The right side mirror on my PT Cruiser suddenly exploded while my husband was driving the car. Has this happened to anyone else? I haven’t had it repaired yet, should I expect to cover all the cost because it is out of warranty?
He hit something or something hit it.
You pay to fix it.
Ditto. Could have been an unseen flying rock, bird, or who knows what.
Even if the car were brand spanking new, warranty will not pay for damage caused by flying objects.
Did the glass break, or the whole mirror assembly? If it was just the glass there was probably a small flaw that finally let go. If it was the whole assembly, something hit it.
Does This PT Have Heated Mirrors?
CSA
I agree with where both mc & common are going. There can be a glass defect that can cause this.
Also You would not get many flying objects coming at the mirror from behind a moving car, rather it would tend to hit the non-glass part of the mirror.
I Can’t Verify It, But I Have Heard Of Instances Where One’s Turning On The Rear Window Defroster (Grid) During Cold Weather Caused The Window To Break.
Some outside mirrors are heated (I love them, by the way). Mine are powerful enough to defrost the glass in short order. I believe mine are wired to activate with the rear defroster. Some people may not know they have them.
Maybe with a defect like what you’re talking about it doesn’t take much shock to break the glass.
CSA
Thanks for the responses. My husband was driving and I was in the driver’s seat. It was hot (I live in Las Vegas) maybe 100 degrees, window is not heated, and nothing hit the mirror. Only the glass, not the entire unit exploded. Maybe there was a minor defect in the mirror that wasn’t visible for 4 years.
Those defects are not usually visible. They are stress areas in the glass that likely did not cool evenly when it was being manufactured.
From an experience I had, I would recommend a glass shop to fix the mirror. I had the glass drop out of the right hand mirror on my 1978 Oldsmobile when the car was about 18 years old. I ordered the replacement glass through the Oldsmobile dealer. The piece was quite expensive, and when I removed backing paper off, the adhesive had dried out. I took the car to a body shop at the Chrysler dealer. The manager said that a glass shop was coming that afternoon to replace a windshield and he would have the glass shop technician look at the problem. He asked me what I had paid for the glass and told me that I had been ripped off. When I got the car back, there was no charge–the body shop manager said I had been ripped off enough already by Oldsmobile. He said that if I had a similar problem take it to the glass shop and have them cut a mirror.