I have exoshield installed in my 720S. I might schedule one for my defender too.

 

Well my replaced after market windshield lasted all of two weeks. Giant pit already spread into a 3" crack. Very glad I have windshield coverage. Though at this rate they are going to drop me.

 

Regarding windshield cracks, first, sorry. But my next thought was why would JLR not do something to make the windshield super durable? For example, my Garmin running watch was advertised with "Gorilla" glass (of course it was more expensive), and I didn't get why JLR didn't do something similar: offer a crazy strong windshield - even if they charged more, just offer it anyways. Well, turns out, that seems like there is an aftermarket for this stuff: https://www.mopar.com/en-us/shop/par...lla-glass.html Has anyone ever tried it? Think it would work with a LR - we have heated windshields and of course want UV protection, so it's not only strength we want.

 

Making the glass super strong is not necessarily the answer. You hit it, it cracks just the same, having just replaced a super strong "Gorilla Glass" on my standby iPhone. Which BTW, if you scaled up the replacement to the square footage of a windshield, would clock in over $100,000. That really exceeds the cost of the Citation CJ-2 windshield (which I have had birds come wizzing through). Really more layers is what makes them stronger. Works for Ninja's and Samauri Swords. Problem, makes it heavier. In the "we are really green" economy, making things lighter is the key. Less material, less production cost, lighter vehicle, better MPG and so on.

So in our never ending pursuit of being green, we sacrifice durability. The other example is the fraud meaning of the Energy Star rating. They made the motors with less metal and now they konk out way sooner. But they get that cute star. Same goes for our vehicles, use less material, get a better rating.

 

This and the fact that windshields are now glued in and actually become stressed members of a vehicles body. They just used to hang in rubber gaskets. This means that a defect, such as a stone chip, will cause a chip to propagate as the body flexes. Def NOT just LR. All manufacturers have these issues in modern cars.

Usually it's the person who's making a statement that is responsible for ensuring it's not a load of BS, no? :-p But I actually did look. I could not find replacement statistics by model or manufacturer, but I did find this:

"The market size of the Auto Windshield Repair Services industry in the US has grown 4.5% per year on average between 2018 and 2023." and "The market size, measured by revenue, of the Auto Windshield Repair Services industry was $7.4bn in 2023." (source: https://www.ibisworld.com/industry-s...united-states/ )

So, Land Rover's crappy windshields have contributed to a $1.5billion increase in windshield repairs in the past 5 years? As small as LR is, their windshields are not even going to change that number if they're removed from the equation. This statistic speaks to what I stated above: all manufacturers have these issues.

 

@Dogpilot nailed it. This. Many have actually posted measurements of the glass and the windshields are noticeably thinner. I don't know how replacing things more often makes things greener, but I understand the short term focus. Years ago I worked with a national auto retail group. California passed a law: the Buyer's Order for the Consumer could only be 1 page long. The industry solution: print them out on 26" pieces of paper! Another example of an inane law/regulation not achieving it's aspiration.

 

I applied ExoShield and am generally satisfied with them for (a) honoring the application warranty and (b) honoring the cracked windshield warranty. As to (a), at about the nine-month mark following initial installation, the film began to de-laminate. I took it back in to the installer and they replaced it. As to (b), I purchased a $3,000 windshield replacement warranty, and sure enough, I got a rock chip that spidered. ExoShield honored the $3,000 warranty and replaced the windshield to include applying a new ExoShield film. As to actual protection, I got several rock hits, but only two that managed to chip/crack the windshield. Its not a perfect protector.