sunroof shattered

This happened to me too! Same vehicle. Found out that my shotgun had fallen off the rear seat and discharged through the sunroof. Check for shell casings on the floor.

Same thing happened to us, our Landcruiser 200 series 2010 model was being driven down our freeway at 100km/hr and shattered but was still intact. It had actually broken up. We thought we might have hit something but there was no other cars in the vicinity, no overpasses, and nothing in the rear view mirror. We are copping the same crap from the dealer that it not covered under warranty because they said we hit something, but how can you hit something (no evidence ) and still break upwards? We are in the process of taking it further but talkiing to Toyota is like talking to a brick wall! We will keep you posted on how we go!

I'm on the same hook for my Avalon Sunroof blowing out doing 120Km - except i didn't have my moonroof shut. I got covered in glass and it's going to come out of my pocket. It may have been a rock kicked up? I have heard that his is a big issue with BMW - sunroofs just blowing out because of engine frequency or speed/airpressure...

My co-worker had this happened while driving ona TX highway on a new highlander. Sunrook blew out with a sound of a gunshot.... luckily she did not get hurt and Toyota replaced it under warranty.... it was a new car. I can think of a couple of reasons.... improper installation... or something to do with difference in inside and outside pressure.... but I am no expert...

I have just experienced the same on my Toyota Sequoia 2012 Limited Top Model. I got the delivery of this new car on 8th April 2012 and on 28th April 2012 when I was getting into the car my wife spotted that there was something jutting out on top of the roof of the car. When I climbed up to take a look I saw the Sun Roof had exploded. The Glass in the middle has shattered and fallen on the Roof Tray while the remain glass shows it is upwards slightly which is very unlikely if it was hit and smashed by an object. I did not find any object particles nor glass powder nor any dent or scratch on the surface of the car all over nor on the roof nor on the bonnet and the metal lining that holds the glass also was not bent downwards. Should the glass been hit by an object the glass would have shattered downwards and there would be glass powder as well as some particles of the object hitting the glass and the lining holding the glass would have got bent downwards. But I found none of these which proves that the sun roof had exploded due to a faulty glass. The dealer Al Futtaim motors in Dubai, UAE's warranty department says that it was hit by an object and hence the shatter so they cannot replace the glass under the warranty. They are not allowing me to speak with the real Toyota Motors' quality department in the UAE. I am awaiting the technical report which they have promised to send today. Any tips on how to deal with these goons and Toyota Motors?

We ended up getting the sunroof replaced free of charge under warranty from Toyota. We threatened legal action and also told them that we were going to sign write the car as a lemon etc and leave it outside the dealership. They eventually relented and replaced it but it took some time for them to fix it properly (they had a few goes at it and it cost them new rails,new headlining and paint repairs) Still got no answer from them on how it happened, I think they we happy to get rid of us in the end, but we shouldn't have needed to get feral on them.

The last update was the Sale Manager who sold me the car happened to tell a friend of mine that apparently someone has sent their service centre an email in reference to my car that someone had smashed an object deliberately into the sun roof and he/she was witness to the incident. When I questioned the sale's guy he admitted about the email and so I told him then I have to initiate a criminal investigation as now it is a threat to property and our lives and I want them to forward the original email to me for the investigation. So he tells me that please don't quote me as this is internal information and that he should be speaking about it to me. I told him I am going to drag them to court on this issue and I am going to put this up on Facebook. So in principle Anarhky, you are telling me that I should be adamant and hard with them. I am gonna harden my stand with them and get this sorted out.

Infact now with this new twist of someone witnessing someone break the sun roof of my car they are trying to cover up the sub-standard quality sunroof glass issue and to protect the goodwill of Al Futtaim Group and of Toyota Motors.

Same thing happened to me, I was going towards Banff, just when I entered the mountains about 20km from Canmore and I heard a lound gunshot sound. It broke outward as if it was punched from the inside. It was on my 2010 Toyota Tundra Crewcab. I spoke with Crystal Glass and they say it is very common for sunroofs to suddenly break.

Good luck to you in your pursuit with Toyota. My insurance company would not cover me, insiting the sunroof must have been hit by an object, although I told them there was no other car within half a mile of me to throw up a stone (they doubted my testimony, therefore called me a liar). Charlesglen Toyota in Calgary told me two years ago they had no knowledge of sunroofs suddenly exploding, so there was no warranty coverage. Repair cost me $1,500. It recently happened to a friend of mine too. Hope it doesn't happen to me again. Often I now drive with the cover closed, especially in extrem cold weather conditions.

Happened to me on my 2012 RAV4 Sport. LOUD pop and extremely startling. No idea what happened. It was evening and we thought we ran over something. We pulled over to inspect and found nothing. Not until we got home and in the garage did we discover what happened. The hole looks like it was blown upward. We didn't have the sunroof shade open (Thank God!) so we didn't notice to look there when it happened. Going to take it back to the dealer and hopefully this will be a quick warranty fix. I hope I don't have any issues with Toyota taking responsibility.

We had the same thing happen to us on our 2010 Toyota Tundra Crew Max and the photo of the sunroof looks very similar to that posted by Lostrand9 about 9 months prior to this report. Our situation was driving down highway 93 just approaching Castle Mountain junction on our way back to Calgary, driving at about 90 km per hour, -10 deg C, clear skies, no wind in mid-afternoon. Out of nowhere, kaboom! Sun roof exploded upward. Good thing we had the inside cover closed. Hole is rectangular in shape and about 10 1/2 inches long by around 5 1/4 inches wide close to dead center in the glass. Looking at options and assessing things before I proceed. I had Charlesglen Toyota witness the damage and the photos I took at the time to confirm the glass exploded outward. In my opinion this is probably a design and/or faulty glass problem. There are too many of these incidents reported. And Toyota is not the only company with this problem.

When you go for quotes be careful of any quotes below $1,000. The first auto body shop charged me $900, and said it is a quick and easy fix (1 hour), but they did not remove the roof and clean out the broken glass. The next time I used the sunroof it got stuck. It cost me another $500 for them to clean out the glass from inside the roof and tracks.

This just happened to my 08 sienna last week. I didn't know what happened. Does anyone know where I can get a good price on the part, as well as a manual or video on how to replace it? I really don't want to spend $1000 on this car with 120K miles on it. I thought I would try to fix it myself. Thanks

Steve, Take the car to the agency get an assessment of the parts required. Ask them to quote you for the parts and labor without letting them know your intentions. Then you can take the part nos quoted of the full kit and order it via ebay. Based on the car model you can lookup youtube on how to replace the Sunroof Assemble. However let me caution you that if the sunroof assembly is not fitted perfectly it will crash again due to heat or contraction in winter or while using it. It is worth buying the parts on the internet but getting it fixed by an experience sunroof professional. All the best - Ramesh

Btw, just to inform members then back in 2012, I had taken the Agency to the Consumer Court which is crap here. I say this because the Consumer Court guy came to the Agency. I was called. When I arrived he was sitting in the Agency directors cabin and having breakfast with coffee. He then looked at the sunroof and simply declared that it was not Toyota's fault. I questioned him whether he is an engineer and he wasn't. So asked him then how can he decide on technical stuff like this. I told that I want a competent authority to certify that this crash was not due to a faulty sunroof system. He simply told me that he will give a clean chit to the Agency and to Toyota on this case and I am free to do whatever I want. So these guys are hand-in-glove. I was adamant with the Agency and with Toyota that I was a 3rd party to certify the case. The Agency said they will only consider the Local Police as certified 3rd party to certify the case. Unfortunately they could not get the appointment from them for as long as 4 weeks. I was fed up as it was 3 months then So I agreed to the Insurance cover as I had comprehensive insurance but I had to pay an Access Charge of $136/- because the insurance takes it as the 2nd party is not known to recover from. Incidentally, they replaced only the Glass and told me that I should not operate it as the Motor, the Pistons attached to the moving arms and the linings etc had all to be replaced because they are damaged and there I caught them. I requested them to first put me an email as to what parts have to be changed and why? Then I final fought with them and told them I an initiating a Court proceeding against them, because how did the motor and the piston get spoiled when I had never operated the sunroof before or after the crash. They had no answer. I also got 2 reports from 2 different OEM Sunroof Manufacturers and they said that the crash was due to a faulty Sunroof Assembly fitting and because it was summer and the car was closed from all sides the air expanded due to heat build up inside the car and the sunroof blasted. It could have also happened that the glass got heated in the 50deg temperature then and A/c water from above may have fallen and the glass cracked giving way to the inside pressure to get released with force and hence the upward protrusion of the glass. They finally agreed to change the whole sunroof kit without claiming the insurance and I insisted on an apology letter from them certifying within it that the vehicle is safe to drive. They told me that they will not process the insurance. But when I went to renew the insurance, I was told by RSA that I cannot get the no claims discount because I have a claim on the car and when I asked them for details I was told it is the sunroof case. I then forwarded to the insurance all the communications I have had with the Agency and Toyota and also sent them a scanned copy of the apology letter stating that the sunroof assembly kit was replaced free of charge under warranty, insurance will not be claimed and that the car is safe to drive. I then got the no claims discount for the same. Hence if you had a claim cancelled please ensure to check with your insurance company that such claim has been cancelled else you will end up paying a higher premium at the time of insurance renewal. Anyways. All is well tat ends well. The car has been doing well since then. Gods grace and I pray it stays that way always with me and all our members in here. Cheers! Ramesh

the same happened to me om the bad car sequoia 2013 suddenly while driving at 80 km/h

please send me any info as to toyotas knowledge of this problem. i have had no roof for a month now and my truck is getting very dirty. my estimate is over 3600 to repair the glass and track system. thanks

You need to ascertain as to why the sunroof broke. If it is not any outside object then in all possibility the sunroof assembly was not fitted properly. if that is a case and you can prove it you have a case and you can take them to court. not otherwise. In any case if you are fighting it out then be patient as it will take anything between 2 months to 6months to sort it out. be adamant and become active about the problem on social media. it is the best way to name and shame them else they will take u for a ride.

Same thing just happened to me on my 2017 Corolla. Contacted Toyota about it, but only got back a generic email response informing me that the warranty does not cover glass.