Windshield divot and crack on 2018. Possible replacement woes?

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2018 CX-9 GT
Tonight I went and looked at a 2018 Grand Touring in my area. It's been on the lot for about three months and now I understand why: The windshield has a nice sized divot really low on the windshield, right in the center, where the wipers rest. And there was a vertical crack under that divot traveling down into the plastic trim. Not good. From what the car rep said, the previous owner got fed-up with waiting on Mazda to replace the windshield because they were on back-order forever. So, I'm thinking that this is certainly a point of negotiation in the deal but I have no idea how much a windshield replacement would cost or (and this is probably the more important thing) how difficult it is to replace a windshield on a 2018 CX-9 because it looks like there's electronics at the base of the windshield to support the HID(?). Is this correct? I'll call a local dealer tomorrow to get an estimate on a windshield replacement but I can't imagine that there's a huge backorder. Comments welcomed.
 
Call a few local dealers for sure. You can also call third-party windshield replacement companies like Safelite to see what they would charge, but I think they would use aftermarket glass, and I don't know if that glass accommodates the electronics that need to be attached to it, or if the electronics would even work properly after installation.

By the way, the lines on the bottom and the driver's side of the windshield that look like tracks on a printed circuit board are the windshield wiper heaters. They help to keep ice off of the wipers in mild winters. The other electronics to worry about are the Forward Sensing Camera, auto-wiper sensor, ambient lighting sensor and the laser sensor used for SCBS. I believe that most, if not all of this equipment needs to be recalibrated to ensure that it works with the new windshield. Make sure that the recalibration is included when you get your quotes from the dealer (or from Safelite, if they have the ability to recalibrate these systems).
 
Call a few local dealers for sure. You can also call third-party windshield replacement companies like Safelite to see what they would charge, but I think they would use aftermarket glass, and I don't know if that glass accommodates the electronics that need to be attached to it, or if the electronics would even work properly after installation.

By the way, the lines on the bottom and the driver's side of the windshield that look like tracks on a printed circuit board are the windshield wiper heaters. They help to keep ice off of the wipers in mild winters. The other electronics to worry about are the Forward Sensing Camera, auto-wiper sensor, ambient lighting sensor and the laser sensor used for SCBS. I believe that most, if not all of this equipment needs to be recalibrated to ensure that it works with the new windshield. Make sure that the recalibration is included when you get your quotes from the dealer (or from Safelite, if they have the ability to recalibrate these systems).

sm1ke- Thanks for the input. I'll bear all this in mind as I make the decision whether or not to take the plunge into the car. I absolutely should be able to negotiate this into the deal but I don't want to be left holding the bag if this turns out to be a replacement nightmare.
 
*double post* (hand)
 
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sm1ke- Thanks for the input. I'll bear all this in mind as I make the decision whether or not to take the plunge into the car. I absolutely should be able to negotiate this into the deal but I don't want to be left holding the bag if this turns out to be a replacement nightmare.

That's what I would do. In fact, to avoid holding the bag, I'd get the dealer to repair the windshield and perform all necessary calibrations as a condition of sale. That said, this might only be a possibility if the dealer you're purchasing from is a Mazda dealership with the capability to replace the windshield and recalibrate the sensors. It might be more difficult if they have to farm the work out.

Good luck either way, I love my 2018 Signature after nearly 28,000 kms of ownership. No regrets!
 
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I think special glass is needed to have the reflection that is the heads up display we see. If this is the case, and if any 2nd gen CX-9s don't have the HUD, then the correct windshield is essential. The cameras behind the mirror need to be calibrated, probably at a dealership, maybe at a large auto glass shop.

I agree, make the replacement, calibration, and your careful inspection part of the proposal. Get the warranty details on water leakage clear before you buy.
 
I think special glass is needed to have the reflection that is the heads up display we see. If this is the case, and if any 2nd gen CX-9s don't have the HUD, then the correct windshield is essential. The cameras behind the mirror need to be calibrated, probably at a dealership, maybe at a large auto glass shop.

I agree, make the replacement, calibration, and your careful inspection part of the proposal. Get the warranty details on water leakage clear before you buy.

Called the local dealership today and the price of the windshield is $850 with an hour of labor to install. ~$1,000 out the door. Will mostly likely simply negotiate this off the price and if we close the deal, take it immediately to the dealer I spoke with to have it installed. I'd rather have control over the install and inspection at the dealer than leaving this to someone else. When calling around to aftermarket glass installers, there price was not much lower. Not worth it to have a 3rd party install and something not be calibrated correctly. Thanks for your help everyone.
 
I had a crack and got mine replaced by safelite. They got the glass from Mazda as there were, according to them, no aftermarket shields available. I watched them put the windshield in, it was pretty interesting, calibrate all the stuff and so on.

No issues for the last 1.5 years.

I think the bill would have come to $1200, I just had to pay my deductible.
 
On a related note, when I bought my 2019 and talked to the insurance company (State Farm) I learned that it was less expensive to drop my comprehensive deductible to zero than to add glass breakage coverage. If I need a windshield replacement or have any other comprehensive claim it will be no cost to me.

Another interesting tidbit that I learned from a good glass guy on my last car is that if your windshield is unique to your vehicle in some way the company replacing it has to use the higher quality and more expensive OEM glass (as opposed to aftermarket) as was the case for Midnight Rider. I would also choose to have a Mazda dealer do the install if at all possible.
 
I had my windshield replaced earlier this year. Finding the right part seemed to be an issue for Safe-lite, but was not an issue for the dealer. They replaced it pretty quickly (within four days of my initial call) for less than $800. The windshields were hard to find earlier in the year, but I'm guessing production should have ramped up by now. FYI the dealer stated they did not need to do any camera calibration (yes, I have all the possible cameras) and the systems have worked perfectly since the install.
 
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