I have a 2022 that it seems to get a crack or a bullseye very easily when something from the road comes up and hits the windshield. I have never owned a car that the windshield cracks so easily. anyone else have this problem? if so, did you have it replaced with an OEM or an aftermarket brand?

 

It not a problem in the glass nor the platform or the model Mazda you have. This subject has come up a few times on various Mazda forums.
I am on my 3rd windshield one was OEM the other 2 were aftermarket different brands and they all get about the same amount of impact damage.
Its hard to compare your other vehicles even with Mazda's unless you could find the engineering development wind tunnel testing or the simulated aerodynamic of the airflow of any current and in the last say decade Mazda model or for that matter any common daily drive from a top auto manufacture.
Basically its not the glass but your operating environment and possibly how the cars (not Mazda alone) were designed.

You never know what is being thrown up from the road hitting your windshield glass unless it is obvious...

example post # 11 in this thread

Mazda and your dash cam shorts - Page 2 - Mazda Forum - Mazda Enthusiast Forums

 

I can say that 2/3 of the CX-5s in our familly have had around 6 windshields between the two, mainly due to large trucks on the highway throwing debris up in the air. Those two cars have done a bunch of road trips all over the states multiple times. When it comes to my personal CX-5, I was fortunate to only have a slight chip from a pretty heavy rock that got flung up by an uncovered semi merging on the highway, even when I was three lanes over in the passing lane on the left. It's hard to see and didn't end up cracking further or anything, so I dodged a bullet there. Worst comes to worst my insurance will cover the whole job to get a new one, but I'd rather not have to get one done lol. I'm a little over two years into ownership of the car, so I consider myself lucky thus far.

 

You will find that the more upright the screen is the more likely you are to have either a stone chip or crack. At the end of the day like Callisto said it's a case of wrong place wrong time. Trust me in this as I've been auto glazing here in New Zealand since 1993 and I believe I've just about seen it all 😁

 

I've got about the same number of repairable chips as I had in all my other vehicles.
About one per year from all the road sand, more like gravel, during the winter months here.
My 2020, so far, has had 3 chip repairs.

 

Early in the morning with a pre cleaned windshield, when the sun hit the glass, you can see all the total impact from small, grained material. So that also confirms what a few members have been saying as well.

There was a time when you could see all the specification of the glass and order on thickness and more importantly hardness based on what you thought would be a better choice in your operating area but... good luck with that research anymore. No I think it is only possible in the Aircraft industry. Unless you have deep pockets and order a custom to order windshield.

I am sure GTThurston in the Auto Glazing business can agree.

 

💯 agree @Callisto and if you have deep enough pockets to order the custom made screen then stone chips and cracks won't be an issue 😂

 

Thanks everyone for the replies

 

RAIN-X makes a windshield crack and chip repair kit - using the same resin used by pros -- Its pretty handy and comes with a 4 suction cup application stand . I found this to be a good way to stop runs and cover chips nicely -- My opinion is softer windshields are superior as the hard hits will actually do less damage than if it hits a brittle ( hard windshield ) So you can look for something else I suppose - but I would try to keep the OE glass as long as possible- but that product does do a gtreat job in about 15-20 minutes --sun needs to be out for the last step -- Usually the lower west states have these issues Arizona, NM etc since theres so many rocks on the road - If you see any vehicle pulling out into traffic --expect that at some point up to 70-75 there could be a stone thrown from the tread after being on a country road --avoid tailgating

 

Thanks for the advice, I used a different windshield repair kit that seems to be working at keeping the cracks from spreading. I do like the looks of the RainX kit, if I have more problems a may give it a try.