Where is the used car price going?

[Andre1969]

Modern windshields are made from two pieces of tempered glass that are laminated on each side of a thin sheet of poly-vinyl butyral or PVB. When an object hits the windshield from the outside hard enough to crack it, almost always it's only the outer layer of tempered glass that's cracked. If you run your fingernail over the crack from the outside you can usually feel the crack line. If you do the same from the inside you can't feel the crack line because there is no crack on the inside layer of tempered glass. Structural integrity is not an issue. No need to be fearful of a crack in the windshield unless it obstructs the driver's vision.

I wonder when they started doing that? I just googled and found that laminated glass first went into use in 1934, and tempered glass 15 years later. Of course, that doesn't mean all automakers adopted it at the same time. Still, the furthest I go back with regards to cars is a 1957 DeSoto Firedome, so I think I'm covered.

I know, from experience, that the windshield in a '68 Dart is one of those 2-piece, laminated jobs. One day my ex-wife, in one of her bi-polar fits, punched it from inside nice and hard. Put a big spiderweb crack on the outside, but inside, you couldn't feel a thing.

 

[JoeWras]

We're off-track, so I'll add to the fire for fun. This discussion of structural glass gets me thinking about the construction forums I read. People post pictures of really bad jobs and someone inevitably adds a comment like: "Don't worry, the structural paint will hold up the deck."

This usually happens after structural screws are omitted. Yes, there is such a thing (like LedgerLOK brand), but they are not deck screws, and that's where the confusion comes in.