I win today's stupid car maintence mistake award

sempergoofy

🏆️ In acceptance, here is what happened. Noticed last weekend my wife's 2017 Honda CRV's wipers were chattering. Time to change them. Ordered up replacements easily from Amazon as I have done in the past. They arrived Monday and I set them aside until today to install.

After removing the driver's side wiper, I left the wiper arm in the raised position while I got the replacement ready. Reached in to start hooking the new one up and bumped the arm. Down it came under pressure from its spring. S-M-A-C-K! Right into the windshield like a hammer strike. Naturally, the windshield cracked and it quickly spread right up the middle to the top edge. So what was an inexpensive normal car maintenance thing has turned into a $300 to $450 full windshield replacement chore next week. FML. Lesson learned. Put a towel or blanket down to protect the glass from simple yet stupid accidents next time. 😠

g121

sempergoofy
careful .. do NOT drop your trophy : )) ..

sempergoofy

🧈 🖐️

RayGeode

sempergoofy
I would like your post but that seems somehow inappropriate. Instead I’ll appreciate you’re taking the time to offer words to the wise. I’ll offer one of my own in the form of Q&A.
Q: What’s the first thing you do when starting an under the hood DIY?
A: drop the nut you just took off into the black hole of the engine compartment.
Solution: Always spread newspaper or rags to catch dropped parts.

MacLeech

RayGeode

RayGeode Q: What’s the first thing you do when starting an under the hood DIY?
A: drop the nut you just took off into the black hole of the engine compartment.
Solution: Always spread newspaper or rags to catch dropped parts.

FTFY. Solution: Always spread newspaper or rages to catch parts/tools that fall out of your engine compartment. They may or may not be the parts/tools you dropped during the current work, and they will never be the 10mm sockets you keep losing.

Rich221976

MacLeech

RayGeode Q: What’s the first thing you do when starting an under the hood DIY?
A: drop the nut you just took off into the black hole of the engine compartment.
Solution: Always spread newspaper or rags to catch dropped parts.

FTFY. Solution: Always spread newspaper or rages to catch parts/tools that fall out of your engine compartment. They may or may not be the parts/tools you dropped during the current work, and they will never be the 10mm sockets you keep losing.

G-d, how did you know that I lose 10mm sockets. I hate to say this but I think I have bought at least about 50 of them so far in my life time.

Too bad you couldn't get the insurance to cover the window.

sempergoofy

Rich221976
I hear you on the insurance claim. "That wiper wielding idiot came out of nowhere and broke my windshield!" likely wouldn't fly.
To add insult to injury, in my cursory reviews of replacement service shops nearby on the web, I learned that they include new wipers when they replace your windshield.

PL1

sempergoofy I hear you on the insurance claim. "That wiper wielding idiot came out of nowhere and broke my windshield!" likely wouldn't fly.

In my state (Ma) it is mandatory coverage for the windshield. It does not matter the reason. So, you might ask.

px_eliezer_

Good idea about the towel.

But now you got me hearing the “Safelite repair, Safelite replace” jingle in my head all night.

cypherstream

sempergoofy Oh I've done that before! Yeah that sucks! I have $100 windshield replacement deductable. Safelite repair, safelite replace!

sempergoofy

px_eliezer_ Safelite was one of the places that popped into my mind, too, thanks to their advertising. They have a shop 8 miles from my house. Wife noted that an independent shop closer to house has better google reviews FWIW.

Only other time I have had a windshield replaced was on my son's car when he was in college. Whomever insurance company used came to the house like Safelite can, but it was not them.

As noted above, it won't hurt to call them and discuss whether I file claim or not. I vaguely recall they recommended and arranged the other company that did son's car. I use Amica for insurance and have been satisfied for decades.

Rich221976

Down here, Windshield replacements don't have a deductible. I have gotten a few replaced before with insurance. I tend to crack a windshield about every 5 years due to rocks and stuff on the main highways. Usually, the insurance's prefer contractor is Safelite so they came out a couple of times over the years.

They have done a pretty good job on them. The only time they didn't get it fixed in the same day was when the new windshield they were installing broke on them during the installation. That only has happened one time and they came back out the next day and got it done. I think the guy was more upset than we were.

Astyanax

Rich221976

Rich221976 Down here, Windshield replacements don't have a deductible.

That is correct but you must be carrying comprehensive/collision to place the claim in the first place. Nevertheless you do NOT want to make that claim even if you have the coverage. It's considered a claim and -will- ding your CLUE report which will increase your premium at renewal and affect them for the next 5 years even if you change companies.

If you can afford a cash replacement of the windshield I strongly recommend you do it.

sempergoofy

Astyanax Having gotten an online quote after entering VIN so they can get the correct replacement, wife made an 8am appointment Wednesday morning at a nearby autoglassnow.com shop. This shop had better reviews on google (yeah, for whatever those are worth) than the Safelite place. Only 2 miles from the house, so easier to get to. Online quote was for $335. We will pay it out of pocket. No need to risk increased insurance rates over that especially given the self-inflicted error.

Blackbird

RayGeode

RayGeode Q: What’s the first thing you do when starting an under the hood DIY?
A: drop the nut you just took off into the black hole of the engine compartment.

Heh. Back in the day, I was replacing the distributor points of my '65 Dodge Dart. After carefully removing the mounting screw and old points, I placed the new unit in the proper position, inserted the screw, and promptly fumbled it and dropped it. Naturally, Murphy's law being what it was, the screw bounced once and disappeared down the open slot where the engine pickup emerged into the distributor housing - followed by a tink, tink sound as it joyfully leaped its way down into the deepest bowels of the beast crying "freedom, freedom"! I eventually located a similar replacement screw from my junk box (not an easy task), installed the points, and - after praying to the engine gods - started up the engine and everything worked fine thereafter. I figure the screw was likely still somewhere stuck in the gunk layer of the oil pan when I sold the car a few years later.

MomOfARocker

sempergoofy Ouch!

digitalfutur

sempergoofy I was clearing snow and ice off the windshield of my 6th gen Camaro a couple of years ago and next day noticed a 2" crack at the edge of the glass on the passenger side near the base. The perimeter of the windshield is completely exposed (no mouldings), in keeping with the slick styling. Windshield had to replaced but due to that tank turret styling, it's tiny compared to most other cars; and with no electronic doodads to recalibrate, only cost me $400 to replaced;, less than my deductible.

Needless to say, I pay careful attention now with the scraper when clearing ice.

sempergoofy

cypherstream "Oh I've done that before."
I told my boss the story yesterday and he said that he also cracked a windshield once changing wiper blades. Seems common enough that I should have been more aware of the danger. I certainly am now!

cypherstream

sempergoofy yeah they are really springy. They sure do fly back down with a vengeance.

I just did wiper blades last week and took no precautions. Thankfully I didn’t mess anything up, but I should be more careful in the future.

sempergoofy

Windshield was replaced today. Naturally, it was more than the online estimate due to recalibrating the "lane departure" camera. But, I am happy it is complete.