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cracked side mirror from washing the car: need help(TEG)

797 Views 11 Replies 8 Participants Last post by  SophieSleeps
I got pissed today.
I haven't washed my IS300 for 3 weeks so I thought I would wash it today. So I got outside in cold weather and washed it very carefully as I always do and even cleaned the inside. Then I took my girl friend and went to the Costco to grab the Gladiator DVD. I noticed my side mirror looked weird. First I thought I didn't dry it well enough, but at a second look, I realized it was cracked. It couldn't have been someone messing with my car because I was with my car the whole time from washing my car up to the Costco parking lot.

It must have been the heated mirror. Washing the car in cold water and heating the mirror right after must have contracted and expanded the mirror and caused it to crack. I was let down big time. I look my car to the Lexus dealer right of way and told the guy I bought the car from, since the service was closed because it's sunday. He wasn't sure whether it's covered under the warrantee or not. So he told me to call the service tomorrow and find out, which I will.

Has anyone experienced the same thing? If so, does the dealer cover it. If not, does the insurance company cover it? How much would the replacement cost? I am wondering if it's simple as removing the cracked mirror and replace it.

HELP please.

Sean

[This message has been edited by nextsean (edited December 03, 2000).]
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is the temps difference really have that much of am impact??

sorry about your losss...
let us know how it goes
i really doubt it was due to the temp diff. if this were the case, then guys who live in areas with very cold climates will crack their mirrors all the time. think of it like this...how cold do you think your mirror got??? i know in cali (san fran) a few weeks ago, it was like 40's. and for you to get your mirror colder than this is pretty hard. anyway, if the heated mirror caused your crack, then i would assume mine should have cracked also. maybe it's something else. just my opinion...

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2001 IS300 Graphite Grey
94 Supra TT/6-speed/HardTop
90 Integra
hot to cold.. has a better chance of cracking... cold too hot... never
Maybe mine was weak or defective to start with and the temperature did the trick... You are right, there are lot of colder places than here in Seattle, but I am concerned about how the dealer or the insurance company will respond to this..

If someone hit it or some force was applied, there would be some scratch or something. But when you look at it closely, it's finely cracked with no scratch at all.
must've been those damn gremlins... err...trolls i mean... :p

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2001 IS300 Graphite Grey
94 Supra TT/6-speed/HardTop
90 Integra
Was the car running during or just before you washed it? I think if the mirrors were hot and you put cold water on them they could crack. I also dispute the above statement that cold to hot is not possible. I had an older car that I let warm up for a while on a very cold day. I neglected to turn on the heater or defroster when I started the car, so when I got in it the window still had frost on it and the car (except for the engine)was cold. I turned on the defroster and CRACK! the window cracked right at the line where the defroster air vent was. I hope Lexus takes care of it for you!
Something very weird happened to me this morning. I get out of my house at 6:50 with a temp. of about 28 (I checked afterwards), I sat in my car, started it (like always) and I hear a little crack. I look on my drivers side window, nothing, I look on my drivers side mirror and there's a crack directly on the center. I start flipping out in shock as I watch the crack slowly begin to grow to each tip of the mirror. I feel the mirror and it was pretty warm. There’s has to be some kind of defect here.

So I get to work and call the dealer. I didn’t get a chance to speak to the service manager but I did speak to the dealer and he has not heard anything similar. The service guy will be in at around 3:00 and I will post more then. This better be covered under warranty.
Originally posted by AllFlava!:
Something very weird happened to me this morning. I get out of my house at 6:50 with a temp. of about 28 (I checked afterwards), I sat in my car, started it (like always) and I hear a little crack. I look on my drivers side window, nothing, I look on my drivers side mirror and there's a crack directly on the center. I start flipping out in shock as I watch the crack slowly begin to grow to each tip of the mirror. I feel the mirror and it was pretty warm. There’s has to be some kind of defect here.

So I get to work and call the dealer. I didn’t get a chance to speak to the service manager but I did speak to the dealer and he has not heard anything similar. The service guy will be in at around 3:00 and I will post more then. This better be covered under warranty.
i have been driving my IS here in chicago and today it was 10 degrees with a wind chill of -15 - -20 and luckily my mirror is still alright.

i would of thought if this was a defect that mine would of cracked by now

ONYX 01
OK, I called the service at the Dealer yesterday. They are going to cover it under the warrantee. They said they have to order it and it takes about 2 days to get the parts in and fix my mirror.
I am glad to see I am not the only one with this problem.

AllFlava, your dealer will probably cover it too.

Sean
Sean-


Yeah, I just got off the phone with the service manager and it looked to be covered under warranty. He said as long as there is no point of impact and just a crack, then it is covered. He said it there is a hole or space where a penpecil tip can fit in, then it was caused by some sort of impact and that would not be covered. So he ordered the part for immediate replacement.

This week has not be so good for my whip and me, I got egged last night in a parking lot. I ended up freezing my a$$ of in a self carwash at 10:00pm giving it a shower.

Hey at least my mirror is under warranty and I got the egg off before it ate my paint.
I've washed my car below freezing. My side mirrors have never cracked.

Washing below freezing is tricky. Too bad you So Cal people don't have to worry bout that.

You have to get the sun just right. Water just right. And be very very careful.
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