shattered drivers side window

[blankline9]

So my viper has been sitting in the garage like it always does....I was out of town on business for 4 weeks. Walked around to the driver side today and the entire driver side window is shattered. Removed what i could (thankfully the window tint kept most of it together in one piece but lots of glass inside the door.

I'm in Lake County Florida. Does anyone have any recommendations for a dodge dealership in the area where they actually work on vipers? No clue how this happened.

[99RT10]

That sucks, any enemies? :eek:

[DEMO MAN]

So my viper has been sitting in the garage like it always does....I was out of town on business for 4 weeks. Walked around to the driver side today and the entire driver side window is shattered. Removed what i could (thankfully the window tint kept most of it together in one piece but lots of glass inside the door.

I'm in Lake County Florida. Does anyone have any recommendations for a dodge dealership in the area where they actually work on vipers? No clue how this happened.


Fields in Sanford works on Vipers but in reality you should just call someone like Safelite as I'm fairly sure they would be able to handle the job.

[blankline9]

@99RT10--no enemies..lol. It's been locked in the garage and no one has been at my house.

@DEMOMAN--i was wondering if a regular glass place like safelite would be able to do it. My main concern is that i have read about breaking the plastic tabs off the interior door panels when people go to replace the window regulators and I'm obviously concerned about that happening when they replace the window. If it's at dodge and they break it then it's on them to fix it right? Not sure if safelite would do the same thing or not. Thanks for the advice, I guess i'll call around and see what i come up with.

[SilverACR]

The upper clips for panel removal aren’t hard to deal with you just need to know they are there. The tabs are metal and need pushed upon while pulling up on the panel. If you don’t work the tabs while lifting up the panel it will break it. Search for the window regulator thread on this forum. Good information on the panel removal.

[LATAMUD]

I wish I was home I could help you. It's easy but the first time working with the door guts can be intimidating. Contact Ryan at Scharf's Auto. They can get you a replacement door glass for around $125 plus shipping.

[Steve M]

So this was a known issue with some 2008 cars: https://www.viperclub.org/vca/threads/imploding-windows.619481/

I wasn't aware of this extending to earlier Vipers, so this may not be your exact issue, but your story pretty much identically matches what others have experienced.

Good luck with the fix.

[SilverACR]

Do you do any work on your car? It’s actually a pretty easy job if you are handy. I did my passenger regulator in about an hour which is about 40 minute longer than pulling the glass. I really wish I was in Florida as I would be happy to help. (Also wish I was there for the weather.)

Here is the how to if you do end up tackling it or you can advise a non viper specific mechanic. Just stop at the window part. https://driveviper.com/forums/threads/15869-DIY-Window-Regulator-Install-GEN-IV

[blankline9]

Thanks for the replies everyone....I do work on my own vehicles but for this one i'm just going to make the drive and drop it off at Fields in Sanford this weekend. If they try to charge me a ridiculous amount then i'm going to look into just doing it myself. I've been traveling a lot for business lately so the time i have to fiddle around with putting a new window in is limited. Plus i'm really apprehensive about breaking things....unfortunately in my world murphy and his damn law seem to be lurking at every turn.

Good looking out to those that recommended where to get replacement glass and for linking to the thread about replacing window regulators. I'll try to follow up next week after i get word from the dodge dealership.

[ViperSRT]

Check with Alex Macevicius as he may be able to do it on the side and save some dealer tax. He is the Viper tech at Fields and is also active on Facebook.

[blankline9]

Good looking out. I was planning on seeing what they come back with for the quote to fix it. I'm dropping it off on saturday afternoon and I guess Alex is going to be the one looking at it on Monday. I had figured that if the dealership wants a ridiculous amount of money to do it that i would proposition Alex if he was interested in doing it on the side.

[blankline9]

well i wanted to follow back up. just got word that it needs the glass and window regulator to fix it. so, i've opted to do the cheaper thing and just file a comp claim with my insurance company. so for a window, regulator, and professional installation i am ok with paying the 500 out of pocket it is going to cost me.

i'm not sure how everything works in regards to the window regulator but in trying to figure out how this window even broke, does anyone think there is a chance that if the regulator failed and the window was in the up position that it could have put too much upward force on the window and caused it to break that way? Other than that, i'm at a loss as to how it actually broke unless it was "bad glass" or legitimately just an act of God.

[blankline9]

final follow up on this. Well, the window and new regulator are replaced and in the car. However, the little plastic strip on the top of the door panel got broken. They told me $836 to get a new one ordered as the whole door panel needed replaced. I told them i know and this is exactly why i brought it to this dealership to have it worked on....so I didn't break it doing it in my driveway or having safelite do it. I got a bunch of bullshit from the service manager about how it is a 13 year old plastic part and it didn't break because the tech did anything wrong and they are a common point of failure. I agreed with him on all counts and told him, "So you are admitting to me that this is dodge's fault because they came up with a poor design, used inferior products, and don't stand behind what they put in a car they sell for $90K+ new?" It was not broken when i brought it in for getting the window fixed, it got broken while in the dealerships care, but yet it is my problem to get it fixed because they broke it? Needless to say, i did not order a new door panel, i will not ever take this viper back to Fields Dodge in Sanford, FL, and i will never recommend anyone ever go there. At this rate, i could have broken the trim piece, fixed the window and regulator with a few beers in my driveway and still have way more money in my pocket. This is what i get for breaking my own rule and buying another Chrysler product. Nothing but junk and don't stand behind what they sell. I'm so pissed off with the whole process and experience that I am tempted just to sell the viper all together and be done with it. It's a shame that it's come to this. And if anyone from Dodge ever reads this stuff here, good luck with releasing a 2021 Viper with an underpowered 426 hemi in it.

[ViperSRT]

Lots of hating going on in this post. Sounds like selling may be your best option. Or arguing with your insurance company that the damage occurred during repair and should be covered under the same claim.

[SilverACR]

Calm down there guy. It sucks, but it is fixable. I actually think there was a post on repairing this on the cheap with epoxy or something like that.

There are little nuances with these cars but then again you could have a corvette that overheats, a Porsche that leaks oil, a Lamborghini that self combusts... you see where I’m going with this? Everyone on this forum wishes these cars across all generations were perfect, but they are not. If they were I and maybe most of us would not afford one.

Take the car to the nearest race track and drive the shit out of it. You’ll then know why these cars are so amazing.

Best,

[blankline9]

I guess the whole point of the frustration is that i specifically took it to a dodge dealership to get it fixed, not break additional stuff that is now my responsibility to pay for. I can fix the trim piece but it's the principle of the matter.

And after I got home and actually had a chance to check the window i realized it doesn't line up right and is folding the weather strip on itself when it closes. It's like the curve in the window, right where the A-pillar meets the windshield, is a little bit too high in the full up position. So when you close the door, it catches the outside of the rubber the window is supposed to seat into and pushes it up instead of sitting in the groove. The glass itself is less than a 16th of an inch from actually hitting the door frame in that spot when it closes. It's off enough that you can tell if you eyeball it and compare it to the passenger side that closes fine. My concern here is that it's going to put too much pressure on the glass and break the window? So now my dilemma is do i try to take off work and get it adjusted or just be done with it and fix it myself like i should have just done in the first place. I know that no car is perfect and all cars have little nuance issues with them. All i was looking for was for them to acknowledge that it is a known point of failure/poor design and that is it. Not make excuses about how it is a 13 year old vehicle. I have a 2005 F150 that gets rode hard and put away wet, daily driven for the last 14 years, almost 200k miles on it and the plastic parts on the cheap ford interior in that thing aren't breaking because they are 14 years old and that truck sits outside in the florida sun every single day.

And SilverACR you are right....i think i need to take this thing to a track and just drive the absolute shit out of it. :)

[LATAMUD]

I feel your frustration, breath deep. I have some stuff you can add to the door panel that replaces the shitty trim piece. It won't ever break like the original part. Put up with it for a few months, I'll be home in September, come over, have some beers, hang out and I'll install it and get your window glass aligned.

[blankline9]

@LATAMUD I ended up getting the glass put in, window alignment could use a minor tweak. I have to be careful how i close the door or it will catch the outside part of the weather strip and when the smart glass goes up, it pushes it up on itself instead of sitting in the groove. If i lightly touch the window while i close the door it gives it the less that 1/16th inch of clearance needed to close and seat properly in the groove in the weather strip. So i'm guessing the window needs adjusted very very slightly to get it to lean in towards the car more.

Let me know when you are around....i'm always down for having a few beers and i'm interested in what you found to replace that shit plastic trim piece. I had been gone for about a month for work, finally home for a few days before i leave again and got the car out thursday morning to run some errands....man i missed driving that thing! Even though the window situation pissed me off, i still smile every time i push that little red button and get to put my right foot into the gas.

[FIVESTAR]

Oh my god did you ever get had. Don’t ever file an insurance claim for something so insignificant. If anything was going to break, it was going to happen wether someone with half a brain tried pulling the door panel off, or the dealer did. In fact it sounds like they did more damage than you would have done yourself... my car wouldn’t see the dealer for a damn thing. I wouldn’t even want them to replace anything at no cost under recall... All after pummeling your insurance company. That’s tragic

[Bill W]

Did you try going over the service manager's head? Contact the owner...Mr. Field maybe? I had an issue with a body shop at a dealer one time. Won't go into details but they were rediculous. Owner made it right.

[blankline9]

Oh my god did you ever get had. Don’t ever file an insurance claim for something so insignificant. If anything was going to break, it was going to happen wether someone with half a brain tried pulling the door panel off, or the dealer did. In fact it sounds like they did more damage than you would have done yourself... my car wouldn’t see the dealer for a damn thing. I wouldn’t even want them to replace anything at no cost under recall... All after pummeling your insurance company. That’s tragic

you are certainly entitled to your opinion. i paid 500 since i filed a claim instead of paying the 1200 i was charged. could i have bought the glass and regulator and spent some time doing it myself for a little less than 500?? I'm sure i could have but i was out of town for over a month on business and really didn't care about spending the 500. as far as the window trim strip getting broken, i was able to find something to fix it and it worked out just fine as it cost me $15 to fix the plastic strip instead of 1000 for a new door panel. besides, it was a comp claim on the insurance which doesn't raise any rates so i'm still not sure how i got had. if anything i found out that i wouldn't take my car there if it needed anything major done to it. better to find that out for 500 on a window than 10K on a more serious issue.