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So I come out of class for the day and get to my car and see this...



(this is after closing the door causing some of the glass in this area to fall in)


The glass is still intact but shattered. The only hole is on the top right corner where the glass bends (see picture), it does not allow access to the inside bc its covered by interior roof panel. The hole seems to go up, not into the windshield from the outside. I have a viper alarm that did not go off (when shock sensor goes off my 2 way pager notifies me when I disarm) so I don't suspect it was hit or have any reason to believe vandalism was involved. The car next to me parked close, but no dents or evidence of impact from a door. I was not aware of any prior cracks in the windshield. I did not even open my hatch this morning or in the past couple days! I did not hit any bumps that morning that could have worsened any weak point. There was no snow/frost on my car this morning, it was cold in am and bright sun came out later.

I dont know what to think! I dont know if the cold > warm sun would have made it shatter? Maybe it was previously weakened?

Anyways, what to do now... I have liability coverage. I don't believe glass is covered. I am not one to be dishonest, but If I called and added glass coverage and then whoops its broken and make a claim would that work? Anyone replaced their rear glass? Any suggestions?

would your insurance rate go up when you report it? I'd be most worried about that.

junk yard glass?

Thats super sucky.

thats the only window on my car that i would not want to break, did you inform yourself how much is a new backglass? it must be freacking expensive... and you cant really get someone on the forum to ship you one without breaking it...

that sucks man good luck...

lexan hatches are being talked about, if you can patch it for a few months.

There is aftermarket glass available for the rear hatch. I was broken into a few years ago. Factory glass is about $1800 (or was at that time) but who's to say what it will cost down there.

It ain't cheap. Your best bet is to find a good used hatch in the junk yard.

yeah pick up a whole hatch and take it somewhere and have them flip it. you had nice tint too

i hope this never happens to me

Put good clear tape on both sides right away!!
It should hold together, and be watertight.

Soz to hear about your broken hatch glass, gutted

Yea they are expensive new. Over here in the UK we're looking about £1500 for new glass, considering I only paid £1100 for the car that's more than the whole car is worth!

I've got glass protection on my insurance but they would want to write off the car rather than replace.

Junk yard would be your best bet.

or buy a cheap parts car.

I'm looking into junk yards to see what I can find. Found one place not too far away that has a black w/o wiper for $150... just hope its in good shape. We'll see!
I'd love a lexan hatch, if that GI became a GB I'd be so in.

So today I tackled the hatch, went with my friend to the junk yard 30 min away in his volvo station wagon thinking the hatch would fit (we measured) but it indeed did not (out hatches are huge and odldy shaped... should have known!) So we drove back, I removed the old hatch being careful not to let the glass fall in, unbolted it and drove back to the junk yard. The drive was fun! It is really a cool experience driving with no hatch! We got to the place and put the hatch on... its black so I'm lucky, small scratch and some dirty dingy interior panels and the glass has some green spot and some dumb purple peeling tint. Made sure it was aligned correctly when I got home (took some fiddling) and went to cleaning. Removed the dirty panels (ill replace with my old ones) and cleaned the dirt off of it. Tomorrow ill continue to work on it and put in some elbow grease to make it look good again. $150 compared to $1200 from any of the auto glass places I called who claimed the glass must be dealer only because the price was $1200. Here are some pics of the adventure...

Ya a glass guy said trying to remove then install used glass has a high probability of failure. He suggested new or replacing the entire hatch. Good score for you

I wonder if its legal to drive without a hatch.

Ryan wrote:I wonder if its legal to drive without a hatch.

LOL I drove for an entire summer without a hatch on my mx-3... now that I think about it didn't have headlights either so I guess it wasn't "stree legal"

glad to hear you were able to source a replacement hatch for only $150!!