Heated windscreen on non-Fords?

Gwynston

What other manufacturers/models offer a heated front windscreen?

We've had one on 3 different model Fords over the past 15 years and since owning a Mk VI Golf, we really miss it. My wife simply can't understand why all cars don't come with them, as they're not just for clearing frost, but work great on a fogged-up screen too.

They're almost standard across the range on most Fords now, and I think they might be an option on high-end VWs. But outside of luxury cars, what mainstream models offer them? Any others in the VAG group?

alias no.9

I believe Ford held a patent on heated windscreens which is why they were limited to the extended Ford family and Ford joint ventures such as the original Galaxy/Sharan/Alhambra. That patent expired recently AFAIK so they may become more commonplace.

Stallingrad

An option with Skoda Octavia/Superb I think.

R.O.R

Now an option on a lot of different makes/models.

Available as an option on most VAG group cars.

Special Circumstances

Older Subarus with All Weather Pack had heater elements around the wiper "park" area, but not the whole screen. More to stop snow refreezing down the bottom of the screen I think.

Gwynston

Just had a quick play with Skoda/Seat/VW configurators, and it does indeed appear to be an option.

Although the .ie Passat configurator doesn't seem as up to date as the .co.uk one and I can't find a heated windscreen offer on the .ie site. Interestingly, in the UK there is an option of both a heated windscreen and a more expensive one they call "wireless". I wonder how that works? (I presume the cheaper one is like Ford's with slightly visible fine filaments)

Gwynston

Anyone know if any of the French or Japanese or Korean manufacturers offer them?

ThisRegard

Top end Lagunas I think had them years ago anyway.

Gwynston

OSI wrote: »

That's what aircon is for.

Not really.
Dehumidification is a secondary property of aircon.

Jumping in the car on a soggy, cold autumn morning with a misted-up screen, I can assure you that the heated windscreen clears much faster than trying to blast cold airconed air at it

bazz26

BMW have it as an optional extra these days too.

Del2005

Gwynston wrote: »

Just had a quick play with Skoda/Seat/VW configurators, and it does indeed appear to be an option.

Although the .ie Passat configurator doesn't seem as up to date as the .co.uk one and I can't find a heated windscreen offer on the .ie site. Interestingly, in the UK there is an option of both a heated windscreen and a more expensive one they call "wireless". I wonder how that works? (I presume the cheaper one is like Ford's with slightly visible fine filaments)

Having driven a few Fords with the heated windows I find the wires annoying and at night with oncoming traffic I get a lot of staring around the wires, which puts me off buying a car with a heated screen. If VAG have managed to make the elements invisible it's a good sign, but keeping the window clean and air-conditioning work for me.

pcardin

Jaguar cars do.

HandsomeDan

Gwynston wrote: »

Not really.
Dehumidification is a secondary property of aircon.

Jumping in the car on a soggy, cold autumn morning with a misted-up screen, I can assure you that the heated windscreen clears much faster than trying to blast cold airconed air at it

Car with aircon won't fog up to begin with.

Begbear of mine is people who switch their car's fan off and then invariable have to clear it with a rag. Wtf is that about.

Henry Ford III

Del2005 wrote: »

Having driven a few Fords with the heated windows I find the wires annoying and at night with oncoming traffic I get a lot of staring around the wires, which puts me off buying a car with a heated screen. If VAG have managed to make the elements invisible it's a good sign, but keeping the window clean and air-conditioning work for me.

I've had loads of them fitted with heated windscreens and it doesn't bother me one jot.

They are a good value extra on Fords.

TrailerBob

Came on the Honda Accord since about 2005.

Cabaal

Didn't find the big benefit when driving fords previously, its not that much faster then good aircon, certainly not worth paying for as an extra,

The wires going through the windscreen can be somewhat distracting at times and found dashcam would sometimes have focus issues because of them also,

CiniO

OSI wrote: »

That's what aircon is for.

Not in the winter conditions.

OSI wrote: »

Never taken longer than pulling out of the drive would take to clear the screen with the aircon. It's on all the time the car is driven so the car never has enough moisture in it for it to be an issue. Certainly wouldn't be in any rush to pay for a heated windscreen to save a couple of seconds 3 or 4 times a year.

Plenty of cars won't even turn the aircon on at temperatures below 0.
At -10 or -20 aircon is fairly useless.
And Ford's heated windscreen works miracles then.

punisher5112

Love having this on car as never have to use De icer and it clears the inside really quick.

Do miss it in other car in winter.

Great option to have.

Gwynston

Some good points.

And yeah, sometimes in winter there's ice on the inside of the window :eek:
Try clearing that in a few seconds with aircon... :P

And I've never had a problem being distracted by the wires - and I'm the kind of person who's a real stickler for a clear windscreen. I use plenty of screen wash, never let drizzle build before switching on wipers and absolutely never, ever let anyone touch the windscreen with mucky hands or anything to manually wipe the screen...:mad:

JoeA3

It's an option on Golfs, Passats, etc now although it's not cheap, as for some reason VW force you to also select "advanced phone prep"... Something to do with the screen interfering with your regular phone signal.

Aircon is excellent for clearing condensation in my experience. Just leave it on all the time especially if it's climate control - leave it in auto and let it do the work.

If you have ice inside your windows then you've got other problems! A car shouldn't have excessive moisture or condensation inside the car even in the coldest crap weather. If you do it would point at a potential leak or dampness somewhere or problems with the pollen filters.

CiniO

JoeA3 wrote: »

If you have ice inside your windows then you've got other problems! A car shouldn't have excessive moisture or condensation inside the car even in the coldest crap weather. If you do it would point at a potential leak or dampness somewhere or problems with the pollen filters.

It's perfectly normal in cold climate.
You get in with snow on your shoes. When you drive and car warms up snow melts down and soaks the floor.
Then when you park water evapourates, condensates on windscreen and freezes.

Perfectly normal thing to happen.

GustavoFring

Great if you've got early starts or late finishes. Some VAG cars have the wires (mine does, don't find them distracting in the least but you can see them), others have some sort of heated layer over the screen. Missed it a lot from fords years ago.

CiniO

OSI wrote: »

I keep forgetting we live in Siberia. My bad.

We might not be living in Siberia, but below 0 temperatures hit Ireland fairly regularly in winter.
And generally who said we should only talk about situations in Ireland.

CiniO

Friend of mine has a Focus with heated windscreen. The elements or wires or whatever they're called that run through the window, really annoy me, I have to admit. I genuinely feel like my vision is obscured (now that said, I've only ever been a passenger).

Based on that, though, not only would I not want it as a feature, it would actively put me off buying a car with it. Very annoying.

CiniO wrote: »

And generally who said we should only talk about situations in Ireland.

I think the clue is in the website name.

Guy:Incognito

ThisRegard wrote: »

Top end Lagunas I think had them years ago anyway.

Not sure about the Laguna (never saw one on them) but my 97 Safrane had it.

Buffman

Gwynston wrote: »

What other manufacturers/models offer a heated front windscreen?

Volvo have had it as an option on most models since the S80 first appeared in 1998, a standard part of the 'Winter Pack'.

kathleen37

I really miss my heated windscreen. Especially in freezing fog and icy conditions. Air con has never touched that in my new car...

ThisRegard

Guy:Incognito wrote: »

Not sure about the Laguna (never saw one on them) but my 97 Safrane had it.

Don't think they were very common, but a quick google brings up a couple listed with it, and breakers yards in the UK have Laguna heated windscreens listed on them with photos.

Only reason why I was aware was a couple of years ago my wife was tempted by a top end Laguna Coupe GT at Bill Cullen Airside before it shut down, beautiful car, and I think either that had one or another regular Laguna that was there at the time had it.

Noccy_Mondy

Very handy feature on Fords, combined with the heated mirrors, makes them cold mornings a breeze.

Those moaning about the wires blinding them are just jealous that they don't have a heated windscreen :P

CiniO

OSI wrote: »

You've literally become a parody of yourself at this stage.

OP asks about car that come with heated screen as he thinks it's great for removing frost and demisting, to which you tell him that air-con is for demisting.
I say that air-con might work great when it's warm, but it's no good at sub zero temperatures, to which you tell me we don't live in Siberia.

Are you really trying to say that OP is talking sh1te and that he heated screen in Ireland is useless.
How do you know that OP lives in Ireland, or even if he does, that he never drives abroad in the winter?

Stallingrad

CiniO wrote: »

OP asks about car that come with heated screen as he thinks it's great for removing frost and demisting, to which you tell him that air-con is for demisting.
I say that air-con might work great when it's warm, but it's no good at sub zero temperatures, to which you tell me we don't live in Siberia.

Are you really trying to say that OP is talking sh1te and that he heated screen in Ireland is useless.
How do you know that OP lives in Ireland, or even if he does, that he never drives abroad in the winter?

While you two are hurling handbags at each other here are the facts from someone who has had both a heated and a normal screen.

A heated screen is invaluable in winter. Siberia? Ireland? Ice is ice. Screen will be clear in 30 seconds.
Aircon is useless at de-icing a screen. You'll be minutes blowing cold air around and cursing that you sold the Ford.

There is no comparison.

Gwynston

Thanks for clearing that up Stallingrad!

For the record, we used to have two Fords, both with a heated windcreen.
We replaced one Ford with a Golf that has a normal windscreen. Both also have aircon.
We miss the heated windscreen on the Golf.

'Nuff said! I don't have to prove anything - it's my thread and I'm right, so neh! :P

I was asking what other models have heated windscreens - I don't need to justify them to myself...

CiniO

Stallingrad wrote: »

While you two are hurling handbags at each other here are the facts from someone who has had both a heated and a normal screen.

A heated screen is invaluable in winter. Siberia? Ireland? Ice is ice. Screen will be clear in 30 seconds.
Aircon is useless at de-icing a screen. You'll be minutes blowing cold air around and cursing that you sold the Ford.

There is no comparison.

Well, that was quite my point.
It's just OSI is trying to convince us, that in Irish climate air-con should do the job just fine. And it indeed does through most of the year, but when frosts come in, it becomes useless.

I had a Mondeo for a year couple years ago, and heated windscreen was absolutely brilliant, both in Ireland and in Poland where I drove it for a month during the winter, where tempratures went to as low as -28 degrees at some stage.

Visibility is bit obstructed by wires in she windscreen, but that's not a big price to pay for what you get.

Stallingrad

^ Classic!

Cabaal

CiniO wrote: »

I had a Mondeo for a year couple years ago, and heated windscreen was absolutely brilliant, both in Ireland and in Poland where I drove it for a month during the winter, where tempratures went to as low as -28 degrees at some stage.
.

Yeah but its worth nothing when I go driving around the Vostok Station where temperatures went to as low as −89.2 °C degrees its no good at all, :pac:


Its about as relevant.....