and now it looks like I'm left with a £1600 Bill!!

The only way to replace the Non Laminated Glass is to replace the whole roof!!!

And Mini insurance are saying they will only pay the first £150 as that is the limit on windscreens,

My argument is that the broken window means the roof is 'broken' so they need to replace that even it means kissing my new claims goodbye !

they still say it's only the windscreen broken so thats all they will pay for!

I'm sure I'll sort it out with them (I was a complaints manager for 3 years ) but thought you should all be aware of the headaches of losing the rear window!

And of course now I don't have my toy to go away with over Christmas!

EDIT:

Quote: Originally Posted by Rakey

Just thought that everyone would be pleased to hear that it is a recognised problem now and a service bulletin has been issued to all dealers. The problem is a 'thermal issue with 'some' glass where by inner and outer temperatures can cause 'some' glasses to shatter unexpectedly.

The fix is to re cover the hood, that is fit a new fabric and glass assembly, not the whole roof as some people have had done.

The glass problem is being looked at as for how to prevent this from making it to production, but at the moment this is still work in progress. Reported incidents are few considering how many cars are out there.

So anyone having this issue will not need to worry about having to get it replaced under insurance

[Rich C]

Ouch - that sounds like someone trying to wriggle out of a payment.

I always thought that the windscreen cover was seperate, hence why you could claim and not lose you NCD.

If the manufacturer, ie BMW, define the window as part of the roof then the non-windscreen part should surely cover it.

I'm sure you'll sort it out but it's this sort of hassle you don't need when you're making a claim - sounds like you've the right back ground to sort it out though - let us know how you get on....

[ONED]

Wow!...thats rough!

Obviously BMW need to speak to their insurers, to make them aware that a rear screen means a roof!

[dalboyne]

This is a dire situation! If MINI have manufactured the glass as an integral part of the roof, and cannot replace the glass on its own, then the insurer simply cannot abrogate their responsibility like that!

Question - if the broken glass had somehow damaged or cut the fabric, then presumably the insurer would not have a leg to stand on?

Good luck - this does need to be followed up.....

[Geoff & Gill]

BMW Insurance are talking rot. They must reinstate the vehicle to the state it was in before the damage - not offer you a cash sum. Tell them to take the car and return it to repaired. The cash figure is irrelevant.
If you damaged your wing they couldn't just say "Hmm, we'll give you £50". They would get it repaired and pick up the bill.

[vagt6]

That's awful, sorry to hear.

If worse comes to worse, take the car to a convertible top repair specialist. They can repair the broken window and top.

But whatever you do, don't pay that kind of money for a simple rear window repair. That's highway robbery!

Good luck, let us know!

[Rakey]

so sorry to hear about this, how did the window get broken? was it vandalism? or accident?

[Mini Virgin]

Not to sure how it got broken Possibly a Golf Ball !!

I parked in front of a security camera (paranoid after someone keying it) at a golf driving range, You would have to be king kong to get a ball that high and that far,
but apparently it has happened once before in the 10 years it's been open.

And the security camera is apparently a fake (really irritating) so not completely sure whats happened

The car has now been collected and I had it sent to my choice of dealer not my local one which i think is awful and they have been great !

They are dealing direct with the insurance company and have told them to stop being pathetic and pay up and it sounds like it's sorted,

The issue now is whether its a Windscreen claim so £50 excess or a full claim with a £250 excess and affecting my no Claims

[Rich C]

MV - sounds like things are moving for you which is good news - nice to have the dealer fighting your corner for a change.

Unfortunately it's unlikely you'll be able to have your cake and eat it - if they're doing the roof it'll probably be a full claim, losing the ncd etc. The windscreen prt of the insurance is limited just to std windscreens (usually). for example it won't cover the cost of mine as I've got the visibility pack - they just give me £175 towards the cost.

[KenL]

Quote: Originally Posted by Mini Virgin

The issue now is whether its a Windscreen claim so £50 excess or a full claim with a £250 excess and affecting my no Claims

It will be a full claim for sure as now they are not just replacing the glass.

[CarolT]

Hi,
I am looking for urgent advice. I have a Cooper S Convertible. Registered 1st August 2004 and now covered just over 3000 miles. On Sunday 19th Dec I opened the car remotely from a distance of about 30 feet (it was parked in an open garage) and my back window shattered into thousands of bits!!

The car had been parked there since the previous day, the back window was in perfect condition i. e. no stone chips or similar so what happened? There was nothing in the boot or on the back shelf, the garage is directly opposite my house - a farm, completely private so no possibility of vandalism.

I am waiting for the dealer to collect it but they tell me that Mini say it doesn't happen and that I must have done something so it may not be possible to replace under warranty. I'm also told that it is not just a case of replacing the window, but the entire hood - at a cost of about £2500!!!

Has anyone else encountered this problem before?

[Rakey]

Oh dear, so sorry to hear about this Carol, and I have to say I didn't think I would be posting in this thread again

Yesterday it was my GF's birthday, I live on a nice quiet street, well some how the rear window on her convertible was found smashed yesterday. I was gutted and fuming, I thought why on earth would someone do this to her car? No other cars were smashed, not even my own MINI. I then got thinking about this thread and the possiblity of it being a fault with the window. I examined the car, and searched for any foreign objects that might have been used to smash it, nothing and the weird thing is that there was glass inside and out of the car Nothing was taken and the alarm didn't go off either.

Well I called MINI assist and told them, they said I had to phone autoglass or RAC to fix it, I told them it was not the case and they wouldn't believe me. So I made the calls and NO company can fix this other than BMW was the answer I was given. So I called them back fuming and told them to recover the car as it was a security risk. She now has no car, the offer of a hire car for 48hrs which is normal, but the dealers don't open back up until Wednesday!!

I am not happy and I am also concerned that this happened, as I have a MCSC on order.

[minicabrio]

This reminds me of the old MK1 Gold Cabriolet glass rear window, fine when launched, a marvel infact.....but when winter came they all started shattering given a good frost...!! New ones were quickly developed.

This could prove frustrating for some people over the next couple of months....

Hopefully mine will be okay tucked under her carport she stays frost free....

[CarolT]

PLEASE don't be complacent about this problem. My MCSC was in stone built garage and although cold, there wasn't even a proper frost in West Wales that morning!!

I don't know what caused the problem nor do I know what II could have done to prevent it from happening.

I wonder if the same thing has happened to others who, perhaps because of the location or time of the incident have put it down to vandalism??

[Rakey]

Jo's MINI is going to be at the dealers tomorrow for assessment, but have already informed the dealer that we are the not first to have this un-explained issue, and that we want it done under warranty unless they can 100% prove it is not a fault.

Will keep you updated as we progress but a letter has already been written to MINI concerning the lack of service and help that MINI assist has been!!