2018 Toyota RAV4: sunroof shattered

Filed Sep 11, 2025 · MS

On September 3, 2025, I was driving down the I-10 in Biloxi, MS, at 6:45 a.m. It was around 75-80 degrees and the sun was just barely coming up. All of the sudden the glass in my sunroof completely shattered. There were no cars around me and it was an open portion of the road, so no rocks were flung up by nearby vehicles. Luckily, my kids were not with me, because a majority of the glass ended up in my backseat, ranging from huge chunks of about 3-4 inches in diameter to smaller shards being everywhere. I cut myself several times while trying to clean it up, so I can only imagine what it could have done to my kids! Luckily, I was able to keep my cool and not swerve off the road, as it was quite startling.

Filed Feb 12, 2023 · WA

While driving, the sunroof shattered for no reason. Upon inspection, one could see the glass pushed upwards. Since this is tempered glass and not lamented, glass shards were blown all over the place, big safety hazard.

Filed Aug 13, 2022 · PA

Sunroof just shattered/exploded while driving on highway. (Entering route I95N from Philadelphia). I did not see or was near any foreign object that could've caused this incident. Sunroof was closed, however the interior cover was open. When glass shattered, multiple fragments entered the car and fell on my body. Thankfully I was the only person in the vehicle. I was not injured by fragments. I was able to close the interior lining and continue driving to my house. Once home I was able to assess damage and vacuumed car. I took the vehicle to Thompson Toyota in Doylestown, PA yesterday 8/12/22 where it is being inspected and repaired. I am convinced this requires further investigation since I think this may be safety issue with this type of vehicle.

Filed Nov 24, 2021 · MA

I was driving and heard a loud noise like ice cracking from the roof. The shade covering the moonroof started to vibrate. When I was able to safely pull over, I saw that the moonroof glass had exploded. There was no object that struck the car, but the glass was completely shattered. Pieces of glass flew off the roof before I was able to pull over, putting other drivers at risk. If the shade had not been closed, pieces of glass would have fallen on me. In doing research, it looks like this has happened to many other Rav4 owners. The vehicle passed its state inspection in June and had an oil change at an auto repair shop less than a month ago, and no warnings were given. There were no warning lamps, messages, or other symptoms, and I had not tried to operate the moonroof while driving--the glass just exploded.

Filed Sep 28, 2021 · Visibility · TX

Was driving down the highway at 70 MPH and moon roof glass exploded out of nowhere. There were no warning signs and nothing struck the vehicle before the glass shattered.

Filed Mar 29, 2021 · Visibility · 72,125 miles · ID

The evening of sunday, march 28th, 2021 I was driving on interstate 84 in idaho near wendell, at approximately 83 MPH when the sunroof of my 2018 rav4 exploded without any warning. Luckily the shade panel was drawn, so no glass debris went into the car. My husband was in the passenger seat, and our 16 yr old daughter was sitting behind him. When I first heard the explosion, I thought we had a tire blowout, but I didn't feel a pull on the steering wheel. My next thought was that the rv next to me had a blowout, but they kept on driving. We could hear a lot of wind coming from the sunroof, so I pulled over at the next exit, which was close, and assessed the situation. The sunroof was gone! The remaining glass around the edges was all cracked and curved upwards, so it was obvious that it had exploded from the inside out. There was also a lot of glass debris inside the shade panel. Nobody pulled over and approached us, so we don't believe there were any eye witnesses. We were on our way home to boise after spending spring break in utah. We continued driving the remaining 2 hrs. Home, with my husband holding the shade panel closed, since we were afraid it my get sucked out. The wind was pretty deafening. The weather conditions at the time were clear and sunny, 75* with strong winds. We were not aware of any flying debris, nor did we hear anything hit the car before the explosion.

Filed Feb 1, 2021 · Visibility · 51,000 miles · GA

1/30/2021 traveling approx 74 MPH on interstate in light traffic and light rain (heavy drizzle) and outside temp around 47 degrees. I was listening to an audiobook when I heard a noise like a popping sound and then a roar as wind started coming in the car and what I now know was the shattered glass from my sunroof falling in on me. Shattered glass fell on me and when I moved it wedged itself between me and my seat making it uncomfortable to move for fear of being cut by the glass. It was not a rock the sunroof spontaneously exploded.

Filed Oct 27, 2020 · 9,200 miles · CA

My car is a toyota rav4 2018. On october 20, 2020, I was driving my car around 60 MPH with my son on a bright, sunny day in about 80 degree weather on highway 605n just past highway 60. Out of nowhere, we we heard a loud bursting noise that sounded like a gunshot. There weren't many cars on the highway and I was driving on the third lane from the outer edge. When I pulled over, I noticed the sunroof had completely shattered. We hadn't tried to open the sunroof at the time of the incident nor did it appear that a rock or other object hit the sunroof. On october 22, 2020, I took my car to the toyota dealership in westminster. The dealership said that they were not responsible for the damage but would contact toyota directly to see if toyota manufacturer would cover the costs. A few days later, I was told that toyota manufacturer would not take responsibility for the shattered sunroof. I would need to pay for parts and labor to get the sunroof repaired even though the incident was no fault of my own. My car has less than 10,000 miles because I barely drive it. My car spends most of the time parked inside my covered garage. I take extremely good care of my car that it doesn't even have any scratches on it. Upon searching the web, I noticed there were other reported incidents from people who experienced shattered sunroofs from their toyota cars. These types of incidents pose a serious safety issue. And what surprised me even more is that toyota is not taking responsibility for recalling the cars these defeats. I truly believe that toyota should be responsible for covering the cost for repairs for my sunroof and other cars that have had similar types of defeats.

Filed Feb 19, 2020 · Visibility · 25,679 miles · MD

At around 1:30 pm, february 7, 2020, on a sunny and windy day, I was driving on md rte. 32 heading towards columbia just past I-95, traveling about 60 MPH. I was driving next to a large truck and because there was a lot of wind, and the truck was being blown by the wind, I decided to drive pass it. After I had driven past the truck, I heard a very loud bang right above my head as if something exploded. I did not see anything and the car appeared to be ok, so I kept driving. But then I started hearing the sound of what I thought was something like gravel bouncing right above the slider that covers the sunroof. Because I did not know what just happened, I decided to head home which is just a few minutes away. When I got home I saw that the sunroof glass was shattered and most of the glass was gone. I called the service department of the company that sold me the car about getting the sunroof replaced and they told me that even though the car was only 2 years old and had a three year warranty, that I should call my insurance agent. I contacted our insurance agent and she said to call the claims department. She also mentioned that something must have hit the sunroof. To my knowledge nothing hit the sunroof to cause the glass to explode. I am not aware of any previous cracks or other damage to the sunroof that would have weakened it. I called the insurance agent, and was transferred to sunroof express, the company that handles the sunroof claims. I was required to pay my deductible and they sent a new sunroof to a repair company near me and the sunroof was replaced. At no time did any of these companies ask me what happened, which astonished me. Nor did they seem surprised at the occurrence. It was like this happens all the time and we want to be efficient and get it replaced for you as quickly as possible.

Filed Dec 13, 2019 · Visibility · 7,250 miles · VA

Sunroof exploded while driving at 65mph & no other vehicles around.the dealer where the vehicle was bought claims a rock caused the issue and will not pay for the repair.

Filed Jun 12, 2019 · 12,400 miles · OR

The sun roof suddenly exploded, while we were driving 55 miles an hour, straight, on the highway. Luckily we had the inner roof shield closed, otherwise the broken glass would have fallen into the car and onto the driver / passenger, putting us at serious risk of an accident. There was no sign of anything hitting the roof... And after we pulled over to safety, we noticed that the broken glass that was still attached to the roof was bent outwards (see attached pictures). When it exploded, we weren't opening any windows, it wasn't raining, and the outside temperature was about 70 degrees. The failure happened out of the blue.

Filed Jan 24, 2019 · Visibility · AZ

Tl* the contact owns a 2018 toyota rav4. While driving approximately 60 MPH, the contact heard an abnormally loud noise coming from the area of the moon roof. Suddenly, the moon roof exploded and glass fell onto the driver. There were no injuries. The vehicle was cautiously driven to precision toyota of tucson (700 w wetmore rd, tucson, az 85705, (520) 795-5565) where it was diagnosed that the moon roof needed to be replaced. The contact was not provided a loaner vehicle option. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The VIN and failure mileage were not available.