The sunroof spontaneously shattered while I was driving. It sounded like a small explosion. I am positive that no object struck the vehicle.
Mazda MAZDA3 sunroof shattered problems
32 of the 2,994 owner complaints about the Mazda MAZDA3 describe sunroof shattered, most of them for the 2010 model year.
- owner complaints
- 32
- worst model year
- 2010
- typical mileage
- 50,000
Is there a fix? There is 1 recall for this area of the car. See below
By model year
Often reported together
What owners say
While driving on the highway (50mph), the sunroof had shattered unexpectedly. The sunroof itself was not open, but the visor was open so the glass fell into the car, onto the driver, the passenger and into the backseats. The glass shattering sounded like a gunshot which startled us while on the highway, and the broken glass cut the driver.
Moon roof exploded when not struck with anything
While driving at a normal speed on a clear, sunny day with no other vehicles close by, I heard a loud crash sound and my car's sunroof unexpectedly shattered. The inside glass panel looks like it's shattered and it caused tiny glass shards to fall inside the vehicle onto my right arm and the surrounding area. I closed the cover to prevent more from falling. This occurred without any prior warning, signs, or symptoms such as unusual noises or warning lights from the car. This incident posed a significant safety risk, not only due to the distraction, shock of the sudden noise, glass falling, injury in a potential accident, but also the potential for physical harm from the glass shards. Thankfully, no injuries occurred, but the potential for serious harm was evident. This problem has not yet been inspected by the dealer or confirmed by an independent service center, and there has been no opportunity for an inspection by any manufacturer, police, or insurance representatives. However, I've reached out to Mazda, both locally and corporate and am receiving a run-around, no surprise. I will attach photos of the inside and the outside of the glass. The outside photo was taken after the cover was closed. However, the broken sunroof is available for inspection upon request.
Sunroof shattered by itself
2017 mazda 3 grand touring hatchback driving on a road going 30 MPH and hear what sounded like a muffled gunshot right above me. I saw that I had glass raining down the back of my car, emptying onto the street and causing cars to swerve to avoid the glass. That was when I realized that my sunroof just exploded. I pulled over and saw that the sunroof was shattered with splinters of glass everywhere. I noticed that the sunroof bursted outward, as if nothing fell on it. There was nothing above me or beside me at the time of the explosion. The f-150 in front of me was going the same speed 5 car-lengths in front of me. The pieces of glass that fell behind my car left many scratches on the roof and spoiler of my car. The road I was driving on had rolling dips at an incline, but nothing like a jolting bump or pothole-like bump. Note how my sunroof exploded outward, meaning that the sunroof might have been fitted improperly, squeezing the glass inward. I think that when I went over the rolling gradual bumps that the chassis flexed and caused the sunroof to bend in a different way and explode.
Sunroof glass shattered outward without any cause or warning. The sunroof was closed at the time and there were no cracks, no breaks, no leaks, no weaknesses identified. When it shattered, I was driving down interstate 25 at approximately 78 MPH. Tires are properly inflated.
The glass sunroof spontaneously exploded while we were driving 65mph in lane on a straight section of I-476 between allentown and quakertown pa at 11am on december 31, 2019, constant 40 temp, no recent change in altitude, not near an overpass or close to other traffic. No indication that anything struck the vehicle from any direction. Sounded like a shotgun blast. My wife and I were showered with broken glass.terrifying and extremely dangerous, but we were able to exit the highway safely. Subsequently read the 2017consumer reports article on such events - turns out this is a thing. Insurance covered repair, we were out only the deductible. Repair took three weeks. We can provide documents if you like.
Vehicle was parked in a secured company parking lot. When I left work, the sunroof glass was smashed. There was nothing on the roof of the car. I thought a huge tree limb may have fell on the car and someone moved it but there was nothing nearby to explain what happened. I had the sunroof repaired and forgot about it until I just saw information about this happening on other cars. Reporting to you for statistical purposes. Sunroof glass shattered, vehicle was stationary (parked), the high temp that day was 90 and the low was 72, nothing was on top of the car (rock,tree,etc), no known reason for why the glass broke.
Power moonroof exploded while driving about 40mph on a city street. It was about 52deg f on a cloudy day. My wife was in passenger seat & glass fell in on us. We pulled over and cleaned up most of it.
Related recalls
Structure: body: hatchback/liftgate
- What is wrong
- Mazda North American Operations (Mazda) is recalling certain model year 2010-2013 Mazda3 and Mazdaspeed3 vehicles manufactured November 18, 2008, to June 8, 2013, 2012-2015 Mazda5 vehicles manufactured October 26, 2010, to June 22, 2015, 2016 CX-3 vehicles manufactured June 1, 2015, to December 26, 2015, and 2013-2016 CX-5 vehicles manufactured December 15, 2011, to December 26, 2015. On the affected vehicles, the lift gate support struts may corrode, possibly causing the struts to break and/or the lift gate to drop unexpectedly.
- Risk
- If the lift gate falls unexpectedly, it may hit the user, increasing their risk of injury.
- Remedy
- Mazda dealers will replace the both lift gate supports, free of charge, however parts are not currently available. The recall began April 2017. Owners may contact Mazda customer service at 1‑800‑222‑5500. Mazda's number for this recall is 9916H.
Recall number 16V644000 · Recall details
Questions about the Mazda MAZDA3 sunroof shattered
Which Mazda MAZDA3 years have sunroof shattered problems?
The model years with the most reports are 2010 (9 complaints), 2012 (5 complaints) and 2014 (4 complaints).
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