Hey folks I have been out of the loop for a while but not out my MINI. As a matter o fact I recently was sent to OKlahoma City OK on duty. I stopped by Jackie Cooper BMW/ MINI. After Laura my MINI helper was done with me I had traded in my 2003 EB/B MINI S for a bran spanking new Cabrio.

During the trade I went ahead and replaced the windshield to up my trade value. I made it home in perfect condition. The wife loved the cabrio so much she didnt give me a hard time about going in for "touch up paint and a t-shirt" and comming home with a new convertable.

Here is the very sad ending to a perfect weekend, I say weekend because I have had the car since Friday it's 5 days old, not even a week, and a little more than a 3 day weekend old.

Today my wife wanted to take MY new car out for a spin and run some errands. I say MY car because she will never again be allowed to drive it unsupervised. She decided to take North Quaker Ave. an area where ever good driver knows to avoid like a crab infested hooker on payday due to massive construction and loose gravel. I came home ready to washer up and take her for a spin it had rained all day and it was a bit dirty.

I sat in my new black panther leather seat, tuned in my XM on my Harmon Kardon and was like WTF happened to my windshield

As luck would have it she paid no attention to where she was driving and even heard the rock hit do to her idiotic choice of avenue's to drive down. Why she did it I will never know. I love her to death which by the way she was closer to today than she will ever know.

My dilemma is I just had a windshield claim on Friday to up my trade in value, I refuse to have a "Safe T Glass" windshield put in which most insurance companies use. So now instead of really cool after market toy's for my MINI, on my all to soon birthday I will be asking for a new "Cooper Brand" windshield.

The crack is on the upper left corner of my windshield, it starts in the solor black but hairlines down about 3 inches into the clear. Oh my heart dropped and now my 5 almost 6 day old MINI feels like doo-doo!

So the word to the wise about your new MINI is just say no even if it means no sex ever again!

PS
Thanks to Laura Rush at Jackie Cooper MINI for going the extra mile I loved my car till today I also loved my wife but for now I am having a very bad night and had to type this out to vent a bit.

"Eric wonders what a new MINI brand windshield will cost me due to the fact I have used my 3 glass claims for this year?"

 

DSA, CONGRATS on the new convertible!!

Sorry to hear about the windshield crack. I got lucky on my last trip and only ended up with chips in two different places on my less than one month old MINI. Don't let that spoil your enjoyment of your new car.....just put the top down and go motoring. It'll all be better then.

 

Man...I feel for ya! I let my woman drive mine a couple times, but that was just a taste - any more I said she had to get her own. She ended up getting a beetle but put huge scratches in a door handle and the front bumper cover the first month of ownership...I knew it was inevitable! lol Don't get me started on most women, driving, and the long-lost common sense!

 

Sorry to hear about your windshield, but go easy on her man. Windshields and *gasp* even MINI Coopers can be replaced, but a good wife is irreplacable. Cool down and make sure she knows never to drive in that area again. You said it hit in the upper left of the windshield, well the first thing that came to my mind was, "Where is the driver's head normally?". Now not knowing much detail I'd say that was a close call. I mean imagine if the windshield wasn't there, your wife would probably be having a pretty bad day. Good luck with the insurace and try to stay optimistic because at least you have a MINI unlike certain individuals who can only dream of ownership *sniff*. :smile:

 

The mistake you guys made is you got your woman BEFORE your MINI Otherwise you would have looked for ladies like us who are just as obsessed with our MINIs as you are Sorry about your windshield, DSA

Lois

 

Thanks for the kind words guys and Lois I have chilled a bit but now she is playing the hurt lamb role "I will never drive YOUR car again yadda yadda yadda! I didnt get mad at her just mad at the situation now I'm the bad guy.


I had a bad night and just told her I didnt want to talk about it. Now I am the diablo??? Forgive me if I couldnt pull a petunia out my ace after seeing my spotless 5 day old car get its first battle scar which I had nothing to do with.


Oh the pain I couldnt ever wash it.

I do give her major props it aint easy being married to a Drill Sergeant.

 

First of all, this is something mentioned to me when I was talking with several police officer friends about all the construction going on in my area. They say it is true but it is the only time I have ever heard of such a thing. They say that if road debris or potholes cause damage to your car, the city will take care of the cost. Like I said, it's hear say. Since this area apparently is so bad as you described, avoid like a crab infested hooker on payday , maybe it's worth a shot to make a phone call to the street dept. All they can say is no. :smile:

 

We got the windshield replaced about a week ago for $212. No insurance claim, no problem. It was the PPG windshield, not the OEM MINI windshield, but I've actually heard the PPG may be better than factory. So far, I'm quite pleased with it. And honestly, although I don't know what your price range is, I was shocked that it was so inexpensive. I was picturing $800 or something. When the guy quoted my $212, I just about dropped the phone.

 

glad im not married yet

 

How would you have felt if she took the MINI out, totalled the car, and did not live? The car is easily repaired and replaceable, your wife is not. Count your blessings she did not come back with a cracked skull, or severed arm. Repair the MINI, hug your wife, and be glad she is still breathing. I hear ya about the brand new MINI being tortured, but really in this day and age be glad that your wife came back, as you never know that the next time she leaves could be the last time you see her.

Now on a more upbeat note. Congrats on the Cabrio, ours is due here in the next 2 weeks...

 

Make the wife pay for the damage, it happened on her watch, she was the one who decided to drive that road. Perhaps next time she will be a bit more consious of what she is doing when she is behind the wheel, that is if she ever is allowed to get behind the wheel again

 

Getting OEM glass installed shouldn't be a problem, in fact, most people won't settle for 'just' OEM glass! The OEM glass is notorious for being, for lack of a better phrase, utter crap. And if you do a quick search on the forum for 'cracked windshield', you'll realize that it was inevitable! I already went through one windshield about a year ago, got it replaced with OEM, and it now looks like crap again!! When the sun hits it head on, I can barely see though it as it's so pockmarked!

Take advantage of this to get a quality piece of glass like PPG or Pilkington. The price is about the same, if not cheaper, and the quality is much better.

If you do insist on OEM though, the McDonalds of windshield repair / replacement, SafeLite, uses OEM. And although you'll hear mixed reviews on them, like I mentioned above, I had my windshield replaced about one year / 30,000 miles ago, and I have had no problems with the install.

In any case, take a deep breath, simmer down, and realize that something eventually was bound to happen! (Ug, I remember my first scratch... I was in near tears!! )

-Paul!

 

Last year, I was driving on a nice quiet road on a nice sunny day and the only other car on the road threw out a nice rock at my windshield and chipped it. It can happen anywhere to anyone. You have a nice wife. You have a nice car. Love them both !!

 

What he said ...

You wrote: "Today my wife wanted to take MY new car out for a spin and run some errands. I say MY car because she will never again be allowed to drive it unsupervised."

Do you think maybe your putting some material thing above your wife? Not cool. Its just a piece of glass ...

I might add that a few years back my wife scraped the curb with some expensive tires doing sidewall damage to them, that I used to autocross on my Porsche. Yeah, I wasn't happy, it cost a lot of money to replace those tires (and they were new) but to stop her from driving the Porsche? No way, I made it her daily driver because she is far more important than some hunks of rubber. ... Do the right thing dude ...

 

My husband banned me from driving his car. I parked the car in a tight lot and someone backed into it. Yes, I paid for the damages, but he didn't speak to me for weeks and till this day, I won't drive his car...no matter what. (it's been YEARS!) I know where his values lie, and I'm clearly a peg or two under his car! He had the gall to tell me that now that I've had some experience with a "performance" car, he "might" let me take his out for a spin!!!

Funny,he's driving my MINI this week and I don't think he's assuming resonsibility for any chips he may bring back from highway driving! Men are perfect drivers, afterall, and we womenfolk actually CAUSE windshields to crack, rocks to bounce off trucks in front of us, hell, even hail to land on cars in storms!

Take the great advice already posted. Your wife feels like s### about this already. Hug her, tell you you love her, for God's sake, give her the keys to the MINI and let her drive it if she wants/has to. You are in the position to add strength to your marriage, or to cause a whole lot of hurt. Do the smart thing!

 

What some women fail to realize is that it's about respect for property. Sometimes y'all do really stupid things (as all of us do, women just seem to do them with expensive things like cars mroe than men) without care or forthought. Like parking in a tight space instead of a more clear one, going down a crappy road instead of a good one, parking way too fast & hitting a parking block instead of pulling in slowly and leaving room, closing the hatch with keys in your hand scratching the paint, putting a dent in the side while trying to cram something in the back seat, getting 'flustered' and slipping the clutch to 6k from a light...repeatedly, etc. These are all things my GF does, and it's from simple lack of care, not malice. No one is mad AT the women for PURPOSELY doing these things. We (men) are mad because of the lack of respect shown to our things, which we care a LOT about, and women couldn't care less about. How about if we treated your top posessions the same way? Put some ink stains on your favorite LV purse, or dropped your new cell in the toilet, accidentally sliced your new shoes while carrying them and a knife, etc. AND THEN didn't see why it was such a big deal?!

 

If I was a woman, this thread would **** me off.

In fact, I'm a guy, and it still annoys me. Feel free to complain about any individual's behavior, but don't make ridiculous generalizations like "women are irresponsible." It's just sexist crap.

 

In your case its your GF so it, literally, IS your property. NOT true for the originator of the thread where its his WIFE. I Dunno where you all are from but usually, that means its OUR property, not his or hers.

I also wouldn't make generalizations about how "men" feel. Its a hunk of metal, dude. Get over it.

 

In this area (Northern Va) I've had to put at least one windshield most of cars I've owned (sometimes two). Anything with a low hood will get hit by a rock sooner or later, and with the volume of cars, and construction here it's just a matter of time before it happens.

My Audi (the exception so far) hasn't needed a replacement, but it has a soft glass too (something to do with the german cars) which means that it's chipped and peppered with tiny nicks. Just by saying this I'll pop today!

I pretty much consider windshields a wear item now, my insurance carries it at a lower deductible. It sucks, and you'd think that they would have perfected windshields by now!

So keep your head up, from what I hear the MINI makes it worth it. I hope to go in and place my order this week. Can't wait!

Mike

 

Why not just get the comprehensive coverage on your insurance as it is cheap, and covers broken windshields and windows. Sure has saved me money over the years with windows that go bust!

...Les

 

Luckily my wife cannot drive a manual so I don't have to worry about her driving my MINI.

And yes I did try to teach her how to drive a stick but it is just hopeless. I am a good teacher I did all the training at my old shop for years before I starting at the Land Rover Dealership and I did training for UPS when I worked there as well. She just does not have the hand, foot and eye coordination to drive a manual, which is odd since she was a ballet dancer.

 

I think they are born with that.

 

I'm sorry I had to weigh in on this one...

In some circles, you two are now one. I would hope you would re-examine your priorities as what you do to her you do to yourself. How a man treats his wife is a mirror of how he thinks of himself.

From a practical worldly standpoint: Think of the future when you do something equally stupid to something of hers...it will happen as evidenced by comments made above.
Confucius said ""DON'T do to others what you would not want yourself"

Another said more profoundly "DO unto others as you would have done to you" $10 bucks says you have not forgiven her and probably won't. Being a drill sargeant is not an excuse for being an

Man, Love your wife

 

my thoughts exactly--when did a car that's extremely replacable in it's entirety take precedent over a person? what a perfect example that there are some folks life priorities in the wrong order. maybe you should break up with your woman and start sleeping with your car.

 

Wow. I suddenly felt as if I had been transported back to the early 1900's. This is the most insulting thing I've read in quite some time.

If my boyfriend ever said these kind of things about me, he'd be getting one of my designer shoes right up his tailpipe.

I feel really sorry for your girlfriend.

To the author of this thread...don't blame your wife, dude. Accidents happen. I know just as many men that have damaged their cars as women. Just be glad that she is safe. Windshields are replaceable, but the love of your life is not.