When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
My wife just called me from Athens, Georgia where she is visiting her mother to report that her sunroof glass exploded into a million pieces when she was driving back to her mother's house from lunch a few minutes ago. She faces a six-hour solo drive home tomorrow. I have instructed her to get some help vacuuming up the glass fragments as thoroughly as possible and then securely taping a tarp fragment or thick plastic sheet on top of the roof to cover the entire sunroof assembly this afternoon. Looks like she will have clear weather tomorrow for her trip home.
Do these 3rd generation RX350s have a history of sunroof explosions? The basic 4-year / 50,000-mile factory warranty on her RX expired just three months ago. I will be contacting our local Lexus dealership first thing tomorrow morning, and then Lexus Corporate if necessary. If anyone knows of previous sunroof explosions in these vehicles, please post the details here.
There are several class-action lawsuits dating back to 2015 against multiple vehicle manufacturers (including Toyota/Lexus) regarding exploding sunroofs. Consumer Reports has published several articles noting this as an increasingly common and concerning safety issue, most notably in their December 2017 magazine. They suggest that all owners who suffer an exploding sunroof file a complaint with the NHTSA. I did so earlier this evening.
As stated previously, I will be calling our local Lexus dealership tomorrow morning.
My wife is hoping for a safe, rain-free drive back home tomorrow. We shall see how this issue progresses.
Thanks for the kind words. No one was injured by the sunroof exploding. It just scared the hell out of the folks inside the cabin as broken glass rained down on them.
She never opens her sunroof either. Yes, probably defective glass. Not uncommon nowadays as I have learned during my online research today. Monday morning will be interesting as I contact Lexus about this issue. I expect a battle but hope they cooperate and assume full responsibility. We shall see.
I'm sorry to hear what happened. It's a costly repair and often requires insurance involvement due to the fact that it makes a dent in your bank account whether because it's usually a long lead item or because it requires high precision for installation.
You can go ahead with the NHTSA complaint but I wouldn't think it will give you instant response.
As this occurred to me before, I found out that it's much cheaper and quicker to do it privately although insurance was willing to pay for the brand new piece. You can get the sunroof glass cheap from pick & pull by calling them to check availability. I also found out that most glass installation company can install it professionally. The whole thing cost me $350 Canadian vs $4000 for a brand new one.
Last, the argument about whether this thing exploded due to a small rock is classic. I guess it can be always a possibility.
Hope this helps..
Thanks for the photo and your feedback. My wife left her mother's home in Georgia about an hour ago for the long drive home today. Looks like sunny weather will prevail for the entire trip. Sure hope so for her sake.
I spoke with the local Lexus service manager this morning. While he admitted to being aware of the class-action lawsuits against Lexus for this very issue, he is attempting to not provide any assistance to us. I asked for a face-to-face meeting with him tomorrow morning with my wife by my side to explain her sense of danger and fear at the time the sunroof exploded yesterday. He granted my request, so we shall see what happens tomorrow.
Regarding my cost of repair, I have $0 deductible comprehensive coverage on all four of our vehicles so if I wind up having to arrange the repair through my insurance company, it will cost me nothing. But I will continue to battle Lexus Corporate for full reimbursement because we truly believe this is a SAFETY issue. My wife feels very fortunate that she did not wreck her vehicle when the sunroof suddenly exploded yesterday.
Had the meeting today with the Service Manager and Assistant Service Manager. My wife told a very compelling and harrowing story about what happened when her sunroof exploded and how she was fortunate that she did not wreck the vehicle (with her 87-year-old mother in the front passenger seat). The Assistant Service Manager seems to want to help us while the Service Manager barely spoke. I discussed the class-action lawsuits at some length and cited some of my sources. They plan to huddle up with their Area Manager, speak with Corporate Lexus regarding the case I opened yesterday, and told me they would be back in touch with me by 2:00 pm today. That is slightly less than 30 minutes from now. We shall see.
My case was escalated all the way to the Lexus Executive Office this afternoon, bypassing the typical Customer Service caseload personnel. They called me at 3:20 pm to ask questions. Stunningly, the guy from the Executive Office had absolutely no clue that my wife and I met with the local Lexus service managers at the dealership this morning. I had to provide him with their names and phone numbers. Talk about a completely incompetent chain-of-command....
He claimed he would call me back tomorrow once he gathers more information. He hinted at a goodwill resolution to our specific issue but at this point, no one has any credibility in my book.
As I expected, the guy from the Lexus Executive Office called me this morning and stated "because we cannot determine the 'point of impact' on the sunroof glass, we therefore respectfully decline to provide you with any financial assistance toward repairs." I replied that of course Lexus cannot define a 'point of impact' because you and I both know that NOTHING STRUCK THE SUNROOF GLASS. It exploded due to a material defect or a design flaw or both. Go study the ongoing class-action lawsuits against Lexus/Toyota. The company line is always to falsely blame that "something must have struck the sunroof glass and caused it to break." Just another load of corporate bull****.
I plan to investigate the various class-actions and will join one or more of them if they apply to my state. I will also continue to pursue legal action against Lexus as a private citizen. I will try to update this thread as warranted.
^^ See the last paragraph of post no. 6. My comprehensive insurance coverage will replace the sunroof glass at no cost to me. The parts were ordered this morning and due to the Thanksgiving holiday week, the actual repair process will not take place until next Monday. I am utilizing a local auto glass company that has proven to be very trustworthy.
I appreciate your comment regarding small claims court. But I consider this an extremely serious safety issue that Lexus is hiding from, therefore I have no interest in small claims court. I have set my sights much higher.
Looks like I will have the opportunity to join the appropriate class-action lawsuit against Lexus/Toyota next week. Details will follow once I speak with the associated legal team.
Still waiting for a return phone call from the appropriate paralegal contact in California. Left a voicemail on Monday morning and still have not heard back from them. I was told by their switchboard person that it usually takes them several days to return phone calls. Yeah, I know they are indeed a large law firm but still, a timely response is part of decent customer service within any type or size of business. We shall see what eventually happens.
No need to check with any more service providers. The new sunroof glass panel was installed this past Monday afternoon by a local auto glass shop. They came to our house and did the job in our driveway. Excellent work. They sourced the OEM glass directly from Lexus. Apparently there is no aftermarket sunroof glass panel for these vehicles. If there was, it could be better quality than OEM (especially if it was made in the U.S. instead of in China).
11-24-19, 09:19 AM
Sunroof Glass Explosion
