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Exploding panoramic sunroof

dannydyn said:
Tell the dealer to locate the object that supposedly hit your sunroof. If your screen was closed, it simply would be lying right on top of the screen. The dealer's answer is pure bull5hit.
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Absolutely no way you can make that statement with such authority. It would be EASY for a stone to make a glancing blow to the panoramic roof and bounce off, never to be seen. Because all sunroofs are highly-stressed members, and especially if there was even a little bit of positive pressure inside the cabin, combined with the natural low-pressure area above the cab due to airflow around the vehicle (as mentioned by a number of other posters here), the glass could EASILY have been broken by a stone that would never break through the glass and enter the vehicle interior (or in this case, be sitting on the pano shade/screen) and the remaining pieces of glass that shattered but were still holding together around the hole, would be sucked or blown upward and look like it was a pure over-pressure situation in the cab and a defective piece of glass.

Although I definitely feel for the owner, I'm afraid that physics and the available evidence are in Ram's favor in this particular situation. If the owner's auto insurance policy doesn't cover it, and the Ram repair techs don't find evidence of a defect in the vehicle, the owner will just have to pay it. Not a happy situation, but frankly, this is just more evidence that sunroofs, especially these newer, huge panoramic glass roofs, are definitely problems just waiting to happen. I myself would just flat never buy a vehicle, least of all a truck, with a sunroof of any kind.
 
It is what it is. My insurance will not cover this either but no biggy.

The replacement glass has already been ordered, should be be getting here sometime next week.
 
TxsRam said:
It is what it is. My insurance will not cover this either but no biggy.

The replacement glass has already been ordered, should be be getting here sometime next week.
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That was a decent price on the replacement. I was initially guessing in excess of 1k.
 
TxsRam said:
It is what it is. My insurance will not cover this either but no biggy.

The replacement glass has already been ordered, should be be getting here sometime next week.
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Why won't your insurance company cover this? Don't you have glass breakage coverage? If not, you damned sure should!
 
jw38 said:
Why won't your insurance company cover this? Don't you have glass breakage coverage? If not, you damned sure should!
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This thread inspired me to ask my agent about adding glass coverage to my policy. Apparently state farm doesn't offer this and instead covers it under comprehensive coverage. I have a pretty high deductable though so I think I'm going to shop around to find someone that will write a separate policy just for the windshield and sunroof. I don't want to have to go out of pocket 2 to 3 times a year for windshields before insurance kicks in.
 
JLUR_ said:
This thread inspired me to ask my agent about adding glass coverage to my policy. Apparently state farm doesn't offer this and instead covers it under comprehensive coverage. I have a pretty high deductable though so I think I'm going to shop around to find someone that will write a separate policy just for the windshield and sunroof. I don't want to have to go out of pocket 2 to 3 times a year for windshields before insurance kicks in.
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Same answer I got from my State Farm insurance agent. My deductible is set at $500. Never considered or thought of glass coverage until this happened. I will definitely be shopping around for one.
 
jw38 said:
Why won't your insurance company cover this? Don't you have glass breakage coverage? If not, you damned sure should!
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Not yet. Never had a problem with panoramic sunroofs so having a glass coverage never crossed my mine. But no things have changed, will see how much a glass coverage runs and if its even worth getting one.
 
I went through this exact same thing. I drive 4 hours and arrived at my hotel. While sitting in the car, engine off, I hear a massive boom like a shotgun discharged next to my Murano with panoramic roof. It was late at night. I ducked down, evaluated the situation, then rolled out of the door down low, 45acp in hand. As my hearing returned, I heard crackling above me. I slowly stood up to find my sunroof rising like the tinfoil on a jiffy popcorn canister. It was continueing to fracture. The cracked glass was expanding. I walked to a Lowe's and bought a roll of Gorilla tape and taped it over with multiple layers.

Warranty was denied. I din't blame them. I actually recall a light impact sound from something that got pitched from a truck tire that was pretty far ahead on the interstate about 2 hours before. My insurance covered the repair 100% since I have 0 deductible glass coverage.

I did some reading and sunroofs are prone to explode regardless of manufacturer. There is tension stored in the glass and a rock peck can cause the tension to release with a loud boom. There are tons of stories like mine all over the net.

I've had sunroofs in the last 6 vehicles. I guess it was my time. I have the Pano roof in my Limited.
 
ExcursionDiesel said:
I went through this exact same thing. I drive 4 hours and arrived at my hotel. While sitting in the car, engine off, I hear a massive boom like a shotgun discharged next to my Murano with panoramic roof. It was late at night. I ducked down, evaluated the situation, then rolled out of the door down low, 45acp in hand. As my hearing returned, I heard crackling above me. I slowly stood up to find my sunroof rising like the tinfoil on a jiffy popcorn canister. It was continueing to fracture. The cracked glass was expanding. I walked to a Lowe's and bought a roll of Gorilla tape and taped it over with multiple layers.

Warranty was denied. I din't blame them. I actually recall a light impact sound from something that got pitched from a truck tire that was pretty far ahead on the interstate about 2 hours before. My insurance covered the repair 100% since I have 0 deductible glass coverage.

I did some reading and sunroofs are prone to explode regardless of manufacturer. There is tension stored in the glass and a rock peck can cause the tension to release with a loud boom. There are tons of stories like mine all over the net.

I've had sunroofs in the last 6 vehicles. I guess it was my time. I have the Pano roof in my Limited.
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When I heard the gun shot sound, I immediately thought "all **** who the hell shot me" :LOL: I pulled over to check my self but by that time the wind was coming in through the sunroof.
 
TxsRam said:
When I heard the gun shot sound, I immediately thought "all **** who the hell shot me" :LOL: I pulled over to check my self but by that time the wind was coming in through the sunroof.
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It REALLY sounds like a close up gunshot. The percussion is heavy! BOOM!!! Training kicked in and I was sure I'd been shot at. Lol. Downtown Birmingham AL late at night is kind of seedy.
 
Got my truck back on Friday. I noticed the replacement sunroof glass bows right in the middle and does not sit flush with the other half of the sunroof glass. I asked the dealer and they told me it was normal. It has been raining over the weekend and no water leakage problems.
 

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JLUR_ said:
This thread inspired me to ask my agent about adding glass coverage to my policy. Apparently state farm doesn't offer this and instead covers it under comprehensive coverage. I have a pretty high deductable though so I think I'm going to shop around to find someone that will write a separate policy just for the windshield and sunroof. I don't want to have to go out of pocket 2 to 3 times a year for windshields before insurance kicks in.
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What state? I'm from Indiana, but stationed in Texas. The rules are different per each state. Anyways, I cracked my windshield and it was a free replacement. They stated that things like windshow cracks etc are "Acts of god" and require no deductable.

Mine was replaced for free. No hassle.
 
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TxsRam said:
Dealer is declining this is a warranty issue. The reason that was given to me, it "probably" got hit by something:unsure:. Probably my ***(n)(n) . But they did take time to reorder a replacement without my authorization :mad:. I really dont want take my truck to another dealer given that it started to rain since last night.
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Exact thing happened to my two weeks ago, new RAM 1500 Limited, 1200 miles, BOOM, back portion of pano exploded. Dealer said warranty wouldn’t cover, $2200 to fix.
 
Insurance covered mine buy I had to pay $500 deductible as sunroof didn’t fall under glass breakage, it was under comprehensive. Mine was so expensive because they replaced the entire sunroof and not just the glass in the back portion.
 
Longhorn5G said:
Haha, no... i think we were both more in shock than anything. It was also within 15 minutes of some tornados hitting ground around the area there, and right at the last bit of daylight when the remaining sunlightnfeom beyond the horizon took away the remaining light. It was a weird day and time.
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........Could it have been airborne debris from nearby tornadoes? I know if you use a weed eater string trimmer near tempered glass and there is grit/sand/tiny rocks in the path of line it is like instant explosion of the tempered glass. You can hit it with a wood 2x4 and it usually won't break but the tiniest pierce to surface will shatter it. Just a thought as you said weather was crazy. Also pea gravel on snowy/icy roads gets thrown up by tires.
 
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