Bloody Jaguar windscreens

[simpo two]

Had a BMW730 for 8.5 years - windscreen 1/4" thick, bombproof. Trouble-free.

Had Jaguar S-Type for 1.3 years, first windscreen developed foot-long crack and had to be replaced for £50. Now, after a stone hit it on the A12 last week, it's growing ANOTHER crack.

This windscreen has a heating element, and seems to have the robustness of a large Tescos wineglass.

Now that I'm faced with another £50 bill, is it possible to get a windscreen that won't break when a fly lands on it?

Come to think of it, I've never had to have a windscreen replaced in any of my cars over 22 years - until this one. Grr.

[Trooper2]

I'm just thinking out loud simpo, but I wonder if a U.S. spec. windscreen would be more robust due to slightly differing safety standards.

Off Topic: did you ever resolve the relay problem you were having?

That sounded like an intermittent electrical fault in either the control or power circuit for that relay. The relay in question was no doubt replaced and didn't cure the problem.

[jagpaul99]

I have an S type which has had multiple stone chips on my windscreen, due to me living within sight of a quarry most likely. And I have never had any problems, there always have been just small chips, not even ones big enough to be concerned about.

I dont know if you have been unlucky or what but on my last car, a BMW 728, I had a replacement windscreen due to faulty heating elements.

Now I dont know if I have been lucky or what, but apparently the Jaguar windscreens come from the same source as Ford and some other manufactures.

Maybe its just luck of the draw ?

[Trooper2]

I wonder if maybe there is welded seam or something thats sticking up too far causing undue stress on the glass to begin with? If auto windscreens aren't installed just right you can get allot of problems.