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Charge port glass lid shattered….

Posted: Sat Apr 02, 2022 7:03 pm
by Smucker
I came to my car one morning to find the glass on my charge port lid cracked all over. The pictures below were taken a week or so later where they had developed deeper.

Took it on for repair and the part from Honda costs £1100!!!! I kid you not! And that’s not the dealer, that’s just the part from Honda itself. For a sheet of glass!! Not even the whole assembly.

Anyway…I swear blind I didn’t do this damage myself, nothing hit it while driving and I never use excessive force (I love my Honda E). My car is parked off street overnight. I’m sure this is a manufacturing fault…

If anyone else ever develops cracks in theirs, please let me know as I’d like to give Honda a piece of my mind. They refused it as a warranty repair. £1100, so angry…

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Re: Charge port glass lid shattered….

Posted: Sun Apr 03, 2022 3:54 am
by MaXPainT
I can feel your pain just by looking at the photos (and the pricetag of the repair). This didn't happen to me, but as someone who has worked in a window factory (Squid game vibes anyone?) I have seen many tempered glass panels break on me due to inner tension and micro imperfections.

Typically, you can trace the starting point by following the crack pattern. This might give an indication what could happen. Your pattern looks like it has started at the bottom center of the panel. This could happen by someone trying to open the lid by force (a touch on the edge of the panel with a sharp tool would be enough). However, this could also happen by itself.

Glass manufacturers are skilled at recognizing the patterns and in most cases are ok with replacing a panel free of charge, but it might be a pain in the butt to convince your dealership that glass is glass and glass breaks. In any case, a glass panel of this size does not cost that much (even in Japan) so the price of the part rather comes from Honda than is driven by its production cost.

Re: Charge port glass lid shattered….

Posted: Sun Apr 03, 2022 1:08 pm
by londiniumperson
That looks like an impact on the lower edge, but as mentioned it is possible that it was a manufacturing defect. At the price it might be worth looking into whether it’s possible to get one made up as a one off either in tempered glass or an alternative material like polycarbonate or Perspex.
Smucker, how long have you had your car, if less than 6 months then under the ‘Consumer Rights Act 2015’ it is the seller’s/dealer’s responsibility to prove it wasn’t present when it was sold, after 6 months it’s down to the purchaser.

Sorry that it’s too late for you but for others, Honda have a solution to reduce the chance of this happening:
GENUINE HONDA E CHARGE PORT PROTECTION FILM-2020
or it might be cheaper to get a local company to apply a paint protection film.

Re: Charge port glass lid shattered….

Posted: Sun Apr 03, 2022 1:59 pm
by turntoport
Shame to see that, Smucker. Strewth, some inflated price for an oem spare part.
MaxPainT and Londinium have covered it well - the polycarb replacement sounds like a very good idea indeed, if it's flat - or close enough.
Yes, the fracture origin is obvious enough; as MaxPainT says, likely a screwdriver under the front lip job. (Why?? other than some little turd simply behaving 'normally'?). Any sign of a tiny deformation/mark on the adjacent bodywork? Another, but more unlikely possibility, is that a fragment of spark-plug ceramic may have been kicked-up off the road - even a 10 metres/s (about 20 mph) impact would 'do' it. (On a previous thread, someone had their rear screen 'go'; similar discussions took place following that unfortunate incident.)
atb with it - ttp

Re: Charge port glass lid shattered….

Posted: Sun Apr 03, 2022 2:32 pm
by MaXPainT
I am not sure that replacing tempered glass with a polycarbonate is such a great idea. Polycarbonate scraches much easier than glass. Since the part is glossy black it will start looking scuffed in no time. I am also concerned about polycarbonate's UV resistance. I would not want a piece of scratched yellowish plastic on my bonnet. Consider covering it with some protective film (or a ceramic coating) if you will go with the polycarbonate option.

Tbh, I am not sure why the original part is fully covered with glass in the first place. The part could be a solid metal sheet painted in black with a cutout for the charging light (covered with a piece of glass). This would greatly reduce the size of the glass part thus increasing its durability. After the very first handwash of my E I am fully convinced that the car has too much glass on it for its own good :D

Re: Charge port glass lid shattered….

Posted: Sun Apr 03, 2022 2:34 pm
by zemdega
It's only me or top part is bend quite a lot inside? Or it supposed to look like that?

Re: Charge port glass lid shattered….

Posted: Sun Apr 03, 2022 2:44 pm
by zemdega
I never used it so it's just a guess but it looks like top part was somehow stuck while it was closed. There's enough leverage to bend it easily and brake tempered glass as is so brittle. Not sure how it's possible though.

Re: Charge port glass lid shattered….

Posted: Sun Apr 03, 2022 3:28 pm
by londiniumperson
zemdega wrote: Sun Apr 03, 2022 2:34 pm It's only me or top part is bend quite a lot inside? Or it supposed to look like that?
I don’t think the the cover is fully closed.

Re: Charge port glass lid shattered….

Posted: Sun Apr 03, 2022 3:31 pm
by zemdega
It's bend. Like for sure. You can see it on the glass too.

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Re: Charge port glass lid shattered….

Posted: Sun Apr 03, 2022 3:35 pm
by londiniumperson
MaXPainT wrote: Sun Apr 03, 2022 2:32 pm I am not sure that replacing tempered glass with a polycarbonate is such a great idea. Polycarbonate scraches much easier than glass. Since the part is glossy black it will start looking scuffed in no time. I am also concerned about polycarbonate's UV resistance. I would not want a piece of scratched yellowish plastic on my bonnet. Consider covering it with some protective film (or a ceramic coating) if you will go with the polycarbonate option.
It’s easy to obtain polycarbonate with UV protection, as for scratching, well the panel across the front (and rear lights) is polycarbonate and they’re a lot more likely to be damaged than a small horizontal panel on the bonnet.