Our sunroof exploded and shattered. It could have caused a bad accident as the speed limit is 65-70 full of cars and trucks on I-95 north. There was no warning, just a large explosion and shattered glass. Luckily our sunshade was closed so the glass was contained. It was raining and about 50 degrees.
2018 Subaru Outback: sunroof shattered
12 of the 816 complaints about the 2018 Subaru Outback describe sunroof shattered.
- owner complaints
- 12
- of this car's complaints
- 1%
- typical mileage
- 19,818
- recalls
- 0
Is there a fix? 3 service bulletins cover this area of the car. See below
Sunroof shattered by model year
What owners say
While driving my 2018 Subaru Outback on the freeway, the sunroof spontaneously shattered without warning. At the time of the incident, there were no nearby vehicles, road debris, or external factors that could explain the failure. This appears to be a dangerous and unexpected defect.
Sunroof's glass panel exploded/shattered unexpectedly due to unknown cause(s)/reason(s) while driving vehicle. No external item(s) contacted sunroof glass panel.
My sunroof on my subaru outback 2018 exploded while going north on the 5 from sea world drive to balboa exit. thankfully my cover was on and debris didnt fall on my while driving. Saw online many subaru outback owners have had similar issues. i want to file a claim and have the manufacturer pay for the damages
I was driving to work on the intestate on a cool overcast morning. There were no other cars around me at the time and I was not near any over passes when all of a sudden I heard a loud sound from my roof and then the glass falling on the roof. I was freaked out by it and it caused me to swerve. Luckily there was no one in the lane next to me or I would have hit them. I pulled over as soon as I could and stepped out of the car to see that in fact my sunroof had exploded. There was a big hole in the center of it and the entire thing had cracks going through it. As it was on my morning commute and I had to get to work, I got back into my car and drove to work. On the rest of the drive I could hear more of the sun roof falling off. I contacted subaru about this and they want me to bring it in to have it checked out. The earliest they have available for me to come in is 11 days after the incident. While talking to a parts person on the phone, he did state that he has heard of this happening before to other cars.
While traveling at highway speed, the sunroof "exploded" with a load noise and rained pieces of glass into the passenger compartment. No rock or other projectile was seen coming toward the car. It seemed spontaneous. Speed was 65 MPH. Road was straight and well paved. No vehicle was in front of the car. The car had just been run through an automatic touchless carwash about 10 minutes before. Outside temperature was approximately 55 degrees fahrenheit.
Moonroof exploded.
Sunroof spontaneously shattered/exploded while driving without impact or other vehicles around. Outside temperature was 86 degrees at the time. Was at highway speed on an interstate. Nothing was overhead. Glass exploded up and out.
Exploding sunroof. The sunroof suddenly shattered into pieces while driving on a freeway offramp with no other cars or bridges nearby. It sounded like an explosion. The car wasn't damaged or scratched anywhere else, and there was no object or debris.
Sunroof exploded and shattered spontaneously while we were driving at highway speed
Vehicle was parked. Sunroof exploded. The glass was not damaged previously. It could have been serious if we had been driving. I believe that the glass was defective or there is a design problem with the thickness of the glass/car structural stress.
My wife and I were driving on the interstate on a cool (45 degrees) day at about 70 MPH, the only vehicle in the vicinity. There was a suddden unexplained noise overhead, then a loud explosion like noise and then a loud rush of wind and the sound of something breaking and flapping and something blowing and hitting the roof of the car. I slid open the sunshade a very small distance and discovered my sunroof had exploded for no apparent reason or cause.this was on a 7 month old 2018 subaru outback with factory installed sunroof and 17,000 mikes on it. The sunroof was completely closed at the time and fortunately so was the interior sunshade.
Service bulletins that may apply
Related recalls
No recalls on record for this model year.
Questions about the 2018 Subaru Outback sunroof shattered
Is sunroof shattered a common problem on the 2018 Subaru Outback?
12 of 816 owner complaints about the 2018 Subaru Outback (1%) mention sunroof shattered. The model year with the most reports is 2015.
Is there a recall or service bulletin for this on the 2018 Subaru Outback?
There are 0 recalls and 3 service bulletins for the same area of the car. Check them below with your VIN.
Other symptoms on the 2018 Subaru Outback
Windshield crack 217Battery drain 73Backup camera 60Won't start 31Screen failure 20Stalling 20Sudden acceleration 16Wipers 15Lane assist 11Jerking 10Pulling 10Fuel gauge 9Key fob 9Adaptive cruise 7No deployment 6Grinding brakes 6Collision warning 6Headlights 6Loss of power 6CVT failure 5Fuel pump 5Hesitation 5Power steering loss 5
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