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Exploding Sunroofs!

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Comments

  • denee246denee246 Member Posts: 4
    How did you add the picture? I'd like to post mine (2013 Venza) which clearly shows middle intact, but both sides shattered in a perfect "L" shape. My moon roof was open when it happened. How is a rock going to rip each side of your moon roof? No way. It is a stress fracture and I'll believe that until I go to my grave. The car companies are charging us a fortune and giving us substandard engineering. GRR
  • toyman9toyman9 Member Posts: 1
    Hi, just had the same experience on my toyota tundra. Unfortunately, Toyota doesn't want to take any blame. Can you tell us a little more about the arbitration process?
  • rocco1951rocco1951 Member Posts: 7
    They did not do anything for me until I started the arbitration process. I did this after my insurance company paid for the repair minus my $ 250 deductible. Toyota reimbursed me $ 250. I do not know if they paid the insurance company anything.

    To answer your question...follow the arbitration process in your Tundra owner manual, usually in the back of the manual.
    You submit a form and the third party will contact you. If Toyota does not relent (they did not in my case) the third party will arrange an arbitration meeting locally with you and Toyota. No need for legal representation. Just bring supporting documents, pictures, invoices for replacement glass...if it gets that far. After the third party set up an arbitration appointment Toyota contacted me and said they would reimburse me for my out of pocket expense of $ 250 as a good will gesture. They did shortly thereafter.

    I have not bought a Toyota since, in fact I just took delivery of a new Ford F 150 truck at $ 50,000 .

    I also have told my story to many others.

    Good luck !
  • spechacekspechacek Member Posts: 6
    I did not arbitrate, I just kept on calling Ford and Carlite Glass and kept a long list of email documentation. The lie is that "They have never heard of such a thing" I get a post at least once a week with the same story. I called NHTSA and also reported the incident as well as a written complaint. We did threaten to sue Ford and the dealer and that seemed to move the process forward. I received payment in full from Ford Warranty. Carlite Glass was very helpful in notifying Ford of the problem and actually acted as an advocate. I emailed all the links from this forum as well as all the complaints from NHTSA to Ford, The Ford dealer and Carlite. That way no one could say, "They have never heard of such a thing" You just have to be the squeaky wheel so to speak to get these people to take responsibility. If your insurance denies the claim because there was no impact, then guess who is responsible? I also notified my local media. Just stay at it and when you feel like giving up, keep going...
  • b1214nb1214n Member Posts: 1
    My moon roof exploded on my 2013 Chrysler 300. I just bought it in August and on November 4th this occurred. I was driving down the freeway and heard a loud explosion that I initially thought was a tire of mine or the person driving next to me until I saw my windows were up and the wind I heard was coming from above me. Looking in the review mirror I saw a piece of glass bigger than a two fists being blown back behind my rear glass window. My moonroof shade was closed and I could hear sounds of wind and glass falling onto it. I did not see any debris coming at me when this occurred. If my moonroof wasn't closed I would have been showered with glass. I pulled off at the nearest exit and called in to have an officer show up to file a report.

    I needed a rental car to continue my work day so I called my insurance company and gave them my report so they could have a rental car ready for me. My insurance company requested that I take my vehicle to their appraiser repair shop before I take it to my dealership AUTO NATION CHRYSLER. Their appraiser said it did not look like anything that debris would have caused and wrote up his appraisal at $2,213.13. He said it looked like something that would need to be covered by Chrysler or my dealership. I took that appraisal to my dealership. The dealership said they would need to review all of the damage and details before confirming if there would be any reimbursement for me. My deductible is $500. I needed to move forward so I agreed for them to take my vehicle for repair, grabbed my rental car and awaited daily for a response. After almost a week the dealership said they could not identify what caused the explosion so there would not be any warranty or reimbursement. Fast forward to 14 days later my vehicle was not yet ready and I was told that they broke my front windshield removing the moon roof from car to repair / replace adding $700 to my insurance company's cost. Finally 16 days later on 11/20 my vehicle was ready for pick up. I needed my vehicle back and my insurance company wouldn't cover a rental any further so I had to pay my $500 deductible so that I could have my vehicle back and be able to drive for work.

    I called Chrysler and they gave me two excuses for why I would not be reimbursed:
    1.) I got a 3rd party involved (my insurance company)
    2.) The dealership could not verify what caused the damage

    I will never drive with my moonroof shade open while the glass is closed. I have a wife and two little girls 3 and 9 months that if this happened again while they were in the car would be a catastrophe. I regret that I purchased the model with a moonroof. Being that there are so many people writing about these explosions, I would like to see something make it to the media the same way that SUV rollovers did years back ensuring that consumers knew of a great danger that could come until manufacturers paid more attention to the issue at hand.

    Does anyone have any suggestions for me?
    I have never sued anyone so that would be a new avenue for me.

    I saw that some on here did get reimbursed but I am assuming the collision report goes on the Car History report causing a loss in value as well as an increase in insurance premium as it is a claim. In my case it was more than glass as there was a lot of damage done to the rear paint on the vehicle.

    Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!!
  • rocco1951rocco1951 Member Posts: 7
    Follow the procedure for arbitration outlined in your owner's manual. I did and it got Toyota's attention.
  • jptdjptd Member Posts: 1

    Happened to me in NE Ohio - 2012 Mazda3 Hatchback sitting in driveway, not running, closed door and pop, moonroof glass bows upward and shatters out onto roof. it was -6F. Took pictures to show it was not outside impact - Dealer thought it would be covered, but warranty clerk denied it. Bob Berenak, Editor of Auto Glass Journal states that this is a "relatively easy repair" so husband will do it himself. He has an associates degree in automotive maintenance and experience in body shop, so I would not recommend this as a DIY project to others. But, we have no time to mess with the appeals/arbitration process. The part is costing way less (total $150) than a rental would if we were to wait for Mazda to maybe, possibly cover it in the end. Clearly the glass is not engineered and produced in a safe manner. **filed safety complaint with NHTSA - quick, easy to do on their website. ** lucky it did not happen on my highway drive to work. This is my first Mazda in 25 years - not feeling warm and fuzzy about it.

  • steverstever Guest Posts: 52,454

    Your car insurance may cover replacement.

  • Mr_ShiftrightMr_Shiftright Member Posts: 64,481

    The sunroof on my MINI exploded on a level lonely rural road, not a tree in sight. It blew a huge hole in the center of the panoramic roof, and sent glass over the front and rear seats and down my shirt collar, too. I stopped in the next town, vacuumed it out in a car wash, shook my shirt out, then had to buy plastic and duct tape so as to get home safely.

    I had to claim it on insurance (out of warranty). You can't replace just the glass of course--you have to buy the entire "sunroof cassette"...and of course you have to drop the headliner and remove the seats.

    That was a $2800 repair.

  • steverstever Guest Posts: 52,454

    "The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said it has upgraded an investigation into 65,347 2011-'13 Kia Sorento crossovers after consumer complaints that the sunroof may spontaneously shatter.

    Federal safety regulators said there are 95 reports of shattered sunroofs. The number is based on complaints filed with NHTSA and those reported by Kia. There are 18 reports of minor cuts and scratches, but no crashes."

    Feds Upgrade Probe Into 2011-'13 Kia Sorento for Shattering Sunroofs

  • avashisthavashisth Member Posts: 1
    I wish to share the incident I face with my new car (HONDA CITY) which I brought up in February 2015 (Chassis no- MAKGM85AAF4005150, Engine No. N15A12312888) INDIA


    On 29th July 2015 while driving my car, Sun Roof glass exploded all of a sudden in the middle of road with gunshot noise. Thankfully because of a highway, there wasn't any other vehicle nearby. Else I might have met with a serious road accident. I was fortunate that the inner shutter was closed else it could have resulted in big accident. I thoroughly checked for any possibility of hitting of any objects but couldn’t find any such thing. I immediately took my car to local dealer in Sonipat (Haryana-India). who in turn sent the pictures for further evaluation to Honda. They also told me that there is no sign any object hit event.

    I also called up Honda121customer care for the same with Communication ID number 1-3110288512

    Later I was informed by dealer that Honda refuse the replacement under Warranty , although its brand new car.

    After many follow-ups with customer care in India there is no fruitful outcomes, with no way for me to go I apply for Insurance claim on April 4th , 2015 with a pain in my heart as this thing should have been taken care under warranty by Honda. Still there is no fruitful follow-up from Honda. there were no spare with Honda.

    I was using Hyundai Verna earlier and changed to Honda in a good hope of Quality good services but this is what I am facing now.

    even write to Honda Japan , Customer care is not ready to accept the flaw with the glass. It’s a serious compliance issue which needs to be taken care by Quality check team from Honda.

    I can be reached at specialistvashisth@gmail.com
  • gmcaddicgmcaddic Member Posts: 1
    We have a 2007 Chevy avalanche my wife drives just last week she was driving home on the freeway when she
    heard a loud pop . She said it scared the crap out of her looked around could not find where it came from.
    She opened up her sun roof cover and lo and behold her sun roof was spidered . When she got home she looked
    at the top and it looked like it exploded from the inside out . Thank god she had the cover closed it could have
    came down and really caused accident . Thought I better put it here so people know the Dangers of sun roofs
    exploding.
  • Mr_ShiftrightMr_Shiftright Member Posts: 64,481
    I've had this happen to me. You can probably claim this on your comprehensive insurance if there's even a possibility that something struck it, like a rock thrown up from a truck, debris from an underpass or tree. I made a successful claim. Repairing this sort of thing can be pricey on some vehicles. Not all of them offer a replacement glass--you have to buy the whole frame as well.
  • geebossgeeboss Member Posts: 1
    FYI
    EXPLODING SUNROOFS
    http://www.autoguide.com/auto-news/2017/10/shattering-sunroofs-might-be-more-common-than-you-think.html

    https://www.consumerreports.org/car-safety/exploding-sunroofs-danger-overhead/
  • Mr_ShiftrightMr_Shiftright Member Posts: 64,481
    That happened to me. It is an extremely unpleasant experience at 65 mph.
  • laloeschlaloesch Member Posts: 1
    My wife just bought a new Acadia and within 3 to 4 days the moon roof literally exploded while she was driving to pick up her friend from the airport. At first they thought they had a blown tire and pulled over to the side of the interstate but saw nothing wrong and continued on their way. It was only when we went to wash the car and i got up on a ladder to clean the roof that i saw the massive hole in the roof. We didn't realize it was broken because the shade was closed. I did notice that the glass in those roofs is thinnnnnn thinnnnnn. I don't know if it was a rock that hit it from a truck or if it just exploded on it's own.
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