2019 Hyundai Santa Fe: sunroof shattered

Filed Nov 3, 2026 · Visibility · FL

While driving on the freeway at approximately 73 mph, I heard a very loud bang that sounded like something had struck my car. I initially thought a rock had hit my windshield, but I couldn't see any damage. Later, I remembered the incident and went to the garage to inspect my car. After checking the windshield and walking around the front and sides without finding any damage, I climbed up to inspect the roof. I noticed something unusual about the smaller fixed glass panel in front of the sunroof, directly behind the windshield. When I ran my finger across it, I heard a slight cracking sound and felt a rough texture. That's when I realized the entire panel had shattered. The shattered glass poses a potential safety risk due to the possibility of glass falling into the vehicle or further breaking while driving at highway speeds, going over bumps, closing the car doors etc. The panel is available for inspection. The vehicle has not yet been inspected by a dealership or manufacturer, and the cause of the failure has not been determined. There were no warning lights or messages before the incident. After researching the issue, I found multiple reports from Hyundai Santa Fe owners describing similar incidents. Relevant the federal safety agency complaints include: Complaint #11502029 (2020 Santa Fe): Front sunroof glass suddenly shattered with no apparent external impact. Complaint #11548273 (2020 Santa Fe): Stationary glass panel in front of the sunroof shattered while parked. Complaint #11253008 (2019 Santa Fe): Panoramic sunroof shattered while driving with no evidence of an external impact. Complaint #11480753 (2019 Santa Fe): Rear panoramic sunroof panel reportedly exploded while driving approximately 70 mph. I believe these reports warrant further investigation into a possible recurring issue with Hyundai Santa Fe sunroof glass or its assembly, particularly given the potential safety risks of unexpected glass failure while driving.

Filed Feb 17, 2023 · Visibility · NC

Panoramic sun roof glass exploded and shattered as I was driving down the highway on a 50 degree F cloudy day. There was no known object that struck the roof nor did we hit a bump in the road or anything. The sound was like that of a shotgun blast. I've seen other posts and settlements for earlier Hyundai vehicle makes and models where warranty was extended to cover a defect causing this. But my 2019 Hyundai Santa Fe damage is not being covered under warranty since it is a couple thousand miles over the 60,000 mile warranty. Hyundai service reported there was no object or damage found to indicate it was caused by something impacting the vehicle. My concern is what will prevent the replacement glass from breaking again if the defect causing it to happen is not fixed.

Filed Feb 15, 2023 · Body, Visibility · CO

I was at a traffic light (stopped) and all of a sudden my sunroof exploded with no rhyme or reason behind it and glass shattered everywhere on top of me. Nothing was thrown at it and no other vehicles were around me to have any debris thrown up onto it. I got out and inspected the sunroof and found that there was no object imbedded on, in, or near the sunroof that would lead me to believe anything hit it. I contacted the Hyundai dealership about this and they will not cover it under warranty. I believe this is a quality control issue with faulty engineering of the sunroof and upon looking at other Hyundai forums, I found that others have reported the same thing occurring to their vehicles of the same make and model and the pictures of their damage look identical to my damage.

Filed Aug 23, 2022 · Body · TX

While driving at 70 mph the rear panel of the panoramic sunroof in my 2019 Hyundai Santa Fe exploded. We were not near other traffic or other sources of debris that could have impacted the glass. There was a very loud 'boom' sound, like a gunshot, and then the crackling sound of broken glass. Thankfully the sunshade was drawn and glass shards did not fall into the passenger compartment. Within a short amount of time large pieces of glass began to fall out creating a very heavy load on the fabric sunshade. We were able to collect enough of the large pieces by hand and remove them before the shade tore or otherwise failed creating an even larger hazard. Our 1 year old child was in his car seat directly below the failure -- had the shade been open, or had large pieces of glass fell before we could pull over and remove them he could have been seriously injured. Online research points that this is not an isolated incident and there is a pattern of this happening on recent model Hyundai/Kia products with panoramic sunroofs -- there is a class action lawsuit in Canada targeting Hyundai's lack of ownership of the problem. Hyundai dealerships and corporate were contacted to inspect and repair under warranty but were unwilling to do so in a reasonable timeframe (2+ month wait time). Vehicle was ultimately repaired by a body shop through our insurance company. There were no indications that this was a problem prior to the event.

Filed Mar 23, 2021 · 11,200 miles · TX

My sunroof exploded while driving down the interstate. No cars were anywhere around us, we were not near any overpasses, there was no road debris & nothing hit our car. There was one loud bang like the sound of a rifle shot.

Filed Sep 3, 2019 · Body · 1,500 miles · TX

While driving, the panoramic sunroof spontaneously exploded, leaving shattered glass within the interior of the car. There was no evidence of foreign objects which may have struck the car causing the roof to crack as it did.

Filed Feb 26, 2019 · 116 miles · CT

I purchased a brand new 2019 hyundai santa fe on february 20, 2019. On sunday, february 24 while driving on a back country road going no more than 35 MPH, there was a loud noise on the roof of the car. I opened the electric cloth cover and the sunroof was shattered and glass started falling in the car. Contacted the dealer the next day and was told to contact my insurance. The dealer or hyundai should cover the cost as I only had the car for 4 days.