GMC Envoy Rear Window Explodes

mycarssafety

HOW HORRIFYING! The rear window in my 2002 Envoy exploded for no reason. I even called the police to verify it wasn't caused by a gunshot. And it wasn't. The officer said he has never seen glass explode like that. The scary part is my daughter was sitting outside of the passenger front door, washing the car. She was petrified!!!! Cried for a good 20 minutes. It has not been a hot day. The high was 80 and the humidity was low. When the glass exploded, it was about 73 so no huge temperature changes. I have every intention of contacting GM first thing in the morning. The glass was in perfect condition-no cracks or chips. It hasn't been driven in several months except down the driveway to make sure it was out of the way of the mower. I religiously move my cars so I don't have broken windows. Had my daughter been a foot closer she would have been hit. The glass exploded throughout the rear cargo area and out of the car a good 4 feet! God forbid if she or I had been washing the rear of the car!

jgbp4

wow Sorry to here about the rear window exploding. I wish i would have read this forum before i purchased my used 2006 envoy denali . Now im scared for myself and my family. Maybe someone needs to file a class action law suit against gmc for not takeing this matter seriously they obviously know about this and giving everyone the run around. Heaven forbid anyone gets hurt.From the sound of it it has happened more than once for sum of you.Now im second guessing my purchase.I thought i was buying a good american made car. I wonder what u drive sraha from gmc customer service. If this would happen to you i think you would feel diffrent.

ewok58

We live in British Columbia Canada and yesterday when we were loading the groceries into our 2009 Envoy the rear window exploded. The hatch was open the weather we not cold and there was nothing that caused this explosion to happen. As many of you have noted the sound is terrifying, we thought someone had shot a gun off in the parking lot and we were both so grateful to not have been hurt. In reading the comments it looks GMC has a problem here. I am definitely afraid of this happening again. Has anyone had any success in getting an answer as to why this is occurring?

boater27

So glad this forum is here. I am in Cleveland like several of the earlier posts. Looked out my window at my 2005 Envoy this morning and the rear glass had exploded. The car has not been driven in a week and the rear gate had not been used recently. I can't wrap my head around the fact GM isn't taking care of this issue. I'm thankful I don't have little kids like so many of you.

cardsman

I have a 2014 Yukon XL. While I like the Yukon tremendously, yesterday I got in the vehicle and smelled a strong odor of something burning. While I was unable to locate the smell, I aired out the vehicle and drove it for a while. I no longer smelled the odor and later returned home. I and my children got out of the car and went into our home. No more than 4 minutes later, there was a loud explosion and we went outside to find the rear window shattered across the driveway. Due to the lack of a weapon and the preponderance of glass outside of the vehicle and the (relatively) minimal amount inside the vehicle I surmised that it was a spontaneous explosion that shattered my window. There was no extreme shifting of temperatures, this was like the rest of the post on this forum, completely spontaneous and unprovoked. I have had the dealer re-attach the cords for defroster on the rear window a couple of times.

Thank you - a little lighter in the wallet

concept211

Same thing just happened to my wife a couple of hours ago. The rear door was open and as soon as she closed it, she said it sounded like a gun shot and glass flew everywhere. Chunks fell down and cut her, even. Why isn't GM doing anything about this? This is obviously a severe safety issue that not only happens once to customers, but multiple times!

sls1980

The rear window in my 2008 GMC Yukon spontaneously exploded this morning as I sat in the driver's seat in my driveway waiting for the windows to defrost so I could leave to get my hair done. The front windshield defroster was on, but the back window defroster was not on. The exhaust fumes from the tailpipe were drifting upward and melting the frost on the back window already. About three to four minutes after I had been sitting there, I heard a deafening boom and shattering glass. It sounded like a gunshot. I turned around to look and saw the ENTIRE BACK WINDOW had completely shattered and was all over the back interior as well as the driveway. There were glass shards as far out as 7-8 feet from the truck. I called GMC customer service line and absolutely nothing came of that other than the rep implying it was my fault somehow. She created an account where I can basically just call back and gripe, but nothing will get done. This is an OBVIOUS MANUFACTURING DEFECT that GMC clearly refuses to acknowledge. Wonder what it will take for a multi-billion dollar company to pony up and make things right with the customer. I will not be purchasing a GMC again unless they do.

greg201

Might as well keep this thread going. 2002 Envoy rear window exploded siting in the driveway. Filed with NHTSB at https://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/VehicleComplaint/ only took about 10 minutes.

dawnie23

March 1, 2016 sitting in a parking lot waiting for my husband when the rear window in my 2007 Yukon XL exploded. Thankfully I had just drop off 5 children at the bus stop. I keep thinking about the what if's because the glass flew everywhere, inside & out. An eyewitness said it was so loud he thought to cars had collided. I also contacted GMC and was told they have never heard of this happening. There was nothing they could do about it. They also commented on the age of my Yukon but it has very low mileage. Something needs to be done. This is a huge safety issue!

bulldog31313

Hi! So like most of you here...my 2005 Envoy rear glass shattered today. I was absolutely sure that someone did it intentionally and filed a police report. After reading all of this my mind is changed. Has anyone had any luck with GM responding or heard anything about a recall?

bulldog31313

supermavis

Amazed to find this, went out to go to work this morning, opened the automatic garage door and black glass rained from the ledge/hinges as the door folded upward. I had NO idea what it was at first! It literall exploded outwards (and some inside), all over the garage and door. My husband had just taken our daughter to school, came home, put the car (2004 Envoy) in the garage and closed it. In between then and 11 AM the window burst. Has anyone had luck getting GMC to handle this? My insurance covers it ($2,000!!!) but I have to pay the deductible. And like others have said (and had happen), it could have happened while we were in it!

bobbyackley1

2004 GMC driver side window exploded while driving car

stever

That's an odd one. Usually it's the rear window or the sunroof.

kayakmama

I too have had this same experience unfortunately last night. I realize that many of these posts are years old but did see some from this past summer (August) I came home last last night from working a 3-11:30 shift and came inside and heard a loud explosion, went down to my garage and was shocked at what I saw....glass EVERYWHERE! I spent all morning and early afternoon cleaning up the best I could but it is winter and Now I am without a car.....so frustrating....do have a window company coming Monday to replace but can't believe after seeing this forum that nothing was done by GMC? Crazy! Wish I would have taken better pics but here are a few....This is of course after I started cleaning....


fer

Mr_Shiftright

This happens on a wide variety of cars, and more often than you might think. This shattering is often related to defects in the glass itself as it is formed at the factory and cools--a lot of stress can be "built into" the glass. It's "loaded" if you will, and can fire off anytime---it might take years and various kinds of stress (thermal, vibration) to cause it to fracture. Large pieces of glass are probably more susceptible because they cool unevenly.

Normally this is handled as an insurance claim, if you have comprehensive and if the repair is expensive enough that you don't want to pay out of pocket.

mightycaprice

Its still happening, 08 Trailblazer, extreme temp with defroster going, back wiper going, turned onto a back country road with the snow flying and Boom the window was gone. Great Job GM, the last chevy in the fleet still eating up cash...

heyjoolz

Just happened to me last night - Was at a superbowl party and my car was parked outside for about 5 hours, it was about 20 degrees and snowing. Had a 10 minute drive home - parked car in garage and shut the garage door. While driving, I did use rear defroster and wiper blade, as there was snow on back window and it was snowing. Approximately 15 minutes after parking the vehicle,I heard a loud blast, like someone drove through my garage door. The rear window of my GMC Envoy exploded into many pieces. Glass was inside and outside the vehicle. My garage is not heated. I have no idea how it happened. I called my insurance company immediately and am going to drive the car to a GMC dealership tomorrow.

1_Jay

I HAVE MORE ANGER THEN I HAVE EVER HAD IN MY LIFE RIGHT NOW..
I AM A FATHER OF TWO, I JUST GOT HOME FROM THE EMERGENCY ROOM REMOVING GLASS FROM MY DUARGHTER EAR AND EYES ...IF ANYONE IS OWNS OR EVEN STANDING NEXT TO THIS TRUCK IS IN DANGER OF BEING SEVERLY INJURED I HAVE CONTACTED THE POLICE FOR A REPORT AND CALLED GMC ..IT IS 3AM AND IM PACEING BACK IN FORTH WAITING FOR THE GMC TO OPEN AND FIND A LAWER..THE DOCTOR HAS JUST INFORMED ME THAT MY DUARGHTR MAY HAVE TO GO INTO SURGERY IF THAT CANT REMOVE ALL THE GLASS ...I AM SO MAD I FEWL THE HEAT COMING OF OF ME 

Napakin

This literally just happened to my boyfriend and I. We r driving down the highway with no back window. We had just left a friend's house and purchased this 2000 GMC Envoy from him. At 60 miles an hour down the highway all of a ...sudden it exploded into a million pieces. Scared the crap out of both of us. As we pulled of to the side we saw a CHP behind us and he saw the whole thing happen and pulled over with us to make sure we were all right. Very thankful he was behind us. We live in California so the dramatic temperature change does not apply here. We have never had anything like this happen. Super annoyed this happened not even a hour after we purchased it!

BobFlorida

Came home from vacation to find my rear window of 2005 Envoy had exploded. Car was locked up and parked in the driveway. Glass had obviously blown out. Pieces as far as ten feet away in the drive. A raccoon got in through the opening and opened a jar of mixed nuts by the front seat. It left crumbs on the seat. There was a little left. I closed the screw-on lid and locked up. I tried to block the window. The raccoon did a repeat and finished off the nuts. Thanks for all the posts. Now I know what happened. Why? who can know?

jkrack121

I am not crazy after all and its still happening!! I am shocked to see that this has happened so many people!! I have a 2004 Envoy XL. I had finished grocery shopping with 5 of my small grandchildren who had just gotten in the truck. I put the groceries in the back, shut the hatch just like had all the other times and bam, it sounded like a gunshot, the rear back window exploded and glass went everywhere inside and outside the vehicle!! Luckily my grandkids were not hurt but I had glass all over me. Pieces of glass were wedged in my boots and cut me when I took them off. I had multiple cuts on my hands from the glass. it was about 25 degrees outside so I had to drive with all the grandkids freezing to my sons house to get the window taped up. Had to remove my groceries one item at a time because there was glass in all the grocery bags. Finally got the he window replaced today and It isn't right. There is a gap where the top of the hatch meets the glass and you can see daylight. The window won't close correctly and is very flimsy. Has any one had any luck with GMC?

MplsGreg

I too am glad this is out here because the Dealer and glass shop wouldnt believe this could just occur. And like the others my 2006 GMC Envoy was sitting parked and I came out to find glass everywhere after the rear hatch seemingly exploded. I did not hear it but there was literally no other way the window could have broken. The car was parked in my garage and clearly nothing else fell or hit it. Thankfully this didnt happen while I was driving or with anyone in the vehicle.