Exploding Rx350 Sunroof

[hemimom]

Yesterday 11/12/2011, we were driving along an interstate at 65 mph in 55 degree weather when our RX350 sunroof suddenly exploded.

We were in a fairly rural area of the highway and at first thought we had been hit by a shotgun blast. There were no other cars nearby

and we were not under any bridges.

We immediately pulled the sun shield because although the roof was still together, tiny crumbs of glass were falling all over us.

When we stopped the car, we realized that the roof was not pushed in as if something fell on it, but bowed out from internal pressure.

We arrived home and realized the enter roof was shattered into tiny crumbs with a small hole blown in the middle. We had to take the

car a couple of miles yet and by the time we got back the second time, the cracks had lifted and a 4x6 inch hole had appeared.

We called Lexus and had it towed to the dealership immediately. Wonder if anyone else has had this problem. Bringing loaner tomorrow

will wait and see about the bill -- car is still under warranty.

Also what do people do about the inconvenient lack of ports in the front seating area of the car. You have to remove the console box to switch or add

any devices. Highly inconvenient -- will definitely prevent us from having another RX if they don't fix this problem.

[SW03ES]

Wow...I have never heard of such a thing happening.

My guess is the laminated moonroof glass had some sort of flaw in it that allowed that to happen. Lexus should cover that...

Let us know how it goes...and welcome to the site!

[pj8708]

Yesterday 11/12/2011, we were driving along an interstate at 65 mph in 55 degree weather when our RX350 sunroof suddenly exploded.

We were in a fairly rural area of the highway and at first thought we had been hit by a shotgun blast. There were no other cars nearby

and we were not under any bridges.

We immediately pulled the sun shield because although the roof was still together, tiny crumbs of glass were falling all over us.

When we stopped the car, we realized that the roof was not pushed in as if something fell on it, but bowed out from internal pressure.

We arrived home and realized the enter roof was shattered into tiny crumbs with a small hole blown in the middle. We had to take the

car a couple of miles yet and by the time we got back the second time, the cracks had lifted and a 4x6 inch hole had appeared.

We called Lexus and had it towed to the dealership immediately. Wonder if anyone else has had this problem. Bringing loaner tomorrow

will wait and see about the bill -- car is still under warranty.

Also what do people do about the inconvenient lack of ports in the front seating area of the car. You have to remove the console box to switch or add

any devices. Highly inconvenient -- will definitely prevent us from having another RX if they don't fix this problem.

It sounds like you were incredibly lucky not to have been injured in some way. Did the whole section of moon roof glass blow off all at once or did it shatter into pieces and break away?

Please let us know what you find out as you have this issue examined further and how it is resolved!!

Paul

[ArmyofOne]

Were ANY other windows down in the car? even cracked? If so, uneven pressure combined with a flaw in the glass was probably the cause. I am referring to the helicopter effect (the noise you hear in some cars when windows are only cracked and not all the way open) and it can cause glass failure if the glass has impurities or is flawed.

[hemimom]

Update:

Lexus agreed that the sun roof had not been hit and had shattered spontaneously from within -- new part ordered,

loaner car delivered, warranty repair completed - and car picked up today.

[pj8708]

Update:

Lexus agreed that the sun roof had not been hit and had shattered spontaneously from within -- new part ordered,

loaner car delivered, warranty repair completed - and car picked up today.

Glad it has worked out. Any explanation as to why it shattered?

Thanks.

[RX in NC]

Back during the daily July highs near or over 100 degrees, our tempered glass circular patio tabletop exploded on our back deck. I was in the house but heard the explosion. Like you, I thought it was a shotgun blast until I walked outside onto the back deck and saw the mess. I'm still finding tiny granules of shattered glass in the rose beds underneath and adjacent to the deck. This glass tabletop was right at six years old, and there's no question that days and days of exposure to high heat caused it to blow. I found a matching circular glass top online, ordered it, installed it, and we've been back to normal ever since. Maybe the new one will blow up in another five years or so....

[chhharon]

This same problem occurred to me to the 2008 RX 350 model recently but the dealership did not pay for our repairs. The inspection alone costed were approximate $2000 if we wanted to prove that nothing had hit the sunroof for it to crack. This was pretty outrageous since nothing had hit the sunroof yet it randomly shattered. Since our car was not under warranty, the dealership did not give a full inspection unless we paid for it and strongly believed that some had hit the roof when it didn't. I think Lexus should really look into this problem if its occurring to other customers as well.

[JR Byrd]

08/22/12 I was driving down the interstate and my moonroof exploded outward from the car. There were no cars around and no over pass around. By the sound it created I actually thought I had blown a tire possibly. I contacted the dealership in Dallas where I purchased the car and she told me it had to have been a rock and I just didn't know it had ever hit me. She really upset me and I let her know this. This car is two months old, and if indeed something had hit my car it would've hit my hood or the windshield, not my moonroof driving down the interstate. I'm not an idiot and I want answers to why this happened, and by checking this website I see that I am not the only Lexus customer that this has happened to. As you can see in these pictures, the glass has blown outwards from the car. It didn't crater inward as if something had hit it or been dropped down on it. If anyone knows how I can escalate with safety committees please let me know.

Thank you,

JR Byrd

Well I tried uploading but wouldn't attach from my iPad.

[Ms. Killer]

Last week i was driving my Lexus ES 330 on highway when sunroof suddenly exploded. The sound was really loud as if a bomb got into the roof. All the glass broke into tiny pieces and the center part was out (the sun roof looked like erupted volcano). I went to my dealership in MI and the service consultant said that it was rock. But i'm 100% positive that there were no rock falling or whatsoever. The other dealership made the conclusion that that might happen but to know for sure the need ALL PIECES OF BROKEN GLASS. Could you imagine someone gathering tiny pieces of shattered glass on highway? So Lexus didn't pay the cost of repair. I'm really disappointed.

[Tina C]

Today (March 28, 2022) the roof of my Lexus ES 350 shattered upward for no reason. I had no idea this was a common problem until I Googled it afterwards. WHY ISN'T LEXUS doing anything about this? They told me to file a claim with my insurance company. 

[RX400h]

Just curious but was the AC blasting cold air upward while the outside temp was fairly high? 
There is a large difference between the coefficient of thermal expansion of the steel roof and the glass. Rubber gasketing should allow for movement of hot steel and glass but if the glass were stressed enough, even a tiny crack or glass imperfection in it could propagate and cause an explosion.

See:

Exploding Sunroofs: Danger Overhead - Consumer Reports