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My car window just shattered

post #1 of 29
1/7/08 at 4:09pm
Thread Starter 
So I hop into my car, on a quick drive to Best Buy to get an album, I close the door normally, and then I hear the *chink chink* of little glass pieces coming from my rear window. There's a nice sized jagged hole with glass mostly on the inside of my car because it's a steep angle. I open my door, get out and a few more chunks fall. I go around to look at what the fuck just happened. I was thinking someone hit my rear window in the night or something, or some kids were messing around and hit it with a rock. There's no foreign objects in the car, so whatever it was merely cracked the hell out of the window and bounced off. So I look around the vehicle and find nothing out of the ordinary except this one piece of...something. It had a metal tip and some broken plastic around it but I don't know what it came from or how it came to be there. It could just be some trash next to my car. Either way it makes no sense and I doubt just me closing the door broke the window unless it was already near-fucked in the first place.

I've heard of some window faults before but I don't know. It's pretty random. It wasn't a cold or hot day. It's the same window the car's had since 1994 I believe.

Has anyone heard of rear windows or something like that just breaking or shattering out of nowhere? Any theories on what happened?
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post #2 of 29
1/7/08 at 4:14pm
Unless you had a really extreme temperature day, someone likely smacked your window with something good and hard. If you park on the street, it's likely that some kids hit it with a ball, or ran into it, or something. Or someone wanted to try and break in, and after one good hit and the window not completely shattering, they tucked tail and ran.

Regardless, getting a broken window fixed in a car sucks. I used to have a 1975 Gran Torino, and it was broken into. I had to search for about 2 months to find a place with the small rear window to replace it with, and it ran me about $400 because they knew how hard it was to find. Here's to hoping you've got a Chevy pick up, or something as common.
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post #3 of 29
1/7/08 at 4:19pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by BobClark
The ghost of Bruce Willis, of course.
What? Unbreakable 2: Broken?
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post #4 of 29
1/7/08 at 4:21pm
I think I know what happened. Your rear window was making its 'chink chink' sound right as a group of Asian teenagers were walking by. They took offense to this and one tried to smash up the car using a Shoryuken, but after breaking his hand, realized this wasn't like the bonus stage in Street Fighter and they took off.
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post #5 of 29
1/7/08 at 4:22pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by BillyG
Regardless, getting a broken window fixed in a car sucks. I used to have a 1975 Gran Torino, and it was broken into. I had to search for about 2 months to find a place with the small rear window to replace it with, and it ran me about $400 because they knew how hard it was to find.
Was it David Soul looking to see if he left any loose change in the backseat?
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post #6 of 29
1/7/08 at 4:23pm
I had the back glass on an old 4Runner shattered. I couldn't figure out what it was till I found a steel shot from a slingshot inside the car. Some punk kids in the neighborhood had probably done it.
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post #7 of 29
1/7/08 at 4:34pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by billylove
I had the back glass on an old 4Runner shattered. I couldn't figure out what it was till I found a steel shot from a slingshot inside the car. Some punk kids in the neighborhood had probably done it.
Made all the more troubling by the fact that you live on ranch with no neighbors for five miles in any direction. Curious, really.
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post #8 of 29
1/7/08 at 5:42pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by FreeRobotSex
You haven't fucked any strangers in the ass, have you?
Maybe it was because he found a stranger in the alps.
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post #9 of 29
1/7/08 at 5:44pm
Thread Starter 
Here's what I found near the window on the ground.



Apparently part of a spark plug from Briggs & Stratton equipment...now anybody know what equipment could've came off this shit?? and if it could have hit my window?
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post #10 of 29
1/7/08 at 5:45pm
Microsoft's cracking down. Your car's windows is not genuine.
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post #11 of 29
1/7/08 at 5:45pm
I suspect Cheney was involved. Circumventing civil rights, unihibited spending and now random car vadalism. Next it'll be flamming bags and drawing cocks on bus seats.
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post #12 of 29
1/7/08 at 6:03pm
You park near a golf course?
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post #13 of 29
1/7/08 at 6:10pm
It's possible it's just another rumor, but I've heard that if you hit a window with a spark plug, it causes the window to break but not shatter - supposedly making it easier to break into the car without being heard. Don't know what it is specifically about a spark plug, but it's supposed to do the trick.

Related to this, a long time ago, I had to break into a girl's car quickly after she totaled it. I swung a tire iron at it, and it bounced right off the windows like they were made by Q at MI6. I must've swung at the windows 4 or 5 times, and they never even cracked. I felt like such a bitch, so when we went to get the car the next day at the junkyard I took a couple of friends with me to try and break it - no one could. I lost all faith in movies after that....
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post #14 of 29
1/7/08 at 6:14pm
Well... spark plugs are commonly used by burglars to smash windows. Be happy your car was still there this morning.
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post #15 of 29
1/7/08 at 6:22pm
It was this guy:

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post #16 of 29
1/7/08 at 6:37pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jason P. Thompson
Well... spark plugs are commonly used by burglars to smash windows. Be happy your car was still there this morning.
Yep. My Torino had a plug sitting in the back window after being broken into. Buy an alarm. Deter felons! Annoy your neighbors!
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post #17 of 29
1/7/08 at 6:44pm
The tip makes a good pressure point and it's easy to hold in your hand or pocket when you aren't using it.

You should try it yourself!
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post #18 of 29
1/7/08 at 6:46pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by LisaNewYork
What is it about sparkplugs - how are they used to break into a car? Is it something unique about them, as opposed to the thieves just smashing the glass with a wrench or other tool?
Because breaking a car window with your johnson hurts.
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post #19 of 29
1/7/08 at 6:52pm
Apparently the porcelin of a spark plug insulator is well known for doing this sort of thing? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JxNvcsbxhfE

Quote:
Originally Posted by Someone smarter than me
If you hit it with an object that has a large surface area (flat head of a hammer etc..) then the window will bounce but not fracture as the pounds per Sq inch is not too great.

however hit it with a dart and the psi on the tip is a lot greater (even though the weight is a lot less), going past the point of failure.
Quote:
The Breaking of Tempered Glass Vehicle Windows Using Broken Spark Plug Insulators

A novel and efficient method for forced entry into vehicles using broken spark plug insulators to break the windows was reviewed. Various experiments were performed in which a number of objects, varying in their physical characteristics, were compared to the broken ceramic plus insulators in order to examine the uniqueness of the latter in the breaking of tempered glass. A plausible mechanism was presented attributing the great efficiency of the insulators to their hardness in relation to other materials (MOHS scale), and to their potential for the concentration of force in one point because of the sharp, jagged ends.
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post #20 of 29
1/7/08 at 7:09pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by BobClark
Shouldn't you be asking the police these questions?
Not a single thing was stolen. The window itself wasn't even broken, merely shattered. It wasn't until I shut my car door that it broke. So no real crime was committed, it would just be unnecessary paperwork. I might be able to get a replacement from a salvage yard for about a $100 so if I'm lucky I won't even have to deal with insurance.
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post #21 of 29
1/7/08 at 7:16pm
Are you living in an apartment, or your home? If you live in an apartment, or any managed property, at least report it to the management company that it occurred, but nothing was stolen. Put it on them to do something about security.
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post #22 of 29
1/7/08 at 7:30pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by BillyG
Are you living in an apartment, or your home? If you live in an apartment, or any managed property, at least report it to the management company that it occurred, but nothing was stolen. Put it on them to do something about security.
Home.

If it was a thief, they really must suck. The only thing worth stealing in my wonderful POS is the cd player. All they did was shatter the window. They didn't even get breaking it right. It could've been some kids waiting for the bus stop who heard about the spark plug thing and wanted to try it out. Beats me.
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post #23 of 29
1/7/08 at 9:38pm
Does Best Buy even sell albums?
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post #24 of 29
1/7/08 at 9:38pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Quarant
I think you should sue whoever made that window. What if some pieces got into your eye? You could be blind right now! Also, emotional distress and stuff.
This is a good idea. You live in the States right? You could get away with it.

I had a rear tail light shattered on Halloween. The bulbs blew out as well. No scratches on the car to prove another car backed into me. I assume some kids did it when I was at the gym. Their fucking lucky I didn't catch them doing it. I was coming off a great workout so my blood was flowing and I had my golf clubs in the trunk. So that was a nice unnecessary $180 expense.

If I ever catch anyone causing damage to anyones car that person will be in for a serious beat down. Fuck people who key cars, bump and take off or just slash tires. Fuck those people. I hope they all get a nice AIDS/Cancer cocktail.
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post #25 of 29
1/7/08 at 11:54pm
Thread Starter 
I bet you we're going to see my car on youtube.
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post #26 of 29
1/8/08 at 12:49am
Something like that happened to me a few years ago.

I called my insurance company and got it replaced in about 4 hours. I think I did have to pay a $200 deductible though.

Never found anything in the car, nothing was stolen.

Back then there was a bad area just a block away from me, so I reasoned that maybe it had been a stray bullet. Someone did get shot down there once. Thankfully, its all cleaned up now.
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post #27 of 29
1/8/08 at 4:43pm
This reminds me that when the window on my 4Runner was shattered, it didn't fall to pieces because I had tinting and only the spot where the fod hit was the part that collapsed.

So get your windows tinted and this will help a lot in keeping your window from just falling to pieces if something like this happens.
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post #28 of 29
1/8/08 at 4:58pm
This could have happened:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MkriY...eature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Th6T7ZWkjs
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post #29 of 29
1/15/08 at 4:26am
Sucks to be you!
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