Can washing your car be wrong???

After a week of stop and go driving, and snow I decided to go and give my baby a wash to get all the white from the snow off at one of the local car washes. All is fine and dandy except fot the 28degree temp outside. I have gotten washes before out this cold, a day or 2 after the snow, and im sure many of you have also. Bout 15 - 20 min after the wash I notice a crack in the windshield that was never there before and I just thought to my self "F***... now im down even more money i dont have at the moment". So i pull over and look at the crack. I was about 6 inches in going up at like a 60degree angle bout 7 or 8 inches long. This makes me nice and depressed. So I contomplate calling my girlfriend and a towtruck but I thought to my self "riiiiiite a tow truck for this, ive seen plenty of people with cracked windshields". I continue to drive and about 5 min later it runs across the length of the windshield rite before my eyes. WTF.
Please someone just tell me something other then its gonna cost me $1000 to fix. Im so friggin depressed. And after such a good week...

[shelfy]

sounds like you live in a state requiring a safety inspection. i've been driving with a cracked windshield for over two years now.

[n00b on demand]

Yea NY requires inspection.....but there are tons of people driving with cracked windshields. Tough break Joey

Im really not worried about the inspection as much as im just hurt, cause I know my baby is hurt. I dont know im just all paranoid now. I think the ice is gonna cause more damage it more. I dont know it just turns my stomache. A windshield is more then a friggin tranny man. I thought my major worry was needing a new tranny now a new windshield... Dont mind me im just venting...

[SubaSteevo]

I have a windshield on the parts car in PA. If you come remove it yourself, I'll sell it to ya cheap.

[n00b on demand]

Actually theres an idea...cuz i have to go to steve so he can do my radio install....so we could go together if you want joey. I was gonna ask you and omar if you guys wanted to come along anyway..we could make it a little meet.

that sounds nice, now all i gotta do is figure out the how, when and the where...

[n00b on demand]

Well the where is covered....just figure out the how and when...remember i gotta know a week in advance so i can book a day off. And of course steve has to be free too.

that just leaves the how (manuals anyone?) and how much

[SubaSteevo]

The parts car is in PA, about an hour and a half away from me, not sure about the distance from NY (Morgantown, PA if you wanna run a mapquest).

As far as how much...I think $250 sounds like a good price. The lowest I can remember seeing one sell for is $500.

I have the manuals I think you'd probably be best off if you could come up with a truck rather than install it on the spot and hope it stays in on the drive home.

[UberRoo]

Rapid, localized temperature changes will crack glass. Water is a great medium for transfering lots of thermal energy. Ever try to defrost a window with a bucket of hot water? Don't. Instant death.

My favorite pressure wash place uses heated water. I don't use it in the winter. They turn the water temperature down anyway, but I don't risk it. If you already have a rock chip, that can be really risky.

If you want to experiment, find a piece of glass to destroy and play with a torch and some ice. Just wear safety goggles.

I would say this was my 8th wash this month. The only factor that differed from any other time, was I used a different car wash. Now im paranoid because I hear theres a storm coming this weekend and I dont know what to expect. I dont know if i should use the De-fog anymore, or the wipers or anything. It sucks sooooooo much.

[fait_svx]

I used to have 2 cracks going in opposite directions. I accidently cracked it while changing my wiper blades, I think? But, at the time I had subs and I guess the vibration caused it to crack that way. I was worried about the cost, who has 900+ dollars lying around? But, one day I let my sis-in-law use my car to go to class and she got in a little fender-bender. Note: never let girls drive your car in the snow, especially if they've never driven your car before. I told the insurance company that the crack was caused by the accident and I saved myself 900+ bucks.

that would work IF i had full coverage. me being under 25 full would cost $2500 a year UNDER MY MOTHER. So im stuck with just liability

[Mr. Pockets]

Originally posted by shelfy
sounds like you live in a state requiring a safety inspection. i've been driving with a cracked windshield for over two years now.

You know, the windshield is really expensive to replace, but cracks severely compromise its integrity. I'd replace it.