OK I haven’t been drinking. And the glass guys look at me like I’ve been smoking something. On a trip last week, a very large rock hit the windscreen directly in front of my driving position. It was far louder than anything I’d heard before. We all got a fright in the car, and I was amazed that the windscreen didn’t shatter. There were three small marks where it made contact, the outer chips being two 2cm apart. We were travelling to a cold destination, the car was parked outside, and in the morning there was a crack from the chips up to the top of the windscreen, ending where the blackened out part of the glass starts. The crack was very obvious but didn’t look quite as bold as the cracks I had in a previous Outback windscreen. It was obvious enough for me to catch my finger nail in though.
We drove home two days later and parked the car in the garage. The next morning the crack was gone!!
I’ve looked really carefully and tried shining a torch through at an angle to look for any light refraction, but the windscreen now looks perfect (aside from the three chips).
What’s going on? Is it possible for only the outer layer of laminated glass to crack and then squeeze closed again?
Very confused. Four other people also saw the crack (because of my moaning). We put in the claim when the crack was still visible, and the new windscreen is waiting with the glass guys. Going to go ahead and replace it, because knowing my luck, it’ll reappear when we’re in another country far from home or any Subaru dealer.
