Sun Roof Exploded

jefkat2

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Nov 19, 2024
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Sedro Woolley, Washington
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2025 Land Cruiser
Today the sunroof on my LC Prem. exploded. The glass shattered around the frame but not in the center. Sounded like a gun going off inside. Don't even have 1000 miles on it yet. Drove straight to the dealership to have them look at it. This was first for them and had a Toyota Tech on site and he never seen this either. They'll have the LC for about a week. Parts are on the way.
 
Had that happen back in the day in my friends dodge daytona. We had just met up with a semi. Could’ve been a rock kicked onto it or something.
 
That's not an enjoyable experience. I would also guess a rock/other debris inadvertently struck the glass in the wrong place.

Glad to hear Toyota has ordered the required parts quickly and are taking care of you.
 
I had this happen in an almost new Subaru. Definitely wakes you up.
This also happened to the 2012 Subaru 3.6R Outback that I gave my youngest daughter and her husband (back in 2015) about 2 years ago, when the car was parked. They had just loaded their three kids in their respective car seats, and were getting into the car. Luckily the sliding cover was closed when it exploded.
 
That's not an enjoyable experience. I would also guess a rock/other debris inadvertently struck the glass in the wrong place.

Glad to hear Toyota has ordered the required parts quickly and are taking care of you.
Nothing struck the sun roof as I was the only one on the road when it happened. It broke completely around the frame but the center was completely intake. Never seen that before.
 
Today the sunroof on my LC Prem. exploded. The glass shattered around the frame but not in the center. Sounded like a gun going off inside. Don't even have 1000 miles on it yet. Drove straight to the dealership to have them look at it. This was first for them and had a Toyota Tech on site and he never seen this either. They'll have the LC for about a week. Parts are on the way.
I'd be amazed if they'd never seen it before. Maybe not on a Land Cruiser before, but this can happen with tempered glass in just about any application, and you hear about it happening on sunroofs a lot. It can be an imperfection in the glass when it was manufactured, damage during installation, or new damage or extreme thermal stress. We were at an AirBnB once and when my wife went to get into the shower, the moment she touched the handle on the very thick glass sliding door it just exploded. When we and the owner called AirBnB they said "yeah that happens all the time, we'll cover it." Similarly my parents came home once and found the glass in a vanity shattered, they looked at their security cam footage and it just exploded in the middle of the night.

Exploding Sunroofs: Danger Overhead Consumer complaints about exploding sunroofs have spiked in recent years. How to stay safe and avoid large repair bills.
 
This is likely the result of the glass not being installed in the frame properly. You have pressure on the glass and if the inside or outside temp is vastly different the pressure can shatter the tempered glass. Did you happen to be in the cold (outside Temp)
 
This is likely the result of the glass not being installed in the frame properly. You have pressure on the glass and if the inside or outside temp is vastly different the pressure can shatter the tempered glass. Did you happen to be in the cold (outside Temp)
Its been in the 20's at night and 40's during the day. Its parked inside a car port.
 
Thanks for all the info you guys have given me. I filed a complaint with the NHTSA on this issue. Could have been worse if I was on the freeway with the headliner cover op. and a face full of glass fragments.
 
Thanks for all the info you guys have given me. I filed a complaint with the NHTSA on this issue. Could have been worse if I was on the freeway with the headliner cover op. and a face full of glass fragments.
Glad you're ok @jefkat2 sh*t happens but you still have a badass ride.
 
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This makes me glad I had window tint put on my sunroof. Though it may create thermal stress, at least if the sunroof does shatter, it will be mostly held in place, and won’t come showering down on us in the front seat..
 
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