[Resolved]  Toyota Innova V 7 — Suddenly the Windshield Broke, Warranty is only a money making exercise

It is out of sheer frustration that I've decided to write to you.

I had purchased a 7- seater Innova V - Deisel on 4th of Oct 2008 from Nandi Toyota(Hosur Road Branch, Bangalore).Registration no:KA03 MK 3532. We took the car for the first long distance drive to Kerala during Christmas.

On 2nd of Jan., while driving back to Bangalore, I happened to hear a ticking noice from the right hand window corner whenever I shifted the gear or while travelling through bad roads. I stopped twice to understand the source of the noise.

Then suddenly I heard a sharp noise and noticed that the front Windshield had cracked on the right hand bottom corner, for no apparent reason. I immediately gave a call to the Territory Head-Corporate sales Mr Gururaj, and he advised me to come down to Nandhi toyota for a warranty claim.

The crack is in the shape of a very large spider and is on the inner side of the wind-shield. It does not reach the exterior of the glass at all.

On 3rd of Jan 09, I reached Bangalore and directly touched on Nandi Toyota showroom. There I met the Asst Manager - Customer Relations Mr Vijaykumar and he took pictures of the glass-crack. I also indicated to him that the
gap between the bonnet and the right wheel-side body had widened. After a superficial examiniation, he registered a complaint for warranty claim on the same day. Since the engineer was unable to figure out a reason for the crack, I offered to give the car for a thorough check-up, which was turned down by Mr Vijaykumar.

After several followup calls on 5th and 6th of January, I was finally informed today by Manager-Customer Service Mr Gurudatt that the claim has been rejected, reason being the crack doesn't start at the edge. I tried to explain to him again; however he cut me off in a rude tone asking me to explain the reason correctly. He made it look like I was lying to him. Please note that the car has not been inspected at all even though we were ready to provide the car for inspection. The claim has been rejected solely on the basis of a Photo.

So, do I have to pay up for the wind-shield just because the glass is cracked in a different way ? Am I not entitled to a proper explanation as to the cause of the crack? The warranty, which I paid for with my hard-earned money, comes across as just a money-making exercise.

I am deeply disappointed with the crude manner in which the customer service dept. operates. This is certainly not expected from a reputed auto giant like Toyota.

I need to understand what caused the crack. Even if I replace the glass there is no guarantee that the glass would not crack again. I will be deeply indebted to you if you look into my grievences and compensate me for the losses & inconveniences.