Hi

i went out to my car this afternoon, and noticed the panoramic sunroof on my fiesta has exploded, lots of pieces around the car. Upon checking google, it seems it can happen to cars with panoramic sunroof which I wasn’t aware about. Randomly shattering. Wondering if anyone else has had experience with this and does the manufacturer cover it.

 

best regards

gordon

i am guessing that the manufacturer will say it must have been due to an external cause eg. something hitting it and hence not down to them, even it is was adfect. 

so does insurance cover it? not read many policies lately, I know that some I read in the past excluded sunroofs from the glass cover. This meant that sunroof was covered but it fell under the main accidental damage to vehicle cover - so it affects the no claims discount (whereas glass cover claims usually do not).

So unfortunately potentially not a good situation

 

Not 100% sure but I thought glass replacement does normally affect your no claims bonus, rather than a repair, would normally wouldn't.  I could be wrong through.

If it's subject to the normal 'accidental damage' excess that would be a big pain though.

I have the panasonic roof so I'll just add it to the growing list of mild worries I have about owning the car long-term.

@Gordon Truong  -  Really sorry that has happened and thanks for posting about it m8.

Normally if your policy includes "glass cover" your NCD will not be affected. Certainly had a few screens replaced in my time with no effect on NCD, only cost was any excess payable under the policy.

 

 

 

Not all insurers have same rules but vast majority is no effect on Ncd for glass . Typical Xs for replacement is 75 and for repair is 10-15. Repair often had nil Xs in past but seems to be changing.   As said above sunroofs not always in glass cover so main ad cover rules apply re Xs and ncd.

Just an update on this

so admiral insurance covers sunroof as part of the glass cover policy. So currently auto glass is ordering the part in from ford to be installed and replaced.

isetta was spot on with the ford dealers, denying defect and said must have been caused by an external force. Something I can’t prove, apart from the pictures show that the sunroof in the middle is all intact, but it outer rim of the sunroof exploded.

interestingly enough, there’s currently an ongoing class action against ford in the states, for guess what?! Exploding sunroof! There’s definitely a defect in the design to have caused so many to explode. Doesn’t seem like it’s such a rare occurrence. 

Glad to see your insurance covers the situation.

I recall when glass sunroofs first became very popular - and Fords were among the early adopters - shattering sunroofs seemed quite common. We had a spate of them at work in the 80's/early 90's with no obvious cause but not heard much about it happening since.

6 hours ago, Gordon Truong said:

Just an update on this

so admiral insurance covers sunroof as part of the glass cover policy. So currently auto glass is ordering the part in from ford to be installed and replaced.

isetta was spot on with the ford dealers, denying defect and said must have been caused by an external force. Something I can’t prove, apart from the pictures show that the sunroof in the middle is all intact, but it outer rim of the sunroof exploded.

interestingly enough, there’s currently an ongoing class action against ford in the states, for guess what?! Exploding sunroof! There’s definitely a defect in the design to have caused so many to explode. Doesn’t seem like it’s such a rare occurrence. 

Glad to hear getting sorted., not good for people who have them , would be a worry wondering if its gonna explode.

Totally different scenario, but similar outcome. In my trade (double glazing) we occasionally have toughened glass explode for no apparent reason. On investigation it was determined that miniscule fragments of metal can find it's way into the glass mix (for want of a better word). This metal can expand and contract due to heat conditions, causing the glass to explode. Just thought i'd put it out there as a possible cause.

Reading this makes you want to never have a glass roof!

I mean jesus imagine blasting down the motorway and it explodes/shatters to bits above your head!! Recipe for a serious crash.

13 minutes ago, Ian Lanc said:

Reading this makes you want to never have a glass roof!

I mean jesus imagine blasting down the motorway and it explodes/shatters to bits above your head!! Recipe for a serious crash.

Makes me certainly think now about glass roofs , although more and more cars having them now,  i just think hmmm will it or could it shatter !

I would certainly steer clear of them. a few years ago my wife was thinking about a citroen c3.  in the end she decided she didn't like them afterall. I was very un-keen due to the rather large/high windscreen on them.  30% bigger windscreen, 30% more likely to break it.   

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201909302765025?year-from=2010&onesearchad=Used&onesearchad=Nearly New&onesearchad=New&price-to=11000&make=CITROEN&sort=relevance&advertising-location=at_cars&postcode=rh11pr&radius=200&year-to=2012&model=C3&page=2

 

I didn't realise panoramic rooves weren't laminated!  That is a bit worrying.  It's not uncommon to have stones hit the roof on the motorway, or acorns and branches hit the roof on the back roads.  

I have seen a few rear screens explode without warning but at least they aren't right above your head!  I've also dropped a side window (major fail) which shattered into literally billions of pieces!  

think what it was like on early 1970s and earlier cars. they did not have laminated screens. stone hit screen, it crazed all over so you couldn't see, . Seems crazy. I remember my grandfather had one go on his Renault 5. some had Triplex Zebrazone glass where it left some stripes for you to see through - just about.

see here and scroll down for pic of broken windscreen on a mini (zebrazone)

https://classicroverforum.net/index.php?threads/is-a-triplex-zebrazone-toughened-screen-laminated.41313/

 

Hi Gordon

On Sunday 18th October 2020 my wife was driving her Ford Fiesta vignale, and had just come off the M25 motorway when the Paneramic roof to her vehicle exploded. We have contacted the dealership who without seeing the vehicle are dismissing the event saying that it must have been caused by a stone, which we strongly do not believe to be the case. The glass to the rear and sides disintegrated leaving the middle of the roof intact. 
I believe our damage may be consistent with the damage you described to your vehicle.

Kind Regards

Bob Chamberlain

My wife's car has a glass roof so I'll be checking her insurance.   I'm amazed that they aren't laminated.

I know this is an old post, but we had something similar happen on our 2020 Kuga.

Cruising down a busy A1 (@ 50mph) with kids (5yo & 3mo) in the back. Loud bang & glass came raining down. 

Had to drive it home as recovery (Greenflag) said car is still driveable. Now waiting nearly 3 weeks before Autoglass can do the replacement.

Sent Ford Customer Relations a wee message with pictures to see what they say about it all.

Perhaps extremes of temperature are affecting them, given the current weather in most areas in the UK?

On 7/22/2021 at 10:21 AM, BlueMike2021 said:

Perhaps extremes of temperature are affecting them, given the current weather in most areas in the UK?

My other car is a BMW X1 21 plate.   In the recent really hot weather the driver's side rear quarter light window suddenly crazed and, as the car was on the drive at the time, the heat is the only reason I can think of for this occurring.

This is the window that went.

I remember when I was working in Romania a few years back, it gets very hot there and the guy who was ferrying me around had a crack across his windscreen, and I later notice many others did too, this apparently caused by the extreme heat with the glass not expanding at the same rate as its surroundings. Most of the car radios didn't work either...damaged by the heat.

 

You could have fried an egg on my panoramic sunroof this week, got Direct line to check, and I'm covered according to the underwriters.

13 hours ago, Chainsawcharlie said:

You could have fried an egg on my panoramic sunroof this week, got Direct line to check, and I'm covered according to the underwriters.

It was the same with BMW.   It was too hot to touch.

15 hours ago, Chainsawcharlie said:

You could have fried an egg on my panoramic sunroof this week, got Direct line to check, and I'm covered according to the underwriters.

And then you could imagine someone washing their car with cold water.....

41 minutes ago, Tiexen said:

And then you could imagine someone washing their car with cold water.....

Oh yes, recipe for disaster 🙂

According to Autoglass it must've been a stone that caused the roof to shatter.
 

All sorted now and my pocket is only £75 lighter, so all good.
 

But yeah, odd that it's tempered glass rather than laminated.