Are some cars more prone to Windscreen Chips?

[timtoo2]

Hi all,

We got our Kia in November and since then we have had 2 chips on the drivers side and over the past 2 months we have had 2 close calls which have turned out to be just scratches, not chips, on the passenger side (certainly sounded like a crack when they happened though!).

On both sides, both incidents have occurred in the same vertical zone and i'm wondering if its to do with the curvature of the bonnet perhaps?

All of these incidents have happend on the same road, but that is the main commute though.

We had a Mini for a year before doing exactly the same route and never had a single chip/scratch on the windscreen.

I just wondered have you ever had a car that was more prone to chips on the windscreen than another? 4 incidents in 6 months compared to none before...

Do Bonnet Bras actually work, and do they actually deflect chips away from the windscreen, or are they more just protecting the look of the bonnet?

I know there must be some element of sods law, but i'm getting pretty annoyed!

[timtoo2]

04mmurkett said:

McWigglebum4th said:

A bonnet bra across the windscreen would stop stone chips

Solid advice.

I was actually thinking about applying clear plasti dip to the windscreen out of frustration but i'm reasonably sure it would probably be as transparent as your idea!

[timtoo2]

TTmonkey said:

I had 9 replacement screens on my R53 Mini.

Definite design flaw.

9!? over what length of time?

our Kia Rio has much more of an relaxed angle than the Mini did, so it goes against what most people would think that a more upright screen would chip easily....maybe there is some sort of 'perfect angle' that causes screens to chip easily? and that's exasperated by road type/driving style?

Member of my family had a Focus (mk1) for years and has never had a chip.... i'm thinking about changing cars just for the annoyance but as i'm no where near 9 maybe I shouldn't complain!