I was driving it sounded like a bomb went off. No cars around no debris or foreign objects as far as I could tell. It was very loud and the glass shattered and went everywhere . Has this happened to anybody else?
i contact GM and they said they would investigate
10 days later, they called and said that after there investigation of my pictures
there is nothing they can do for me
so beware of there sunroofs
i talk to a technician at Safelite and he said that he has seen this before
and the glass is poorly made
that is why it had exploded in a million pieces
and cut my body all up

 

Apparently, exploding sunroofs are a thing.....

Did the sunroof have any aftermarket tint on it? I've heard that dark tint can cause a sunroof to shatter.

 

It is just factory tinted
GM is not taking responsibility
that video makes a lot of sense

 

This happened to the rear window on our 2005 Yukon just sitting parked in our garage about 4 weeks ago


Fortunately, had full glass coverage on this vehicle, so no cost to us. Installer said it happens periodically.

The garage door was up, and it was ruined, getting that replaced next Saturday.

 

Holy ****, it's Audi sudden acceleration all over again!

Ok, let's clarify some things here....

First of all, tempered glass shatters into tiny fragments. That's what it's supposed to do. Any glass in your vehicle will do that. The only reason the windshield doesn't explode is because there is a plastic film sandwiched between the two panes of glass, which retains the glass and prevents it from disintegrating.

Secondly, it takes a surprisingly small fragment/rock to shatter the glass. Don't believe me? Just Google "ninja rocks." Thieves smash spark plugs with hammers or vises, and use the tiny fragments of ceramic to shatter windows for smash and grabs.

Of course GM, or any other manufacturer, is not going to stand behind this. It's tempered glass. You're driving 70+ MPH down the highway. Or for the poster who lost their hatch glass, again, all it takes is a tiny sharp pebble.

 

That's an interesting video, however this topic is about sunroofs, not side windows, and I don't expect a hail of spark plug pieces broad siding my sunroof when I'm driving down the highway.

This is simply cost cutting by the manufacturer. Because of the way cars are shaped, and the trajectories, the side windows are not subject to much impact from road debris. The probability is very low. However, when I see flying objects on the highway, whether they fall off of other vehicles, or they're kicked up by tires, they follow a parabolic path up, and then back down onto oncoming vehicles, hitting the hood, windshield and roof. Sunroofs NEED to be able to take a pelting from normal road debris. IMO, they should get the same manufacturing process as a windshield. If all it takes is a small pebble as you say, then they are too fragile. Having it explode like that during normal driving is unacceptable and unsafe because it can cause an accidents and deaths.

 

Got it: a pebble previously lodged in my opened garage door happened to fall 2 feet onto that closed rear window, and broke it. Right !!!

 

Yes, and the absolute RASH of exploding sunroofs proves your point. It's happening hundreds of times a day and people are getting into accidents and dying because of this. Oh, wait, there are few than a thousand reports since 2011. Out of millions of cars sold.

I simply used that video to illustrate that it doesn't take much to shatter tempered glass. Tempered glass is required by FMVSS (federal government regulations), and there's only so much you can do to strengthen it.

You admit the garage door was up, so frankly you have no idea what could have happened. What's more likely - a vandal, or even some kid with a bb gun or a rock, or that the glass decided to spontaneously explode for no apparent reason?

 

Rural property in the country. Garage door was open 10 minutes. No vandal. No bb. No rock. Rear window was down.

If my visiting daughter or Mrs. Cusser had even touched the window, would've heard it explode or been hurt when it exploded. I think they would've noticed !!! This CAN "just happen", people !!!

 

Too bad they are not laminated like a windshield