I purchased the car in June 2025 and the sunroof exploded while I was driving down the highway in Dec. 2025. The explosion scared me, the driver. Shattered glass covered me, my front passenger, and my adult son in the back seat. He was bleeding on his hand with a minor cut. My sunroof was replaced in January 2025 after 14 days in the shop. It was leaking again in March so my roof was ripped apart again with 10 days in the shop. It leaked again in June 2025. There was not warning. It just exploded with a huge noise. I know this has happended to Pathfinders.
Nissan Pathfinder sunroof shattered problems
65 of the 7,336 owner complaints about the Nissan Pathfinder describe sunroof shattered, most of them for the 2014 model year.
- owner complaints
- 65
- worst model year
- 2014
- typical mileage
- 45,200
Is there a fix? There are 2 recalls for this area of the car. See below
By model year
Often reported together
What owners say
Sunroof exploded while driving.
The contact owns a 2022 Nissan Pathfinder. The contact stated that while driving at 7 MPH, the sunroof exploded outward. The sunroof cover was closed during the failure, preventing glass fragments from falling inside the vehicle. The contact pulled over to the side of the road. Upon inspection, the contact became aware that the sunroof had exploded without impact. The vehicle was driven to the residence and was parked in the garage. The dealer was contacted and provided an estimate for the repair. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired due to the cost. The manufacturer was not yet contacted. The failure mileage was unknown.
The contact owns a 2026 Nissan Pathfinder. The contact stated that while driving approximately 65 MPH a loud explosion noise had occurred. The contact open the interior sunroof door and discovered that the glass sunroof had shattered outward. The vehicle was immediately taken to the local dealer who replaced the glass sunroof. The cause of the failure was not determined. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 1,800.
While driving down the road, heard a ‘gunshot’ sound and the sunroof had exploded.
Sunroof “exploded” while driving and shattered. Yes, this may be inspected. Risk of glass entering the vehicle. The incident has not been inspected yet. There were not any warning messages or indicators.
The contact owns a 2025 Nissan Pathfinder. The contact stated that while the vehicle was parked inside the garage, the hatch glass shattered unexpectedly. The vehicle was taken to the dealer; however, no cause for the failure was found. The vehicle was not repaired. Upon further investigation, the contact became aware that several consumers had reported that the rear glass, front windshield, and sunroof glass had broken without impact due to the manufacturing of the thin-tempered glass. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and advised the contact that a Nissan regional representative would reach out with assistance. The failure mileage was approximately 12,000.
Hi as I was driving my car on a clear road no cars near my car all of a sudden my sunroof exploded as if it was shot my a military tank we panicked thankfully tried to maintain calm and it didn’t hurt my children and thankfully no car was around as the sound did put us at panick mode which could have resulted in a car crash from the cause of the incident
While driving at a moderate speed of 65 mph, the back portion of my panoramic sunroof spontaneously shattered. There was a very loud noises followed by rattling of the glass on the sun roof cover. I pulled over immediately and pulled the sunroof cover half way back to see a hole the size of a softball through the sun roof. There is no debris that was flying in the air, on the road, or any signs of an object hitting my car. On inspection there was no body damage from my car and when i looked into the hole of the sunroof there was no object within it. There was also no vehicles directly in front of me, only a vehicle 150 feet in front. The weather was cloudy, but no rain or wind.
On 10/12/25, while driving on the interstate, the sunroof of our 2022 Nissan Pathfinder suddenly exploded. As of today (10/13/2025), the vehicle is available for inspection upon request. When the sunroof failed, the interior roof shade was closed. I was driving at interstate speeds with my wife and children in the vehicle. The sound of the sunroof exploding was very loud and came without warning, startling all of us - luckily, I managed to keep control of the vehicle. We could hear shards of glass bouncing around above us - had the roof shade been open, we would have had a large amount of sharp glass shards fall on us. This event happened yesterday (10/12/25), and I will be calling our dealer today (10/13/25) to confirm the issue - I have provided a photo of the sunroof, taken after we safely left the interstate. As of today (10/13/25), the vehicle has not yet been inspected by the manufacturer, police, or insurance representatives; it has been inspected by me and my wife. There were no obvious signs of anything striking the sunroof: the only loud noise was the glass shattering, and there was no apparent damage to the fabric of the interior roof shade (which was closed when the sunroof exploded). The interstate was clear of debris when the incident took place and there were no indications of rocks, gravel, etc. Before the sunroof exploded, there were no warning lamps, messages or other symptoms of the problem prior to the failure.
Related recalls
Structure: body: hood: hinge and attachments
- What is wrong
- Nissan North America, Inc. (Nissan) is recalling certain model year 2013-2014 Nissan Pathfinder vehicles manufactured June 20, 2012, to November 18, 2013, 2014 Nissan Pathfinder Hybrid vehicles manufactured July 18, 2013, to November 18, 2013, 2013 Infiniti JX35 vehicles manufactured November 29, 2011, to June 14, 2013, and 2014 QX60 vehicles manufactured May 16, 2013, to November 18, 2013, and 2014 Infiniti QX60 Hybrid vehicles manufactured July 18, 2013, to November 18, 2013. In the affected vehicles the hood release cable assembly may have been installed incorrectly preventing the latching claw from fully engaging. The secondary latch may remain in the open position when the hood is closed.
- Risk
- If the primary hood latch is released and the secondary latch fails during operation of the vehicle, it could cause the hood to open during vehicle operation impairing the driver's vision, increasing the risk of a vehicle crash.
- Remedy
- Nissan will notify owners, and dealers will modify the angle of the hood release mechanism to provide additional length to the release cable, free of charge. The recall began on March 9, 2015. Owners may contact Nissan customer service at 1‑800‑647‑7261.
Recall number 15V033000 · Recall details
Structure: body: hatchback/liftgate: hinge and attachments
- What is wrong
- Vehicle description: sport utility vehicles. Some of the brackets used to attach the two gas struts to the rear door (hatch) may have been improperly made. At high ambient temperatures, the increase in gas pressure in the strut(s) could cause one or both brackets to bend, resulting in the struts detaching from the bracket(s) when opening or closing the rear door.
- Risk
- If both struts detach from the brackets, the door will rapidly fall down, possibly striking someone and causing serious injury.
- Remedy
- Dealers will replace the strut brackets. Owner notification began september 24, 2001. Owners who take their vehicles to an authorized dealer on an agreed upon service date and do not receive the free remedy within a reasonable time should contact nissan at 1‑800‑647‑7261.
Recall number 01V282000 · Recall details
Questions about the Nissan Pathfinder sunroof shattered
Which Nissan Pathfinder years have sunroof shattered problems?
The model years with the most reports are 2014 (15 complaints), 2022 (9 complaints) and 2013 (8 complaints).
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