2017 Ford Escape: sunroof shattered

Filed Aug 30, 2023 · Visibility · CO

I was driving to work at 7am on Saturday, August 26, 2023- and it was a mild morning... maybe 50 degrees. As I was driving I heard what sounded like a gunshot- and once I was able to gather myself, I realized that my panoramic sunroof had exploded. Outward. Nothing hit the glass- it merely exploded. There is no point of impact from an outside object. I was driving past a cattle ranch- no trees hanging over the road and there were no other vehicles in sight. I was only 2 miles from home and was able to close the sunroof cover and slowly drive home to park in garage. It is available- at our home, currently, if inspection is needed. Glass did fall on me, the driver. Luckily I did not have any passengers with me at the time. And my nerves were shot from the loud sound. We have tried, unsuccessfully, to have our calls returned by Ford. And we are hesitant to reach out to our insurance as we truly feel the manufacturer is at fault here. After doing some research, this seems to be a common problem with many Ford models with panoramic sunroofs. We appreciate you recording this incident- and if you have any advice on how to proceed, that would also be appreciated.

Filed Aug 26, 2022 · CO

I was driving on the highway on a hot (100*) day. I heard a loud boom. I looked at all of my windows and driver control panel, and did not see an issue. Then I heard wind, and realized it was coming from above me. The front panel of my moon roof had exploded - shattering into a million tiny pieces. The majority of the tempering held for a short period of time, but eventually the glass collapsed in. I had an approximately 8 inch hole in my roof, and the rest was in tiny pieces, which continued to rain in until I had the glass repaired. When I heard the sound, I attempted to open the shade, and small fragments of glass rained on me. If this had been open when it occurred, this would have been disastrous. I took it to my car repair facility and it was over $1000 to have the piece of glass repaired. They confirmed that spontaneous explosion of sun/moon roofs is an issue that is increasing in frequency due to the size of these structures on cars. My insurance repaired the glass due to my "glass - full coverage." There were no prior warnings.

Filed Oct 30, 2020 · 33,600 miles · WI

On 10/27/20, I was driving my 2017 ford escape on the freeway, when I heard what sounded to me like a shotgun blast. Glass started raining down on me and I looked up and find my sunroof had "exploded". Fortunately, no glass landed in my eye or cut me bad, and I was able to slow down and exit the freeway safely without causing an accident. This is a major safety issue and is a known problem with fords.

Filed Sep 8, 2018 · 14,880 miles · PA

Panoramic moonroof exploded & shattered while vehicle was parked. Glass was not struck by any objects. Looks as though the stationary moonroof buckled from the inside outwards & glass fragments are falling into the vehicle. Instead of being flat, it is now shaped more like a bubble. Moonroof shade also fell out of track when I opened it to see what happened. Coincidentally, it happened to be raining at the time I noticed it & the inside was now wet. We have been in a heat advisory for the past few days, with the advisory breaking the day of the incident, followed by rain.

Filed Nov 2, 2017 · 6,400 miles · PA

Sun roof exploded while driving