Exploding sunroof...wtf?!

was on my way back to NorCal from Las Vegas earlier today with the wife in our 19 cx5 touring. About an hour outside of town, with no warning or any sort of impact, the damn sunroof just exploded! Needless to say the loud noise followed by a glass shower scared the crap out of us. Upon closer inspection it looks like the glass exploded outwards, as if cabin pressure was too high. Decided to just drive home with the sunroof cover closed to keep from getting more glass all over, but then it started to rain as we got in to Tehachapi. Thanks to a helpful Shell station clerk that supplied some free cardboard to go along with some duct tape I purchased, was able to patch it up with lots of cursing.

While I was rainproofing our newly porous sunroof, a Suburban pulled up next to us. The driver asked if we were okay and what happened, since apparently he was right next to us when the damn thing blew. He told us he saw a bunch of debris fly up out of the roof before we hastily pulled over to assess the damage and brush off all the glass crumbs.

Anyways...going to talk to my service manager and insurance agent tomorrow to figure out how to get this handled. Because of this incident, my cts-v wagon gets to sit outside in the rain tonight for the first time while the Mazda occupies the caddys space in the garage.

Here are a few pics, though I havent yet figured out how to rotate them.

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Wow! Important thing is no one got seriously hurt.

Contact your Insurance as well as Mazda and go from there.

Chances are good root cause will not be found and Mazda will claim the sunroof took some kind of impact despite pressure appears to have blown outwards rather than downwards from an impact.
 
Obviously came from the inside out. Can't wait to hear how Mazda squirms out of this one. Hyundai had similar ocurances with their sunroofs years ago on some of their models, though I think they just flew off. This might be a new trend. Glad you're ok, must have been a real shock.
 
Yeah thanks...no injuries other than a couple small cuts from stupidly brushing away broken glass with bare hands. Might not have faired as well if she was driving at the time...shes a great driver but easily startled. At the time of explosion was doing about 70mph with two cars in front of me while being tailgated by a Camry...after explosion he had backed way off lol. I have a fantastic service writer at my local dealer, so Im sure hell do his best to get it covered...will update as things progress.

Will likely get new sunroof tinted to hold things together in case of recurrence.
 
The sunroof glass is supported by a metal frame on all sides. I there was foreign material in the fame so the glass was not allowed to expand when heated, that could be the cause. A factory cause is my guess. Ed
 
Definitely seems to be a factory issue when this happens (across the manufacturer spectrum anyway). Glad everybody is ok. Id be pushing Mazda hard to replace under warranty but as suggested above they may suggest it was an impact (it wasnt) that your insurance needs to cover. Fingers crossed they do the right thing.
 
So this happened to me 2 years ago. I had a fairly new 2016 Nissan Rogue, top model. I was driving on a highway going 100 KM/h (approx. 60 m/h in the US) and it blew. Zero warning, nothing impacted it, just blew up.

Went to the dealer. They did an inspection, determined it blew from the inside out based on the glass shattering and how it looked, etc. They recommended Nissan replace it. Nissan Canada, however, fully denied all responsibility. Glass is NOT covered, under any circumstance, regardless of the fault, which was deemed to be theirs (factory defect).

I was left to go through insurance, paying the deductible. It's a huge pain, but this is where you're at unless your dealer or manufacturer steps up beyond the industry norm.

As an aside, I hate sunroofs. I'm 6'5" tall, and sunroofs usually shave 1-2" of headroom off the inside of cars that I preciously need. Further, after this incident, I only hate them more :)
 
Yeah thanks...no injuries other than a couple small cuts from stupidly brushing away broken glass with bare hands. Might not have faired as well if she was driving at the time...shes a great driver but easily startled. At the time of explosion was doing about 70mph with two cars in front of me while being tailgated by a Camry...after explosion he had backed way off lol. I have a fantastic service writer at my local dealer, so Im sure hell do his best to get it covered...will update as things progress.

Will likely get new sunroof tinted to hold things together in case of recurrence.
Moonroof uses safety glass, which means when it explodes, the glass should become many tiny pieces without any sharp edges. Still we should be careful and wear gloves while cleaning the broken glass.

Was the inner shade closed when the moonroof exploded?

This incident should be caused by some factory issues. And its been reported from time to time from all kind of vehicle owners including CX-5s. Strangely the explosion of moonroof seems to be always by the force from inside out.

From the experience of others, vehicle manufactures usually dismiss the responsibility of exploded moonroof and have car owners seeking insurance compensation.
 
Moonroof uses safety glass, which means when it explodes, the glass should become many tiny pieces without any sharp edges. Still we should be careful and wear gloves while cleaning the broken glass.

Was the inner shade closed when the moonroof exploded?

This incident should be caused by some factory issues. And it*s been reported from time to time from all kind of vehicle owners including CX-5*s. Strangely the explosion of moonroof seems to be always by the force from inside out.

From the experience of others, vehicle manufactures usually dismiss the responsibility of exploded moonroof and have car owners seeking insurance compensation.

I noticed the exact same thing, glass did not behave like safety glass, looks more like plate glass. O/P, is this a factory setup?
 
Shade was not closed at the time, so yeah glass all over us. It is safety glass, but there were still lots of tiny sharp shards (splinter size or a little larger) and this is what easily pierced the skin. Majority was what youd expect of broken safety glass though.

Headed to dealer in a few 🤞🏽
 
Excuse my faded memory but wasn't the cx-5 exploding sunroof on the gen1 an issue a few ears ago.I remember people posting pictures and feeling glad I don't have a sunroof.Hate to see this problem resurface.
 
Tried to find other instances of this happening on a gen 2 cx5 after ours exploded, but all I could find were on older gen 1 models. Seems like a big problem across many manufacturers, with Hyundai/Kia having the most trouble (followed by Nissan and bmw).

Dropped our white cx5 off at dealer and came home with a soul red loaner. Wont likely hear back from Mazda until after Xmas. My cardboard patch that lasted 300+ miles at 80+ mph through pouring rain yesterday flew off this morning at 45mph about a half mile from the house
 
Yikes, stuff like this is why I am always weary of having a sun/moon roof. My CX-5 does not have one.
 
Very sorry this happened to you and glad that no one was injured. I hope your dealer and the Mazda warranty comes through. There is a long and varied history of shattering/exploding sunroofs across all makes and models. The individual glass panel may have had a flaw from the factory, or then it was installed incorrectly with too much stress being placed on the glass. Or, as the linked article suggests, the general increase in average size of sunroofs has contributed to the increased risk of damage or stress that could lead to breakage.

http://https://jalopnik.com/here-are-all-the-cars-reported-to-have-exploding-sunroo-1819815183
 
So this happened to me 2 years ago. I had a fairly new 2016 Nissan Rogue, top model. I was driving on a highway going 100 KM/h (approx. 60 m/h in the US) and it blew. Zero warning, nothing impacted it, just blew up.

Went to the dealer. They did an inspection, determined it blew from the inside out based on the glass shattering and how it looked, etc. They recommended Nissan replace it. Nissan Canada, however, fully denied all responsibility. Glass is NOT covered, under any circumstance, regardless of the fault, which was deemed to be theirs (factory defect).

I was left to go through insurance, paying the deductible. It's a huge pain, but this is where you're at unless your dealer or manufacturer steps up beyond the industry norm.

As an aside, I hate sunroofs. I'm 6'5" tall, and sunroofs usually shave 1-2" of headroom off the inside of cars that I preciously need. Further, after this incident, I only hate them more :)
Idk about Nissan but with mazda after corporate you do BBB arbitration (as specified by warrany booklet)
 
Just a few days ago I remember seeing a facebook post, someone with a red 2019 had same thing happened, sunroof shattered.
 
We have 23k miles on this car in 6.5 months. It travels daily on horrible Merced county rural roads, and in the summer is often 100+ degrees out. At the time the sunroof blew up, it was about 60 degrees out & overcast, and we were just cruising in a straight line at about 70mph on a smooth highway 15. So I cant really figure out why the sunroof failed at the time it did as opposed to under more severe conditions commonly encountered.

Already told my service advisor that Id like him to have the new panel tinted with lightest available tint (at my cost) prior to install so in the case it occurs again, would be less likely to cause an accident and get glass all over the interior.
 
Already told my service advisor that Id like him to have the new panel tinted with lightest available tint (at my cost) prior to install so in the case it occurs again, would be less likely to cause an accident and get glass all over the interior.

Get a dark ceramic tint. You'll be able to leave the shade open and not get heat gain.
 
Lots of different manufactures have had this happen. We have seen quiet a few from 2010 Mazda 3*s up to cx5*s etc. It*s not warranty ever. Impact causes this. My buddy*s ford and chevys and sisters Honda also have had this happen. Nothing to worry about go through insurance have it replaced at a body shop or glass shop and go on your way.
 
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