Panoramic Sunroof Explosion
 

Did anyone experience the same sunroof explosion for Acura RDX model 2019. I was driving on a highway and sudden explosive noise scared the shit out of me. Is this really safety issue? what are best possibilities here? Could i ask the dealer? since its been only three weeks i got my car



https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/acurazi...e9f4c2e82.jpeg

Oh my goodness that looks terrifying and thank God you had the sunroof blind closed! Exploding sunroofs are not common but actually do sometimes occur in vehicles with a panoramic sunroof. I've heard of it happening on numerous vehicles.

As per your dealer, it doesn't hurt to try. It might be a manufacturing defect, but they might try and say it was a rock on the highway or something. Always tricky when it comes to broken glass.

Wow!

So glad you didn't crash.

I'd head to the dealership right away, that's got loaner written all over it until it gets replaced.

That wouldn't be an insurance claim would it? Isn't that the actual vehicle? Is it considered 'act of god'?

For it to shatter like that, something fell on it! wow.

Not necessarily. Both VW and BMW have fixed these under warranty and there was no evidence of an impact.

There was some other member who had this happen to him

It doesn't appear as if all the bits are there, so it may have been blown outward rather than inward.

I'd file this as a warranty claim.

Great observation, ceb!

It also looks as if the glass is bowed outward (especially on the passenger side). Just like here and here

Bring the attached link to the dealer and go from there. If the dealer says "NO" then open a case with Acura.

I've seen this issue appear on a few forums. I remember one on a Lexus RX350 a couple years ago, where Lexus refused to cover it, claiming it was struck by a rock. The owner's insurance ended up covering it.

Good luck and let us know what Acura says.

I saw in our area a 2019 BMW X5 had this issue. It was during the 1st week of ownership. The owner complained and BMW did not want ot replace it but eventually did. Its gotta be hard to determine why it happened as the glass is shattered.

HO
LEE
SHIT

Damn lucky you had the shade closed. I tend to leave it open except when the car is parked in the Sun to keep it cooler.

Not necessarily an impact at all. It's rare but not unheard of for SUV rear windows to explode, usually from body flex and stress. But I would think the glazing for the moon roof would have a lot of relief designed into it. It's a big piece of glass and it needs to expand and contract.

And is that not double layer safety glass?

This has been happening "often." Acura needs to thicken the glass or something. The RDX is too flexible. Just look at the slow motion crash tests. The thing wiggles like jello.

There's been reports of this happening on the Hyundai Tucson forum as well. :thumbsdown:

All cars do this

Had this exact situation happen on my 2017.5 Nissan Murano. Got rid of the car after It was fixed and bought the RDX. Mine was the 86th incident of this happening and it scared the hell out of me! The glass is too thin and the fit in the roof is really tight. Auto makers need to find a solution to this before it kills someone.

It’s been happening to Nissan also. I am incident number 86 with them. Happened to my 2017.5 Murano after barely one year of ownership while driving to work. It’s the reason why I got rid of the car and bought the RDX.

this car is probably the stiffest in acura's line-up besides the NSX....

Can you merge the two identical threads?

Yeah, they claim to use additional adhesives and compounds throughout the structure to stiffen and quiet the car. Probably will be done in other future generation models.

A big honking beam runs through the cargo area to stiffen the chassis torsionally. It's why the "under-floor" storage is divided. The beam is removable ( bolted in ) to allow removal of the headliner without folding the thing.

Despite the big honking sunroof, this vehicle is NOT a noodle. The excellent torsional stiffness allowed the designers to dial in the suspension, resulting in darn good handling for an "SUV".

Dunno why the glass failed, but if it was while driving straight ahead on the highway it's likely the glass was previously compromised and a sudden pressure change ( passing truck? ) put it over the edge.

Having said that, the glass is thin, and I have had sunroof glass fail after relatively minor impacts. And when it fails, it FAILS!

Yeah, I guess it just looks more wobby to me. Look at this vs a CRV. I don't know much about car frames. Hell, maybe the opposite is the problem- It's so stiff, all the driving vibrations make it up to the roof. I don't know. Just know I've seen more reports about this than I'd like to see.

Here's a somewhat manic youtube video on the structure of 2019 RDX, and specifically features that were designed to mitigate overall dynamic effects of the panoramic sunroof ( or more accurately, the big hole the thing sits in ).

Badass and pathetic at the same time! :D

I have never used the sunroof in my car. If there was an option to delete the sunroof, I would have gotten that.

Exploding sunroofs are all too common.
https://www.google.com/search?tbm=is...30.OtIG9358F4k

I would report the incident to the NHTSA. Takes just a few min.
https://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/VehicleComplaint/
You can also search the database for other user's complaints. Here's one for an exploding sunroof (is the OP's?).

https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/acurazi...267acee997.png

BTW, definitely take it to the dealer. They might replace it as goodwill. But most likely it will have to be a comprehensive insurance claim.

I can't believe it's not double layer safety glass, and rather thin. I know it would add some weight but if it does break, at least it would stay put rather than reign down shards of razor sharp glass ito your eyes.

Why would there be any doubt that the dealer would fix this under warranty? If this happened to me and the dealer refused to fix it, I'd be throwing the mother of all hissy fits.

Because, past experience dictates it's hit-or-miss. Also, "Hissy Fits" are not usually received with compassion and they make you look silly. :)

The RDX clip is a sim, not an actual crash test ;-)

Not sure what body rigidly has to do with sun roof glass strength which apparently is lacking. OP, any update on what the dealer said?

I think the assumption is that inappropriate forces are being applied to the glass from a flexing body structure. But I'm not sold on the idea.

Tempered glass "stores" forces and then releases them, like tectonic plates with an earthquake. If the glass is subjected to a stress, such as a hail strike for instance, it may not shatter right away. In fact, tempered glass is "loaded" to shatter during manufacture. That's why, if it breaks, it explodes into hundreds of little pieces rather than big lethal shards.

As an example, my daughter used to have a computer on a tempered glass desk in her room. When we had some HVAC work done in her room, a workman decided to step on the desk to reach a duct. Weeks later I heard a blood-curdling scream from her room, and when I bolted in there in a panic I saw her iMac propped askew in the frame of the desk and little pieces of tempered glass scattered all over the room. The inappropriate force had "loaded" the glass, and it let loose later under the constant weight of the computer. Fortunately, my daughter was unharmed. But she won't be buying tempered glass furniture anytime soon.

This is not uncommon from virtually every manufacturer. There are too many variables and it is virtually impossible for any many manufacturer to account for all of them - temperature, rigidity, road surface, sun, rain and everything else you can think of come into play.

As long as these stay isolated events, then they will remain accidents caused by who knows what. If they turn into a pattern, then Acura needs to take a very close look at the design and materials used.

In most cases, from what I have read and heard from folks that have had this happen, these are not covered under warranty but I would give it my best shot regardless.

Years ago, I was visiting a friend one evening and while we were sitting on his upstairs balcony with my 2007 Ridgeline in full view on his driveway, the rear window spontaneously exploded. Both the bed and cabin were full of glass and there was no one else around. Despite no evidence of an external cause and the dealer asking Honda to cover it under warranty, they wouldn't. The burden was on my insurance company. Honda wouldn't even reimburse me for my $50 deductible or respond to my letters or phone calls.

Can you give us an update about this. did you talk to your dealer, etc.??

It looks like another post an dash(er). :dunno: The OP hasn't been back on the forum since the original 2 duplicate posts.

yup kind wondering whats really going on..

Also many years ago, my friend broke his brand new Chevy Tahoe rear hatch window, when he was helping someone move to an apartment and they loaded too many items on the back and the corner of a coffee table was sticking just a couple of inches too far out, so when he closed the hatch, the window shattered. He went back to the dealer of purchase and told them that it just kind of exploded out of the blue. The dealer told him that yeah, we have seen this before and replaced the glass under warranty.

Very disappointing to read...that is stealing and being openly dishonest just to save a few bucks on a stupid mistake. That's a big problem today...no one wants to own up to being stupid and wants everyone else to foot the bill. Sounds like a familiar government party vying to get back into power by promising people free $hit:what: