Hi all - new member here, I wondered if anyone with a 488 has had or heard of an issue with the rear window. I started the car yesterday, drove to the village petrol station to fill up. I turned off the engine, got out to go and pick up a pump and heard a bang. Turned round to see the rear window had exploded! Ferrari obviously saying they wont cover under warranty...insurance company will replace the glass, but want the engine bay cleared of glass fragments first, which Ferrari wont cover. Stuck with what to do on this now. Thanks C Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
If the insurance company will cover the glass they should also cover the engine bay being cleared of the glass.
Basically Autoglass (linked to my insurance) have said they can do the glass with the £100 excess, but wont touch or clear any glass thats fallen into the engine bay because its a Ferrari! Ferrari i am waiting to come back to me about it, but have said initially they wont carry our any glass clearance in the engine under warranty as its not covered for that. My actual insurance company wont allow me to go through them as its not actual damage to the car and falls under 'windscreen'. So all a bit of stalemate atm. If Ferrari wont touch it, ill have to pay Ferrari to remove the glass so that Autoglass can then repair the window. Im very annoyed though as its shouldn't just do that and as far as im concerned Ferrari should do it.
Can you not just have the car towed to the dealership and tell your insurance company that you want the dealer to fix the problem and have them pay the bill? I'm not sure where you are but in North America you have the right to choose who fixes your car. If the dealer handles the repair start to finish then they should be responsible for the glass cleanup and bill the insurance company for the repair. Secondly find out how this claim affects the record of the car. It may sound lousy and unfair but in some instances it is better to pay out of pocket rather than have a CarFax 'claim' against a car even if it is just a piece of glass. Ferrari's are really sensitive in the second hand market to the SLIGHTEST story attached to them so the diminished value of an insurance claim may not be worth it. I personally think this is total rubbish but nevertheless it is a reality that one must consider.
Yeah I basically have done that. Car was collected by Ferrari Assist and taken to the dealership. Insurance company say they won’t cover it as it’s not actual car damage, it’s windscreen damage which will be carried out under the windscreen cover by Auto glass. However, Autoglass refuse to replace the window until the engine bay is cleared of the broken glass fragments. you may be right on the insurance claim, but there would be no real record of that upon sale of the car. However, it’s looking likely I’ll have to pay for the glass removal before they will fit the replacement glass
It makes sense that Autoglass will only repair the glass but push the insurer for the glass clean up as clearly that will lead to car damage if not taken care of. You asking them to do that is part of your duty of care to the insurer to minimise overall claim values, e.g. not driving a car further when you suspect the engine or transmission has a problem. It is amazing how insurers want you to do the "right thing" and then refuse to pay for it.
Sudden glass popping happens in all cars. Glass is incredibly durable but sometimes for almost no discernable reason it pops. Just one of those things.
Maybe flip the car upside down and shake? (Just trying to add a little humor to sucky situation). I know from having glass break on other vehicles that the glass fragments go everywhere and you find them for year afterwards. OP, sorry this happened and hopefully you get it sorted out.
Clearing the glass from the engine area should be pretty easy. I would personally do this myself to take the extra care needed instead of the shop floor sweeper doing this. I'd use my shop vacuum and attachments and a water hose.
Not so fast... there are so many areas, like between the intakes where that glass can fall, There are a ton of wires, hoses, etc obstructing those areas. That engine sits very low in the engine bay so it's a big, awkward job. Plus, the undertray will need to come off too, maybe the engine bay panels as stuff can fall thru the vent slots in those pieces.
In takes are sealed in the engine bay. The bottom panels can be removed...easier if you have a lift or get some ramps and do it. It might take all day or a few days in the garage but I’d rather do it than the dude sweeping the floor at the dealer shop. If you don’t have the time I get it.
Was it Ferrari Maranello who denied the warranty, or was it your dealer? If the latter, contact Ferrari Customer Service. I don't recall if it states anywhere that glass is not covered, or for how long, but it seems to me that you need to have them show you where it says that glass is not covered. Don,'t just take their word on it. These dealers play all sorts of games. Sent from my SM-G930F using FerrariChat.com mobile app
seriously how does a glass explode or implode suddenly? heat, overtorque screws, sound?? I am so lost here.
There is an option on many insurance policies that can be added to cover windshields/glass. Have a look at your policy and see what's up. I have glass covered on my policy (it's a negligible cost) and it saved me from paying approx $4,000 for replacement of a cracked 488 windshield.
Almost every vehicle on the road has annealed laminated glass for the windshield and tempered glass everywhere else. Tempered glass is glass that has undergone thermal or chemical post-manufacture processing which places the surface of the glass in compression and the inner portion into tension. These characteristics make tempered glass much stronger than annealed glass. (As an aside, if you wear polarized sunglasses and have ever noticed what look like white spots on the side and rear glass of your car, you are seeing the effects of the tempering process.) The downside? Minor, even microscopic, flaws in tempered glass can cause it to fail catastrophically, which is why it is no good for windshields which get peppered by rocks. Failure begins at the flaw and then propagates almost instantly throughout the panel as the glass releases all of the tension built up in the tempering process. Beneficially, this sudden failure causes the glass to break into small rounded pieces devoid of sharp edges. The safety benefits of this characteristic should be obvious. This is why tempered glass is often referred to as safety glass. You hear more about these types of failures now than before because there is a lot more glass in cars than ever before, particularly in things like sunroofs and glass engine panels. Kind Regards, Paul
If there's a fault in the glass, or something has been done incorrectly during the hardening or the like, there can be tension in the class, and some day, it just let go. It can also be a small crack from a rock chip etc. If the latter, I understand there could be warranty issues. That's just wear. Also, while I definitely think Ferrari should be open to the idea of warranty, on a car with a few years on it, I can understand if they are apprehensive about warranty on glass. Let's be real, like all car manufactures, Ferrari has also been hit with warranty claims from people who themselves have caused the damage. But in this case, I do think Ferrari should honour a warranty unless it is in writing that glass is not covered.
Problem is that once the glass pops its impossible to know if it was due to a manufacturing fault or if the glass was compromised in use causing the failure.
