2019 Subaru Outback

I HAD BEEN HAVING PROBLEMS WITH THE DRIVER SIDE WINDSHIELD WIPER THAT WHEN RAINING THERE WAS A SECTION IN THE MIDDLE OF THE WIPER THAT DIDN'T TOUCH THE GLASS TO CLEAR THE WATER. AFTER GETTING TIRED OF THIS, NEW WIPERS WERE PUT ON HOPING TO SOLVE THE PROBLEM. NO DIFFERENCE WAS SEEN IN THE REMOVAL OF THE WATER WHEN RAINING. IT SEEMS THAT THE GLASS WAS CONCAVED IN CERTAIN SPOTS CAUSING THE WATER TO POOL UNDER THE BLADE AND NOT BE REMOVED. A FEW WEEKS LATER, OUT OF KNOW WHERE, A SLIGHT MARK WAS NOTICED ON THE GLASS UNDER THE PASSENGER SIDE WINDSHIELD WIPER. THIS VEHICLE HAS HEATED STRIPS UNDER THE BLADES TO DEFROST ICE. AFTER TOUCHING IT, IT DIDN'T SEEM TO BE CHIPPED. THE NEXT MORNING WHEN I WENT OUT TO THE CAR, THERE WAS A VERTICAL CRACK IN THE GLASS GOING UP AND GREW VERY QUICKLY BEFORE I COULD GET TO A SUBARU DEALER. IT THEN TURNED DIRECTION HEADING TOWARDS THE DRIVER SIDE.

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2019 SUBARU OUTBACK. THE CONTACT STATED THAT WHILE DRIVING APPROXIMATELY 50 MPH THE FRONT WINDSHIELD STARTED TO CRACK. THE CRACK STARTED AT THE BOTTOM SECTION OF THE WINDSHIELD UNDER THE WINDSHIELD WIPER AND EXTENDED APPROXIMATELY 30 INCHES. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO AN INDEPENDENT GLASS REPAIR SHOP AND WAS REPAIRED. THE CAUSE OF THE FAILURE WAS NOT DETERMINED. THE LOCAL DEALER REEDMAN TOLL SUBARU LOCATED AT (1700 EAST LINCOLN HWY, LANGHORNE PA) WAS NOTIFIED OF THE FAILURE. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOT NOTIFIED OF THE FAILURE. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 22,000.

ON SEPTEMBER 8, 2019, BETWEEN 3-4 PM, I WAS TAKING THE SUN REFLECTOR OUT OF MY FRONT WINDSHIELD WHEN I TAPPED THE REARVIEW MIRROR. SOON AFTER TAPPING THE MIRROR, I HEARD A LARGE POP FROM MY FRONT WINDSHIELD AND THE REARVIEW MIRROR FELL WITH A LARGE CHUNK OF GLASS COMING OUT WITH IT. THE HOLE DID NOT GO ALL THE WAY THROUGH THE WINDSHIELD, THE OUTERMOST LAYERS OF THE GLASS WINDOW WERE STILL THERE, BUT SEVERAL LAYERS WERE MISSING LEAVING A 2 INCH BY 2-INCH HOLE GAP ON THE INSIDE OF THE WINDOW. THE VEHICLE WAS PURCHASED ON JULY 31, 2019, SO I ONLY HAD THE VEHICLE FOR A LITTLE OVER A MONTH. I CONTACTED THE DEALERSHIP/SALE PERSON THAT I HAD WORKED WITH RIGHT AFTER IT HAD HAPPENED AND THEY GOT ME IN TO HAVE THE ISSUED FIXED ON SEPTEMBER 13, 2019. HE AGREED THAT WHAT OCCURRED SHOULD NOT HAVE HAPPENED WITH THE CAR BEING PRETTY MUCH BRAND NEW. WHEN I WENT INTO THE DEALERSHIP ABOUT THIS ISSUE, THEY SAID THEY WERE NOT AWARE AT ALL OF ANY ISSUES WITH THEIR VEHICLES' WINDSHIELDS AND THEY HAD NEVER HEARD OF ANYTHING LIKE THIS EVER HAPPENING BEFORE. THE VEHICLE WAS PARKED WHEN THIS OCCURRED. IT WAS A WARM DAY, WITH THE AIR TEMPERATURE WHEN THE INCIDENT OCCURRED SITTING AROUND 91-93F ACCORDING TO THE KOUN WEATHER STATION. THE WARM TEMPERATURES MIGHT HAVE CONTRIBUTED TO THE PROBLEM WEAKENING THE POINT OF CONTACT WITH THE GLUE AND THE WINDSHIELD. THIS IS SPECULATION THOUGH AND THE MECHANICS WITH THE DEALERSHIP COULD NOT PROVIDE A SOURCE OR REASON AS TO WHY THIS COULD HAVE OCCURRED, SO THE TRUE REASON FOR THE INCIDENT IS UNKNOWN.

HAD TO HAVE MY WINDSHIELD REPLACED TWICE WITHIN TWO MONTHS ON A CAR LESS THAN A YEAR OLD. BOTH TIMES SUBARU AND THE GLASS COMPANY CLAIMED THAT THE CRACKS WERE DUE TO CHIPS IN THE WINDSHIELD WHEN THERE WAS NO EVIDENCE OR DAMAGE, CHIPS, ETC PRIOR TO THE CRACKS. AFTER THE FIRST TIME MY WINDSHIELD CRACKED JULY 2019, I WAS VERY SKEPTICAL AND CHECKED MY WINDSHIELD EVERY NIGHT AFTER WORK TO ENSURE THERE WAS NO DAMAGE. ONE MORNING I WOKE UP TO FIND A LARGE CRACK IN MY WINDSHIELD WITHOUT ANY PRIOR EVIDENCE OF CHIPS OR DAMAGE. ONCE AGAIN, THE GLASS COMPANY AND SUBARU CLAIMED IT WAS DUE TO A CHIP WHEN THERE WAS NO EVIDENCE OF SUCH FALSE CLAIMS. I ALSO HAD MY REPLACED WINDSHIELD CHECKED MULTIPLE TIMES AT A SUBARU SERVICE CENTER DURING OIL CHANGES AND SERVICE APPOINTMENTS. EACH TIME THEY FOUND NO EVIDENCE OF ANY DAMAGE TO THE WINDSHIELD. THE GLASS COMPANY THAT REPLACED MY WINDSHIELD BOTH TIMES TRIED TO COVER THEIR [XXX] BY CLAIMING WINDSHIELDS ARE MADE THINNER THAN THEY USED TO BE, WHICH I FOUND QUITE SUSPICIOUS AS IF THEY WERE TRYING TO MAKE EXCUSES FOR HAVING TWO WINDSHIELDS CRACKED WITHIN 2 MONTHS. FIRST TIME WAS IN JULY 2019 AND THE SECOND TIME WAS SEPTEMBER 2019. BOTH TIMES I WAS FORCED TO PAY A $500 DEDUCTIBLE TO HAVE MY WINDSHIELD REPLACED AND MY EYESIGHT CALIBRATED TO THE NEW WINDSHIELD AS A RESULT OF POOR QUALITY GLASS AND REPLACEMENTS. BOTH TIME THE CRACKS WERE DISCOVERED WAS WHEN MY CAR WAS PARKED OVERNIGHT WITHOUT ANY PRIOR EVIDENCE OF ANY WINDSHIELD DAMAGE. THEY WERE DISCOVERED IN THE MORNING WITH A LARGE CRACK WHICH CONTINUED TO GET LARGER THROUGHOUT THE DAY AND ENDED UP TAKING UP A LARGE FIELD OF VIEW. PARTS OF THIS DOCUMENT HAVE BEEN REDACTED TO PROTECT PERSONALLY IDENTIFIABLE INFORMATION PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6).

ON TWO SEPARATE OCCASIONS WITH A CURRENTLY OWNED VEHICLE (2019 SUBARU OUTBACK WITH EYESIGHT) AND A LOANER VEHICLE (2017 SUBARU FORESTER) FROM THE SAME DEALER ENDURED WINDSHIELD CRACKS, BOTH SPONTANEOUSLY. FOR MY CURRENT REPLACEMENT I PAID OUT OF POCKET TO HAVE IT FIXED, FOR THE 2017 FORESTER REPLACEMENT I HAD TO GO THROUGH INSURANCE TO PAY THE FULL AMOUNT. FOR THE 2017 FORESTER WINDSHIELD INSURANCE CLAIM, THIS WAS PART OF THE REASON I WAS NOT ALLOWED TO RENEW MY PREVIOUS CAR INSURANCE, WHICH NOW COSTS ME SIGNIFICANTLY MORE, YEARLY.

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2019 SUBARU OUTBACK. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE LEFT DRIVER'S SIDE WINDOW WAS CRACKED WHILE PARKED FROM THE BOTTOM CURVING UP HALFWAY THE WINDOW. THE CRACK LATER EXPANDED ALL THE WAY TO THE BOTTOM. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE CRACK WAS NOT CAUSED BY A FOREIGN OBJECT. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO SUBARU OF WICHITA (11610 E KELLOGG DR N, WICHITA, KS 67207 (316) 264-7777) TO BE INSPECTED. THE CONTACT WAS INFORMED THAT THE CRACK WAS CAUSED BY A FOREIGN OBJECT AND THAT THE REPLACEMENT WOULD NOT BE COVERED. THE CONTACT WAS INFORMED TO HAVE THE VEHICLE REPAIRED BY A WINDSHIELD COMPANY. THE WINDSHIELD WAS NOT REPLACED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOT INFORMED OF THE FAILURE. THE APPROXIMATE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 4,000.

WINDSHIELD CRACKED, VEHICLE WAS ONLY A COUPLE OF MONTHS OLD. WINDSHIELD CRACKED WHILE WE WERE SITTING IN A PARKING LOT - THE DEFROSTER WASN'T ON AND THERE WAS NOTHING THAT TOUCHED THE WINDSHIELD. CAR WAS PARKED AND THE CRACK JUST FORMED SPONTANEOUSLY, 2 PEOPLE WITNESSED THE CRACK IN REAL TIME. STARTED VERTICALLY FROM THE BOTTOM CENTER OF THE WINDSHIELD, WENT UP APPROXIMATELY 5 INCHES, THE SPREAD SIDEWAYS ABOUT 12 INCHES IN EITHER DIRECTION.