2025 Toyota Grand Highlander: sunroof shattered

Filed Oct 27, 2026 · CT

The front panel of the two-panel glass moonroof spontaneously shattered, buckled and collapsed onto the panoramic roof sunshade of my 2025 Toyota Grand Highlander Hybrid without any impact or accident. I was driving at about 35-45 mph on a paved road and noticed the sound of wind coming from the car ceiling. I opened the panoramic roof sunshade slightly to see if the moonroof was open and saw that the front panel of the two-panel glass moonroof had spontaneously shattered. By the time I got home about an hour later, the moonroof glass had buckled about 1/2 inch into the air and a large chunk of the moonroof glass had collapsed onto the sunshade on the ceiling of the car. I now have a 6x10-in. hole in the moonroof glass and large, raised cracks much longer than that. The repair shop told me not to drive the car, because the broken shards of glass could damage the sunshade and get into the moonroof track. My car is available for inspection upon request. The defect in the moonroof glass clearly put my safety at risk. Had the sunshade not been closed when the glass collapsed, my car would have been full of shards of glass. I could have been hurt, and it could have caused an accident. This problem has been reported online repeatedly in Toyota Highlanders, as well as in Toyota RAV4s, resulting in a class action lawsuit with respect to the RAV4s. A service representative at the Toyota dealer saw the problem, but she could not help me because they don't handle glass. I also reported the problem to Toyota at 800‑331‑4331, but they have not inspected the damage. I have been informed that there are no replacement skylights for my car anywhere in the US and that it will take 1-2 months before the part will arrive. Nevertheless, Toyota has refused to pay for a rental car or cover the indoor storage I will need to obtain for my vehicle while we wait for some indeterminate time for the part to come in. There were no warnings of any kind before the skylight glass failed.

Filed Aug 25, 2026 · CO

on 8/13/2026, I was driving alone on West I-80 right before Park City, Ut; I heard a loud pop and my panoramic sunroof exploded which was really scary. I was not using my sunroof at all, so the cover protected everything on the inside. At first I thought it was a flat tire, but no warning messages came onto the control panel. There were not immediate safety issues, so I was able to get to a Toyota Dealership to have it repaired. I did not hear any gravel or road debris flip up onto my sunroof, nor did I hear any under my tires when driving. My vehicle was inspected by a service technician at the Toyota Dealership and he just said it was probably caused by an outside influence.

Filed Jul 31, 2026 · Body · CT

Driving on highway and suddenly panoramic sunroof glass shattered spontaneously. It nearly caused us to crash into median due to the sudden extremely loud noise that sounded like a gunshot at close range and then the sound of glass shattering and hitting into sunroof shade and top of car. My 18 year old daughter was driving and it was extremely scary for her and myself. No nearby vehicles on either side of the road or near an overpass. We were fortunately near an exit and able to safely remove vehicle from road. I feel extremely lucky that no accident or injury occurred and credit my daughter's ability to stay calm and not panic at highway speed. To date, the car insurance company Travelers states it is not covered as there was no accident and dealership states it is not a warranty item (but they have escalated it to Toyota corporate for further review) and no one is willing to repair it so far (including stand alone glass companies!). But it will certainly be several thousand dollars in repairs. In the meantime I cannot drive my car when there is any chance of rain or really at highway speed. No warning prior, no history of any cracks or damage to sunroof prior. The car is just barely 1 year old.

Filed May 31, 2026 · Visibility · TN

While driving on the highway, I heard an extremely loud noise followed by rush of wind. I was not under or near an overpass and there was nothing to indicate an impact by a foreign object. I arrived at my house 10 minutes after the incident and inspected my car. I determined the noise I experienced was the panoramic sunroof, of which the front panel spontaneously exploded while operating the vehicle. I could find no other damage to the car. The sunroof and internal shade cover were closed and not in use, nor was I trying to operate them. The sunroof had a large hole in the center directly under a luggage rail, and the glass around the hole was angled upwards. The small shards of tempered glass were contained on top of the sliding sunroof shade. There was no foreign object, damage to the soft interior sliding shade, or any dents/scratches on the roof. Had the sliding shade been open, the shards would have rained down on me and any passengers (none at time of incident). There were no vehicle warnings of any kind. I took it to the Toyota dealer who inspected the damage but refused to cover it under warranty. I filed an insurance claim with photos and it was approved for repair.

Filed May 25, 2026 · VA

Component that failed: Sunroof How was safety at risk: I was driving my 2025 Grand Highlander on Sunday, [XXX} in the morning. While I was driving, my sunroof exploded, causing a loud noise and a blowout in the front part of the sunroof (pictures included). There was no debris on the road or any other reason for the sunroof to have exploded. This was extremely shocking and concerning - if we had not kept the sunroof shade closed, the glass from the sunroof would have fallen directly on myself and my wife as we were driving, potentially causing an extremely dangerous situation. The sunroof blew outward, NOT inward as would have been expected if something had hit it and caused it to shatter. I also found multiple forums where I discovered that this is a common problem: [XXX] [XXX] [XXX] The problem is widespread enough across models that there is an ongoing lawsuit regarding panoramic sunroofs: [XXX] The dealer and Toyota are claiming that it had to be an external source, but again, there was no debris in the area or any other reason to cause the blowout. The vehicle has been inspected by the manufacturer's field service technicians. It is currently still at the dealer, awaiting final decision on coverage for the blowout. There were no warnings. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

Filed Apr 27, 2026 · NC

The 2025 Grand Highlander XLS front sun roof exploded. Will be taken to dealer upon appointment. Had the interior cover not been closed, we would have been showered with glass particles. According to many articles this is a known defect by Toyota. Lemberg Law phenom. Vehicle will be inspected by Toyoto dealer on Apr 29, 2026. There were no warnings. Outside temp was 64 degrees F. Traveling at 45 mph at 2:30 EDT, Apr 27, 2026. Massive exploding sound, like a gunshot. Pulled over to check vehicle and noticed front sun roof center blown outward and rest of glass fractured.

Filed Mar 8, 2026 · AL

Sunroof spontaneously exploded leaving an 8” hole and a completely shattered sunroof. The sunroof is flexed upwards like it was under extreme pressure. The high temperature was 70 degrees in Tuscaloosa today with cloudy skies and misty rain. So there shouldn’t have been any concerns from heat or cold. This left shattered glass every above the sunshade. Fortunately the shade was closed to catch most of the shattered glass.

Filed Feb 18, 2026 · Visibility · TN

The front panel of the sunroof shattered while the vehicle was parked in our garage. Glass shards are inside the car. The dealership submitted a claim to Toyota who denied any material defect and refused to repair under warranty.

Filed Nov 17, 2025 · ID

While driving at approximately 50 MPH with no other vehicles around, there was a loud bang and then the sound of air. We identified that the panoramic sunroof had exploded. We pulled over immediately and took photos of the sunroof which at that time was shattered but intact. There was a clear bulge upward and no sign of impact from an outside force. We then continued driving to our home approximately another 40 miles, during that drive shards of glass flew onto the roadway leaving a hole in the sunroof of approximately 10-12 inches. We brought the vehicle to Toyota dealership for a warranty repair. Toyota refuses to cover under warranty, stating outside influence. I am confident there was no outside influence causing the glass to explode. The vehicle is a 2025 Grand Toyota Highlander Hybrid Limited with approximately 9000 miles on it, the incident happened on Nov 2nd. 2025 around noon. Weather was mild, 50-60 degrees F, no precipitation or severe winds.

Filed Nov 11, 2025 · Body · ID

On 11/02/2025 with the cruise at 55mph all glass closed. Heater on with no vehicles around, the sunroof exploded. It pushed up from the inside. With less than 9k miles on the vehicle. It took my dealer 8 days to look at it then Toyota denied the warranty. Then Quoted me over $2,100 to replace. This vehicle isn't safe to drive as told to me from the dealer.

Filed Oct 16, 2025 · WA

Sun roof shattered unprovoked in 2 month old vehicle while driving slowly in parking lot. We didn't know what happened at first but then opened interior lining and the shattered glass fell into the cabin; nobody was hurt. when we took this to dealership, we were told this wasn't under warrantee and we had to get it fixed independently. I filed a complaint with Toyota Care but they denied covering cost to fix the shattered sun roof. We did not have the shattered sun roof inspected by anybody else but it has been fixed by glass shop.

Filed May 18, 2025 · OH

The Panoramic Roof Glass shattered on its own while driving on the freeway, there were no overpasses, no trees, no semi-trucks, no other vehicle in front of me while i was driving. The shattered glass pieces fell on my children in the back seats luckily there were no injuries as we closed the screen immediately.