Anyone having issues with their windshield? I purchased my Niro in August, replaced the windshield less than 6 weeks later. Now, I'm getting ready to have to replace it again. Has anyone else had issues with the windshield being very easily broken??
Broken Windshield
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Nope, and mine got hit REALLY hard by a stone. It hit hsrd enough that I closed my eyes and turned away expecting to be hit with shards of glass.
It was by a cop driving down the left side of a road trying to get in front of a line of slowed traffic.
I blew my horn, flipped him off and screamed out the window. He did not stop.
It was by a cop driving down the left side of a road trying to get in front of a line of slowed traffic.
I blew my horn, flipped him off and screamed out the window. He did not stop.
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85 Posts
I agree w/ davis573, caryni2q & Billraab - the glass seems a bit soft. Took a small cluster of 4 very small windshield dings from a cloud of "road grit" (tiny stones & sand) on the I-80 in Wyoming, while following a truck that had drifted into the shoulder a bit & kicked up a cloud of dust.
Had them filled & buffed immediately by a local windshield guy. Replaced 4 windshields in 3 yrs on a previously-owned vehicle - I now know better. I don't put off windshield ding repairs anymore. Too costly - and risky. Even good quality modern auto glass will open cracks QUICKLY on the edge of a VERY shallow chip. They do NOT make them like they used to, folks. Your windshield is your SHIELD, I strongly recommend you treat it as such.
Fix windshield dings WHEN THEY OCCUR. Don't wait. It will save you money, and down the road a ways, it could very well save your life.
Had them filled & buffed immediately by a local windshield guy. Replaced 4 windshields in 3 yrs on a previously-owned vehicle - I now know better. I don't put off windshield ding repairs anymore. Too costly - and risky. Even good quality modern auto glass will open cracks QUICKLY on the edge of a VERY shallow chip. They do NOT make them like they used to, folks. Your windshield is your SHIELD, I strongly recommend you treat it as such.
Fix windshield dings WHEN THEY OCCUR. Don't wait. It will save you money, and down the road a ways, it could very well save your life.
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7 Posts
Yeah I have a 2018 touring edition niro with 15,000km on it...I'm in Toronto Canada. Windshield just cracked easily on the passenger side....I think it cracked waaay to easily. Does anyone know if the replacement is complicated and hard because of the forward looking
Camera on the windshield???
Very expensive to recalibrate the cameras if needed, like $600 or so - that won't be covered by your insurance policy. I've read that some replace the glass and don't need to recalibrate so I'd try that first. You probably want OEM glass though, I don't think third party glass will have the sound deadener glass.
Weight reduction certainly does have an impact on mpg, but saving a few pounds on a windshield is not something normally done. In fact the trend is to make them heavier with sound deadening in mind. A few pounds has an unnoticeable impact on mpg, but can have an outsize impact on the all important EPA rating. The EPA has weight brackets, get one pound below a particular bracket and the mpg rating jumps. So when a car like a hybrid really needs good numbers for marketing, manufactures often take some shortcuts. The base model Niro is a good example as they did a lot of dumb things to lighten the car to move the bracket. Like the flimsy load floor in the base model, or the lighter dash materials.
While anecdotal mpg figures have a lot of variables like driving style, my LX with tech has just finished a full four season year with a measured average of 52 mpg. That is better than the base model. Disclaimer, I did lighten the car and removed the non-aero roof rails, but it still weighs more than the base model. Not sure of how much as I haven't weighed the car, but at least 50 pounds more is my guess. I do have a smooth driving style and minimize my speeding up and slowing down (about 75% cruise control) so weight differences on efficiency are minimized.
While anecdotal mpg figures have a lot of variables like driving style, my LX with tech has just finished a full four season year with a measured average of 52 mpg. That is better than the base model. Disclaimer, I did lighten the car and removed the non-aero roof rails, but it still weighs more than the base model. Not sure of how much as I haven't weighed the car, but at least 50 pounds more is my guess. I do have a smooth driving style and minimize my speeding up and slowing down (about 75% cruise control) so weight differences on efficiency are minimized.
Yes- My windshield cracked about 30 days after I purchased it band new from dealer in 2018...now just about 2 years later- have another windshield crack- not to mention all of the tiny holes I can see daylight thru. It also burns me from the sun in the summer months. Never had a car do this. The summer sun penetrates thru and makes me excessively hot and sunburned as a day at the beach.This is not a good thing. I hate it. I have to jam on the breaks as the blinding sun goes right thru the side and front windshield to the point of taking my vision completely away for several seconds. Such a weird, needless thing to happen during half the year. This is the thinnest/cheapest car windshield I have ever had. First Kia-I love the gas mileage but everything feels really light and cheap-especially the windshield. It has no rubber molding around it and just appears to sit on top and the angle and thinness of it make it ripe for cracking at the slightest thing hitting it. I'm disgusted with it.
Thin? Maybe your replacement window. OEM is soundproofed window and thick, unusual in an economy car. Did your first windshield break from a stone? Sometimes careless installation will create a stress crack which would be covered under warranty. Usually such stress cracks are from poor design though but since no one else has mentioned it after three plus years on the market...
Also, you cannot get sunburned through glass, OEM or other. But if your skin is hot, capillaries will dilate giving the reddened appearance temporarily of being sunburned.
Also, you cannot get sunburned through glass, OEM or other. But if your skin is hot, capillaries will dilate giving the reddened appearance temporarily of being sunburned.
The windshield was hit by a small stone which caused the break and crack right in my line of vision. Was replaced at Safe-lite auto glass with OEM windshield-covered by insurance.Since then has suffered many tiny pin-hole sized defects that allow daylight to shine thru. Never had a windshield be so sensitive to highway pebbles or debris. The slightest contact seems to cause a tiny crack to form. Owned and driven many different types of cars by different manufacturers, (subaru, ford, nissan, toyota) never experienced this prior to Kia Niro windshield. Afraid that every time I go thru an automated car wash- the windshield will crack further. Feel it is unsafe, cheap and a huge let down.
I do not mean that I am literally getting a sunburn- just that the thinness/cheapness of the windows on this Niro are such that they seem to allow an unnecessary amount of heat to generate inside the car. It feels like a magnifying glass is heating up. These are not things I have just decided to make up in my imagination- they are observed and suffered after two full years of driving this car-been driving for 39 years and owned several different makes and models-never experienced anything like this prior to this Kia NIro. Would not buy again.
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Just my personal opinion, but I don't think they really gave you an OEM windshield. My Niro is now a year old, and the windshield has stood up much better than the OEM glass in my last few VWs. No fine scratches from the wipers (VW was really bad there), still seems quite good optically.
I just believed them (Safe-lite auto glass that is) when they ordered the first replacement windshield 30 days after I purchased it new based on the car's VIN#. For this next fix I will request having the work done right at the Kia dealer I purchased the car from. Hope to get this replaced this upcoming week. Total PIA.
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153 Posts
Last summer got a stone chip on the passenger side towards the bottom of the windshield. A couple of weeks later it spread into a crack because the car cooled down too quick after being parked in the 100+ degree Texas heat. Less than a week later, the crack covers half of my windshield on the passenger side. My wife wants me to get it replaced but with all the major highway construction going on here, I don’t want to replace it just to get cracked again.
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