I thought this was worthy of its own thread even though we've got a chipped windshield thread--people should be aware.

Quite unfortunately, my beautiful new TCH was struck by a large piece of gravel yesterday on the Dulles Toll Road. I will be going after VDOT with everything I've got because they are doing construction and are not cleaning it.

Anyway, its a pretty large round crack. I called the Toyota dealer today, and they referred me to their windshield specialist who does all brands. He had pretty bad news for me: the TCH windshield is extremely hard to come by and very expensive. There is no aftermarket windshield, it has to be special ordered from the factory. Its made by a company called AP Technology, but they have all they can do to keep up with factory demands.

Bottom line: the glass itself costs $1142, not including the molding and installation. I had a windshield repair specialist check it out. Interestingly, he told me that much of his business is hybrids. He confirmed that my windshield was well beyond repair.

So basically, I'm going to be out of a lot of money. I will probably run this through my insurance...even with the deductible. As I said, I'm also going through VDOT.

So in one week, I have a cracked windshield and a dent in my back door that I had nothing to do with---it just appeared. Makes me want to cry.