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Crack in windshield

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2020 Ridgeline BE

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Discussion starter · #1 ·
So, nice little surprise 2 mornings ago with my Ridgeline. I came out to start it and there was a 2” crack in the lower center of the windshield. It seems like it is inside the windshield glass as I cannot feel it from either the inside or the outside of the glass. From what i have read it appears it might be what is called a stress crack. Just curious if anyone has experience with these? Are they common on the Ridgeline?

My next thing now is what to do about it. My first thought is to trade it as is and take the hit on the trade value as it will probably be less than the cost to fix it. I don’t want to use insurance to fix it as i dont want rates going up as my daughter had an accident a while back so rates already went up for that.

Thinking about trading for a 2025 Passport. They are running some really nice deals on those right now with the 2026 refurb coming so have been thinking of doing that anyway even before this windshield thing.

I know those are very similar to the Ridgeline. Does any one here have any thoughts on how reliable the Passport is and any thoughts on any differences from the Ridgeline?

kinda bummed about this crack actually as my plan was to go another year or so and then trade it but now that may be sped up I guess.

thanks in advance for any thoughts.
 
Discussion starter · #4 ·
Jelly donut said:
Something 2" long should be repairable. I'd take it to a glass shop and see what they say. I've had small cracks fixed in other cars in the past. Some were near invisible afterward and you would never notice them if you didn't know they were there. Much cheaper than a new windshield.
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Unfortunately the glass shop i spoke to said since it was a stress crack that is inside the glass it is not repairable and needs to be replaced. Kind of sucks. If i had damage due to a rock hitting it it would have been fixable but as it is caused by thermal stress (never heard of this happening before) it cant be repaired. That is the one thing that makes me nervous of looking at the Passport as aa replacement. I know it is basically the Ridgeline without the bed so will its windshield be prone to this type of thing as well. It wasn't even crazy cold out (like -5F is the coldest it has been all winter).
 
#5 ·
After catching a rock, I got multiple long cracks in both the inside and outside panes of windshield glass. The cracks were so long that they couldn't be professionally repaired so I figured I didn't have anything to lose - so I tried the DIY resin fix myself. It's by no means perfect, but I'm actually surprised how well it worked. I think that most people wouldn't notice the cracks. It's been over 4 months through some pretty wide temperatures (down to -20°F) and so far it's held up. I posted several posts about it with pictures starting here:
 
#7 ·
From a strictly financial perspective....you are better to get the windshield fixed even if the insurance goes up.

Example- 18 months of increased rates.....and then trading the thing..... will postpone all the sales tax/title fees/other fees associated with buying a new car....PLUS.....depreciation on the 2020 BE will be much less than the first 18 months of depreciation on a 2025 vehicle.

Trading now will cause immediate large expenses AND start a steep depreciation cost

Those new vehicle costs will be much larger than the insurance expense.
 
Discussion starter · #8 ·
Welp, just got a quote to install new windshield and recalibrate the safety tech. It was for $2000. That seems crazy high to me but then gain i know nothing about these things. If that is the true price then i will certainly have to consider making a claim on my Comprehensive insurance or go with trading it in.

Roach711 said:
My 2018 Sport developed a crack along the entire width of the bottom of the windshield. No stone chip could be found so I'd agree with it being a stress fracture. I had it replaced for about $450.
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That is the ballpark i was thinking it would be in but to my surprise the quote i got was over 4 times that price.
 
Discussion starter · #10 ·
ATL RL said:
From a strictly financial perspective....you are better to get the windshield fixed even if the insurance goes up.

Example- 18 months of increased rates.....and then trading the thing..... will postpone all the sales tax/title fees/other fees associated with buying a new car....PLUS.....depreciation on the 2020 BE will be much less than the first 18 months of depreciation on a 2025 vehicle.

Trading now will cause immediate large expenses AND start a steep depreciation cost

Those new vehicle costs will be much larger than the insurance expense.
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I might end up claiming it as the quote i got for replacement was over $2k. That is probably worth whatever i may see for insurance increase based on the claim.

Still kind of pissed that it happened as I have owned vehicles for over 40 years and never had the windshield crack just cause its cold out (and not really that cold)
 
Discussion starter · #12 ·
ATL RL said:
Years ago we had one replaced due to a rock crack and within 10 days on the next trip it happened again.

A freak coincidence due to rocks thrown from a random car on the interstate.

We then went years and years before our next claim on any car we owned.
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Man that stinks, talk about bad luck. I guess I could stomach it a bit more though if it was due to something striking the windshield like that while it would still suck i could chalk it up to bad luck. What really bugs me is nothing hit it. It just decided to crack overnight. Makes me wonder if it was an initial defect that just waited 4 years to show itself.
 
#13 ·
2020 Ridgeline BE said:
Man that stinks, talk about bad luck. I guess I could stomach it a bit more though if it was due to something striking the windshield like that while it would still suck i could chalk it up to bad luck. What really bugs me is nothing hit it. It just decided to crack overnight. Makes me wonder if it was an initial defect that just waited 4 years to show itself.
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...or....a rock hit the windshield and caused a surface defect,,,,,that became the start of the crack......sometimes seconds or months after the incident.....very common.
 
Discussion starter · #14 ·
ATL RL said:
...or....a rock hit the windshield and caused a surface defect,,,,,that became the start of the crack......sometimes seconds or months after the incident.....very common.
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But I would think that would leave at least some sort of surface damage to the glass. There is absolutely no damage to the outside of the glass. I guess in the big picture it doesn’t matter how it occurred as that really has no effect on how to take care of it.
 
#15 ·
Jelly donut said:
Something 2" long should be repairable. I'd take it to a glass shop and see what they say. I've had small cracks fixed in other cars in the past. Some were near invisible afterward and you would never notice them if you didn't know they were there. Much cheaper than a new windshield.
Click to expand...
Yes and you will only have to pay the deductible if you have comprehensive insurance and, in some states, NO deductible - like Florida. And that is for an entire windshield replacement.

A comprehensive claim is NOT an accident claim, there is no liability, potential litigation, etc. your rates shouldn't go up at all.

Really, you would trade a car in because of a windshield crack - I don't get that at all.?
 
Discussion starter · #16 ·
fdeno said:
Yes and you will only have to pay the deductible if you have comprehensive insurance and, in some states, NO deductible - like Florida. And that is for an entire windshield replacement.

A comprehensive claim is NOT an accident claim, there is no liability, potential litigation, etc. your rates shouldn't go up at all.

Really, you would trade a car in because of a windshield crack - I don't get that at all.?
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It was not that I would trade only because of crack. I was thinking of trading in within the next couple of years anyway so it was more would i trade in now vs in a year or two. That is interesting about the comprehensive claim being different vs an accident claim. That would make things different as the thing i want to stay away from is paying 2k and then trading in in a year or two.
 
#18 ·
2020 Ridgeline BE said:
Welp, just got a quote to install new windshield and recalibrate the safety tech. It was for $2000. That seems crazy high to me but then gain i know nothing about these things. If that is the true price then i will certainly have to consider making a claim on my Comprehensive insurance or go with trading it in.

That is the ballpark i was thinking it would be in but to my surprise the quote i got was over 4 times that price.
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Be careful who you go through. I have a 2020 RTLE and I've needed a new windshield for about seven or eight months. They were unavailable for a while. I just got a quote yesterday for $350 for the glass and $250 for the recalibration. Full disclosure, it's not OEM glass. But for that price I'm going to give it a shot.
 
Discussion starter · #19 ·
Decided to go through insurance to get windshield replaced. filed a claim and insurance contacted glass shop. I just heard from glass shop who informed me they will need to get extra authorization to use OEM glass that i was hoping to use. They also said a lot of times insurance wont pay for OEM and only will pay for the non OEM. My question to those that may have had a windshield done with no OEM is how has that been for you? Just curious if they say no to OEM if it is worth paying the difference or to just go with what they will pay for. Thanks.
 
#20 ·
2020 Ridgeline BE said:
Decided to go through insurance to get windshield replaced. filed a claim and insurance contacted glass shop. I just heard from glass shop who informed me they will need to get extra authorization to use OEM glass that i was hoping to use. They also said a lot of times insurance wont pay for OEM and only will pay for the non OEM. My question to those that may have had a windshield done with no OEM is how has that been for you? Just curious if they say no to OEM if it is worth paying the difference or to just go with what they will pay for. Thanks.
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Maybe you can pay the difference. I’m pretty sure the windshield is acoustic glass.
 
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