I was sitting in my car in the driveway, heard a loud noise, and noticed that a crack had spontaneously appeared in the windshield. The crack started from the left edge on the driver's side, continued through where the inspection sticker is located (lower left corner) and extended at least another 12 inches diagonally upward.

I had the Nissan service manager look at it and he used a ballpoint pen to determine if there was any kind of "void" along the crack. Apparently, this is the trick they use to deny claims...if there is even the slightest gap, the pen tip will not roll over it smoothly and they jump to the conclusion that something must have impacted the windshield. Of course, when a curved piece of glass cracks under stress, there is bound to be a small void and in this case, it is so small that I can barely get my fingernail into it. There is absolutely no sign of any impact.

The manager advised me today that Nissan will not cover the windshield replacement, so I now have to open a case with Nissan's consumer affairs department. I find it very difficult to believe that Nissan would risk losing customers over this type of defect, especially with all of the complaints that have been posted about it. It's bad business to know that a design or material flaw exists and then come up with a ridiculous test designed to ensure that a claim will be rejected.

There are a lot of other great cars in the Altima category, so if my appeal to consumer affairs is unsuccessful, I will strongly consider another manufacturer's product when my lease is up for renewal.

Update from Dec 10, 2015: I decided to file a Better Business Bureau complaint against Nissan, which got results. Nissan called me, a case was opened, and I made an appointment to see a Nissan Regional Service rep at my local dealership. He inspected the windshield and authorized replacement at no cost.

After an unseasonably cold night in Texas, I awoke to find a large crack stemming from the very edge of the windshield on the driver's side, just between the registration and inspection stickers. Over just 2 days, the 6-inch crack stretched to almost 2 feet! Note that the car rests in a COVERED parking garage at night.

I took the car to a Nissan dealership on the south loop in Houston, and they did some B.S. "test" with a clicky-top pen to "prove" a rock hit it. Thus, they refused to replace the windshield under my basic warranty, instead they wanted to charge me $700 to replace it! I literally laughed in the guy's face.

After contacting Nissan's support account via Twitter, the only advice they gave me was to take it to another dealership to get a second opinion. Why would some independent dealer do work for free then have to go through a payment process with Nissan, when they can just get an easy payday from me?

I feel like Nissan has really let me down here. All my other experiences with them have been great, until now. Now it seems like they just took my money and ran. Thanks for nothing, Nissan.

After driving at night for a few hours, I looked at the windshield the next morning when got in the car and it was cracked. Not a mark or anything that could have caused it. Starts under the seam half way up the passenger side going towards the driver side about 20 inches. A def. design flaw or stress caused in the window frame. 100's of people with the same complaint online.

This is a rental car that I had for a month and I will not be paying for it. I have insurance coverage of my own, but I will in no way accept it being my fault. After seeing all these people that have made the same complaint, I wonder how many people out there have not made the complaint.

First snowfall of the 2013 season and when I went out to the car to start it the windshield was cracked from the left side seal out towards the middle of windshield. Almost perfectly straight across. I feel that there must of been some water in the seal and when it froze that is what caused the crack. Definitely a manufacturer's flaw. I am researching the cost of a new windshield now as the crack has nearly doubled in length. I came across this site and all the other complaints. Just realizing now that it is a common problem. I am glad I stumbled on this site now I will look into having the seal checked and maybe replaced, as well as, not installing a Nissan brand windshield when replacing it. Absolutely in LOVE with my car but could live without it's flaws (all 4 tires with slow leak, whistle in steering wheel, and windshield crack)!

We purchased a left over 2013 in Sept of 2013, after 2 k mi. i noticed a crack in the windshield about 12 " long right above the inspection sticker, literally broke you could shave your fingernail with it! Nissan does not cover windshield replacements! so i had my experienced Glass Repair facility replace it in April! to get pass the winter season, to my surprise it is now cracked again in the same area at 4700 mi. Now it's time to resolve this matter with my local Dealership! Mass only allows so many windshields to be replaced by ins!

I parked my 2013 Altima in my garage on Thursday night and when I got in Friday morning there was a large crack in the windshield. The garage was closed and nobody entered the garage while it was in there. I called the Nissan dealer on Monday and they said to bring it in for them to check and if they couldn't find any reason for the crack then Nissan would replace it. When I took it into the dealer they got a magnifying glass out to look at the crack couldn't find a problem then got a second higher power magnifying glass and "discovered" a chip from "a rock" that was the cause of the crack. Needless to say they refused to replace it. I took it somewhere else to have the windshield replaced and it is going to be replaced with a non Nissan windshield.

Today, April 20,2014, I was driving home and I heard a huge pop, and looked up only to see a major crack in my windshield. It is about 12 inches on the passenger side to the right of the rear view mirror from the very top of my windshield to the middle. I have had nothing but problems and this is just the cherry on top the cake. I am writing my complaint because I see there are many more about the same problems. I will be calling Nissan in the morning... Does anyone know how many complaints are needed for a recall?

Our 2013 Nissan Altima had a spontaneous 12" crack on the passenger side, about a foot up, from under the plastic toward the mirror. Unless sand was strong enough to crack the windshield while parked (on a calm day), there are absolutely no tell tale signs of an impact that could have caused this crack on a new car. If Nissan were to claim that it was caused by an impact then their windshields are much too fragile as it would break from microscopic materials. I've seen many small spider cracks caused by rocks and BBs and those don't typically leave huge cracks such as this one.

Looks as if Nissan has a problem with the windshield as it's happening to enough of us and I'm sure not everyone affected is reporting the issue on CarComplaints.com.