heshamos

How much did it cost for parts and installation if you don't mind sharing the info?

RX in NC

As I previously stated in post no. 6 and post no. 11 above, the new sunroof glass repair cost me nothing. I have full $0 deductible comprehensive coverage on all four of our vehicles so my insurance company covered the cost of this repair in full.

If I had chosen to pay the auto glass company out-of-pocket for the repair, it would have been $1,600.

If I had chosen to pay the local Lexus dealership out-of-pocket for the repair (not a chance in hell), it would have been nearly $3,000.

SilverRX30

Curious.....did u get OEM glass or insurance approved glass?

Lexus glass is expensive!

RX in NC

Your question is explained in post no. 15.

RX in NC

Update:

Finally heard back from the two Los Angeles law firms that have been handling the class-action lawsuit against Toyota/Lexus since 2016. While certainly sympathetic to our plight and fully agreeing with me that it fits their client profile in this case, neither firm is accepting any new plaintiffs into the case. They both advised me to seek local counsel to handle our case. I will indeed investigate that option but I will not be spending thousands of dollars out of my own pocket to chase this issue all by myself - the merits of risk vs. reward must be taken into consideration first.

edubs77

Yikes, hope she is ok

RX in NC

Thanks for the kind words. She is doing fine, but she wonders when her newly-replaced sunroof glass panel will decide to explode all over her a second time. It is the exact same lousy sourced-from-Lexus Chinese-made glass....

Non

Maybe install aftermarket tint film on the sunroof glass? I think plastic film would keep the glass pieces from falling on people's heads.

kgbagent1

That is bizarre. I always thought class action lawyers wanted as many plaintiffs as possible, hence all the medical TV commercials.

I know the 4th gen 4Runners had an issue with exploding rear windows but that was generally attributed to a defective rear defroster.

Clutchless

Once the class is certified, after a certain time it closes to new members per court order to limit the case so it can proceed in a timely manner. They just cannot add more plaintiffs forever. Most big class-action lawsuits only result in the lawyers making lots of money. The plaintiffs usually get a very small reward and often it is a discount on a future service or purchase from the defendant company. Not cash.
Also those Mesothelioma TV adds exist because there is a huge government created fund for those victims due to prior lawsuits, so it is not like a traditional class action lawsuit. They just prove you were a victim in the right time period and then you can get checks for your injury from the fund and your lawyer and his referral TV guy get fees.

RX in NC

Non,

While installing aftermarket tint film on the sunroof glass may indeed help contain the thousands of glass fragments when the glass decides to explode, the most effective protection for the cabin occupants is simply to keep the sunroof's interior shade panel closed at all times. She is now attempting to develop that habit.

ronmaiden

This seems to be an industry wide issue and not brand specific so hard to sue the brand and could just be a combination of things (air temp and pressure) causing them to shatter.

lexuspleus

What causes glass to randomly shatter like that. This happened on a Ford Windstar I was in once where the rear window glass panel shattered randomly during a not too cold day (-5 Celsius or so). It also happened in my Civic at around the same temperatures. Seems like temperature may have something to do with it.

My Civic's OEM rear windshield randomly crystallized into hundreds of bead size pieces.

I'm also wondering whether this can happen to a front windshield.

I'm keeping my sunroof closed with the cardboard cover in the closed position.

heshamos

There's a few commercially offered films that add to the strength of auto glass. I would recommend everyone to check online and with local retailers how much it would cost to laminate the moon roof. This film is super clear and works even on the windshield but I think it is pricey.

RX in NC

My research during the past three weeks essentially indicates that many automobile manufacturers have been using poor-quality Chinese-made sunroof glass for years in an effort to cut costs. The more impurities in the glass, the more likely it is to be subject to exploding. Root causes can be traced to multiple factors such as outside temperature vs. cabin temperature, how the glass is secured in its frame, and the level of flex stress imparted onto the glass by constant road vibration. As sunroof glass has grown larger in surface area, more molded or shaped, and made even thinner during the past decade, the number of glass explosions has increased dramatically. And yes, Toyota/Lexus is not the only marque suffering from this issue. But they are indeed one of several marques continuing to deny that there is a quality-control / design-flaw problem. When a sunroof glass explosion eventually kills someone by causing them to crash, the NHTSA will be much more likely to step in and eventually force the manufacturers to improve their glass quality and then issue actual recalls (which is exactly what occurred with the Takata air bag controversy). People have to be maimed or killed before the industry can be forced to step up to the plate and take responsibility.