window melted part of my door

[MSGWright]

can someone help me out, the sun melted the plastic appliques between the front and rear passenger windows:



It's cheaper for me to buy the parts straight from infinitiusa, I was wondering if they already come painted black and are they easy to install? Looks like they just snap into place?


thanks in advance!

[TDot]

I have no answer for you, but you sure someone didn't do that? Unless you park your car on Venus I couldn't imagine that happening...especially in the winter season. What state you live in (assuming you're in the US)?

[MSGWright]

I know I can't figure it out, but both the wife and I have noticed intense heat from the sun reflecting off our windows even in the winter.. oh and I'm in Virginia, it's friggin 34 degrees today when this happened.

[MSGWright]

also if someone did do that how could it have been done? I googled it and there's almost the same exact damage on cars in england damaged from the sun reflecting off a skyscraper.

[Mjkkb2]

Holy crap,
I have a hard time believing it happened in VA in winter. Are you saying your house windows did that? Do you have some special reflecting glass in your windows. The only other culprit I can think of is exhaust heat but thie locatin seams to high for that. Did it happen on your driveway or somewhere else?

[MSGWright]

not sure, think it happened right in front of our house... I can't figure it out

[Frog]

I live in phoenix.in the summer it's 115 degrees Fahrenheit. And in the sun the car surface temp reaches 180 degrees. People fry eggs on the hood of their cars. And mine have never melted.

Just a thought I don't think that happened in the winter but anythings possible.

[TXT]

The rubber between those two shiny black pieces, from the angle of the pic, look perfect. Might not be heat.

[stm37s]

that is strange, hope you are able to get it repaired but hope this doesn't happen to you again. Are you over 20 years in the military?

[MSGWright]

not yet just hit 16

[M37owner]

If there is a building with large reflective glass panels it on next to where you park - I'd say it is possible the damage was caused by reflection.
I say this because I know that the vinyl siding on many homes has melted from the sun reflecting off the neighbors' home windows. There was a class-action suite on this about ten years ago.

[szh]

Folks, if the reflection is from a flat surface (like another window, or a glass skyscraper, etc.), then there is no way the reflected light/heat will be stronger than direct sunlight falling on that part of the car.

I am not sure of the cause of what you are experiencing, unfortunately. It may just be poor quality material or defective in that location. I would suggest talking to the dealer (is it still under warranty?) or Infiniti Consumer for some advice to next steps.

Z

[Larz]

I have trouble getting my head around the fact that it only melted in such a small section and at a slant. If it was from reflected heat, why didn't the entire piece suffer at least some damage? And why are the rubber surrounds in pristine conditon? It looks to me like some knob took a mini-torch to it, but even then the surrounding rubber would also show damage. That is a head-scratcher for sure.
Maybe Infinit will replace it as faulty? Or maybe your insurance company will replace it under vadalism?

[SmoovC]

Did you have the windows tinted recently? I have seen damage like that before from a heat gun.

[stm37s]

not yet just hit 16

good information fellas, not to jack this tread but you are fast tracking my brother, just 4 more years right?

[TDot]

As far as your original question, I'm 99.8% sure they come in black, and 99.7% sure they are snap on.

Szh, not true. Don't you remember burning leaves as a child with a magnifine glass or mirror with the sun? The right temp, the right surface, the right angle, and the right curve of the glass, it is most definitely possible.

Larz, it wouldn't have touched the rubber in the center because it was recessed and the heat/light was coming from an angle, and it wouldn't have touched the rubbers at the wnd because the heat/light was centralized in the middle.

[svard75]

I guess no one here watched the YouTube video where a specific spot on a street where a skyscraper had curved windows was actually creating a focal point of the suns reflection. It was so intensely focused that it melted a jag.

Same concept as when you use a magnifying glass. http://youtu.be/QRf3jAWj17g

[MSGWright]

thanks for the help guys, I can buy both pieces for 237 shipped. Now the problem is are they just snap in? My father in-law thinks they snap in but are also glued into place. Should I try and install these myself?

@stm37S Not sure, I took the redux so I might stay in till around 26 to try and make up the difference.

[szh]

Szh, not true. Don't you remember burning leaves as a child with a magnifine glass or mirror with the sun? The right temp, the right surface, the right angle, and the right curve of the glass, it is most definitely possible.

Of course! But with a magnifier, but never with a flat mirror (like a window reflection) ! If you have a parabolic or curved mirror, then that would work too, of course. If so, I would also expect more of a sharper spot in some locations as the focus moved ... so I am not sure.

Remember that you would have to have quite a significant curve (and perfectly positioned too) to make the sun focus become sharp enough to cause that kind of heat damage. I still think it was caused by something else - perhaps accidental, but maybe by vandalism.

Z

[szh]

also if someone did do that how could it have been done? I googled it and there's almost the same exact damage on cars in england damaged from the sun reflecting off a skyscraper.

Look at this: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... s-car.html

In this specific case, the reflection is from a concave glass surface, so the rays do get focused! Quite different from a flat glass building or flat window reflection.

Z