I was driving my wife's Subaru to day when suddenly "BOOM". I knew immediately that the tempered glass sun roof had given up the ghost. No cars around and unless it was a bolt from the heavens, it was spontaneous. UGH!!

Prior experience: I was in a friend's M3 tooling up the M6 in the U.K. when the same thing happened. At that time I thought some had taken a shot at us.

Also, in a friends SUV in Phoenix when the passenger window left the world. That time I was certain someone took a shot at us.

I apparently have a bad history with auto glass.

RMD

Those little glass bits get into every nook and cranny. They will keep turning up for a week or more, no matter how many times you vacuum.
 
I highly doubt it just spontaneously shattered. Something had to have hit it.

quote:

Originally posted by egregore:

Those little glass bits get into every nook and cranny. They will keep turning up for a week or more

My truck was broken into a few years ago. The bastages shattered the window in passenger door. I'm still finding glass "crumbs."

quote:

Originally posted by egregore:

I highly doubt it just spontaneously shattered. Something had to have hit it.

I don’t know. Sometimes apparently tempered glass can have a stress riser from a scratch or flaw that will cause it to “explode”. As an example, one evening I returned home to find my glass shower door in a large pile of crumbs all over the bathroom floor. This in a 6 month old apartment that had been unoccupied all that day. I’m pretty sure nothing could have hit it while I was gone.

The glass dude that replaced the door said he had seen that type of thing happen before.

quote:

Originally posted by egregore:
Those little glass bits get into every nook and cranny. They will keep turning up for a week or more, no matter how many times you vacuum.

Yes indeedy! My little commuting college car (Ford Escort) caught a rock from a passing snow plow one day and shattered the driver's door window. Teeny tiny pieces of shattered glass everywhere. Not fun, especially considering it was below zero and I still had 200 miles to go.

A few years ago, a semi kicked up a chunk of pavement and it exploded the driver's window of my car.

Finding all those little crumbs was a pain, but I was grateful because when that window blew, it sprayed glass all over my face and arm and chest. Glass shards could have turned me into chopped beef.

Happened to a former coworker, Toyota Highlander with the pano roof, halfway between Houston & Nrw Orleans.

I just want to add this to the OPs thread. Probably the cause is the same reason as his exploding sun roof.

On our 2021 motorhome, the windshield developed a hairline crack (no rock chip, cannot be felt both front and rear of the glass. Just visible line). The same goes for our 2022 Jeep Rubicon. Someone from the RV forum mentioned "stress crack". Not sure of what cause that though.

you weren't on the way to the Roxbury were you?

Had the back hatch window of a '79 Old station wagon explode just sitting in the driveway once. Never a sun roof, but I've always been leery opening mine while driving. I had a friend do it on the highway many years ago and it took off like a cockpit canopy prior to ejection.

Lost the sun roof in a Honda Accord. Scared the crap out of me. The car was about 6 months old and the dealer said they don’t cover glass. I called Bullshit and made some noise. All of a sudden glass was covered.
Mike

quote:

Originally posted by arfmel:

quote:

Originally posted by egregore:

I highly doubt it just spontaneously shattered. Something had to have hit it.

I don’t know. Sometimes apparently tempered glass can have a stress riser from a scratch or flaw that will cause it to “explode”. As an example, one evening I returned home to find my glass shower door in a large pile of crumbs all over the bathroom floor. This in a 6 month old apartment that had been unoccupied all that day. I’m pretty sure nothing could have hit it while I was gone.

The glass dude that replaced the door said he had seen that type of thing happen before.

We had three pieces of glass do it in three buildings in one month on campus. Part of entrance vestibule on one building; a managers office in another building; and a customer window in a third building. All three buildings were constructed at different times a few years apart.

It does certainly seemingly spontaneously explode. Typically a stress or fracture from the manufacturing process.

If God wanted you to look at the sky while driving . . .

quote:

Originally posted by bendable:
If God wanted you to look at the sky while driving . . .

. . . there would be way more convertibles.

quote:

Originally posted by arfmel:
...As an example, one evening I returned home to find my glass shower door in a large pile of crumbs all over the bathroom floor. This in a 6 month old apartment that had been unoccupied all that day...

I'd blame the cat.

The sunroof exploded in my wife's 2023 Outback last fall. It pushed "up" not "down". The nice local police dept. responded and took a report. Subaru was useless, said they never heard of it happening. Insurance covered it. I filed an NHTSA report with photos.

Had that happen in an '03 Infiniti G35. In the dark, on an interstate at about 75mph. Saw the rock arcing up from truck, thought I'd missed it.

Saving grace was I had the slide cover closed, but it was still a damn mess.

quote:

Originally posted by MaSigchist:
The sunroof exploded in my wife's 2023 Outback last fall. It pushed "up" not "down". The nice local police dept. responded and took a report. Subaru was useless, said they never heard of it happening. Insurance covered it. I filed an NHTSA report with photos.

Precisely. This one blewup and not down. No question it was a stress riser.

Talked to Subaru, they said bring it in and we will take care of it. Don't yet know what that means.

The local Safelite doesn't do sunroofs. Farms them out to "Sunroof Express" who then farms them out to local glass companies or garages.

I don't think so . . .

RMD

Dang, that's some seriously bad luck with car windows! Must've been pretty scary each time it happened. Have you figured out what's causing it?

The reason the glass explodes on its own is because it is unable to withstand the air pressure differential that occurs when driving. The stress in the glass can be from a manufacturing defect or from some kind of impact. Sometimes, prolonged heat exposure can also cause it. I once had a seemingly fine sunroof explode on me before. In my case, the stress was most likely caused by the hail damage the car suffered previously.