2016 Mazda CX-5: sunroof shattered

Filed Aug 24, 2025 · PA

Our sunroof exploded while we were driving on the highway. Glass shattered on us and fell while we were driving with a very loud explosive noise.

Filed Sep 13, 2021 · MN

I was driving down the highway when my moonroof suddenly and unexpectedly “exploded.” I quickly came to the conclusion that it didn’t happen due to an external cause; I hadn’t gone under an overpass and there weren’t any other vehicles nearby that could have caused an object to hit my car. The weather had been clear that day, and my car had been parked in the shade prior to this happening. When I got to my destination a few minutes later, I could see the glass had broken outward.

Filed Jul 27, 2021 · Visibility · UT

Driving on the interstate. Driver plus 3 passengers,fair amount of luggage. Listening to a book on CD. Windows up, air-conditioning on. Driving 70 mph smooth road. No cars in immediate vicinity. Suddenly there is a loud bang which scared the crap out of me. Pulled off the roadway to see what had happened. Turned out the moon roof had exploded. Fortunately the inside cover was closed otherwise the occupants would have been shredded by a glass grenade.

Filed Jun 29, 2021 · CA

As I was driving to work, the moonroof window exploded causing glass to fly every where. Thankfully, I had my sunshade closed so no glass came into the vehicle. Had it been open, I would have been hit by glass shards. There had been no damage to the moonroof window previously, no cracks or issues that I was aware of. While attempting to get it repaired, I was told that this had happened on the same type of vehicle one other time that the shop was aware of. I am currently waiting to hear back from Mazda regarding replacement/repair for the moonroof.

Filed Mar 24, 2021 · 65 miles · CA

I was driving on the interstate with my husband and our sunroof glass spontaneously shattered. We just heard a really loud bang and all of the sudden, we could hear the wind blowing and our sunroof cover was being forced open. We stopped immediately and found our sunroof broken to pieces. At the time of the incident, the weather was sunny/cloudy and in the 60s. There was no bridge or overhead pass, no big trucks driving nearby us. The environment outside was flat, dry lands.

Filed Aug 5, 2020 · 55,000 miles · CO

As I was driving along the interstate, the glass on my sunroof exploded. The weather was about 70 degrees outside and the car is typically garaged except for when I drive it. We did not know at first what had happened and it was extremely frightening as the sound was very loud. There was no previous damage to the sunroof--cracks, etc. And it was a factory-installed sunroof. As you will see from the photos, the glass exploded from the inside out.

Filed Mar 2, 2020 · 62,000 miles · FL

On march 1, 2020, my wife was driving straight south on rt. 41 (tamiami highway) in north port, florida when all of a sudden she heard an 'explosion' that startled her. It was the sunroof that exploded for no apparent reason on our 2016 mazda cx-5 purchased in september 28, 2015 and currently with 62,000+ miles on it. Fortunately, the underlying sunroof panel was closed, so none of the glass fragments ended up in her face/arms/chest, which, if happened, could have also caused an accident.

Filed Jul 5, 2019 · 42,000 miles · VA

I was driving down the highway at approximately 65 MPH when I heard a loud explosion followed by the sound of broken glass. I immediately pulled over and discovered that the sunroof had exploded. There were no other vehicles nearby when the sun roof exploded and I did not see or find any objects that may have caused the glass to break. The remaining parts of the sunroof were directed outward from the vehicle, indicating that it had exploded outward. It was a hot day (90+ degrees) and the AC was on in the vehicle. And when the sunroof broke there was a very loud explosive sound. It is also interesting to note the the glass was completely shattered into small pieces, many of which fell into the cabin.

Filed Sep 29, 2018 · Body · 90,000 miles · MI

While driving on highway, my sunroof spontaneously exploded and shattered into multiple pieces. I was not near a bridge, nor driving by a truck. It just shattered spontaneously.

Filed May 1, 2017 · 4,900 miles · CA

Sunroof suddenly exploded while driving on the freeway. This happened on 4/30 at around 10:30am, 280 southbound about 1/2 mile before the millbrae exit. Suddenly heard a loud bomb noise then found out my sunroof was shattered into many pieces. I had the shade opened about 2 inches, some of the glass pieces got blown into the cabin. One piece of the glass pierce into the armrest. There were no overpass, or large truck around my car when this happened. I could be 100% sure it wasn't hit by any external object. My wife, my 10month old son and I were in the car. If the shade was fully opened, the shattered glass pieces would have got into our face and eyes. Or even seriously injured or kill my 10 months old son. I have found online there are many cases of sunroof exploding. Please the federal safety agency, you need to do something about this for the safety of the mass and put pressure on the manufacturers to be responsible for this.

Filed Apr 11, 2017 · 20,000 miles · WA

Driving on freeway at approximately 63 MPH, heat was on in vehicle, all windows closed. Very light traffic. Huge explosion in cabin, glass flying all over. I pulled off the freeway, found the sunroof exploded with the sunshade partition open. The glass was protruding upward. No indications of a rock or other item striking the window. We had glass shards in our scalp that we picked out after repeated washings. Our hands were cut trying to clear out the remaining broken glass. No prior problems with the sunroof. The sunroof hadn't been used the day of the explosion.