2020 CX-5 Exploding sunroof

[Leaser]

Be very aware of Exploding Sunroofs in the 2020 Mazda CX-5 GT. Less than 1 year old, under 20000 km. Exploded outward on a pleasant day, quiet highway at 110 km/hr.. Startling blast, ear damaging?, Had just finished an oil change and washing at Gary Moe Mazda, Red Deer, Alberta. (10 minutes earlier. Mazda Canada will not cover the sunroof glass replacement ($600 Can.)
Will check our insurance, but obviously it’s a Mazda DEFECT, and will be reported to Consumer Reports as well.

 

[Buzzman12]

My instant reaction is, screw you Mazda.
I cannot believe the continued non support from this Company for it's products and Customers.
Reading posts on here time and time again where Mazda dealerships and Corporate give the royal finger to it's clients. I have experienced it first hand from several dealers regarding my premature rusting brakes.
Zero sympathy and zero commitment from employees to even make it look like they give a sheet.
How this Company expects to grow and to build Customer loyalty is beyond me.
Replacing the sunroof for free should be a no brainer.
Personally, I decided quite a ways back that my next car will not be a Mazda.
The only decision I still have to make is on how long to keep the 6.
As for you Leaser, don't give up the fight.

 

[Leaser]

My instant reaction is, screw you Mazda.
I cannot believe the continued non support from this Company for it's products and Customers.
Reading posts on here time and time again where Mazda dealerships and Corporate give the royal finger to it's clients. I have experienced it first hand from several dealers regarding my premature rusting brakes.
Zero sympathy and zero commitment from employees to even make it look like they give a sheet.
How this Company expects to grow and to build Customer loyalty is beyond me.
Replacing the sunroof for free should be a no brainer.
Personally, I decided quite a ways back that my next car will not be a Mazda.
The only decision I still have to make is on how long to keep the 6.
As for you Leaser, don't give up the fight.

Thanks for this!
It really wouldn’t cost them much!
Leaser

 

[Sig cx-5]

This is nothing unique to Mazda. You were one of the unlucky ones. This is one of the reasons we have insurance.

 

[Leaser]

Thank you!

 

[CarpeDiem]

I guess the OP will have to join the thousands of Honda and Toyota owners who had to file class action suits over their exploding sunroofs!

Toyota Exploding Sunroofs – Has it Happened to You?

Exploding sunroofs has been an issue with an alarming number of new cars including Toyota and Honda models and nobody seems to know the exact reason.

topclassactions.com

Here’s Why New Toyotas are Exploding

Here’s Why New Toyotas are Exploding, DIY and new car review with Scotty Kilmer. Car sunroof exploding problem. Buying a Toyota. Is the Toyota worth it? Buyi...

youtu.be

If You Own One of These 10 Cars, Your Sunroof Could ‘Explode’

Having a sunroof in your car is an open-air luxury that used to actually be an option in new cars. Nowadays, it seems like every car, even in its base

www.motorbiscuit.com

Drivers Still Say Their Panoramic Sunroofs Are Exploding - Is Anything Being Done About It?

One group of consumers who have been at the mercy of this dance for years are those who have owned or leased a vehicle equipped with a panoramic sunroof that suddenly exploded.

www.classaction.org

 

[Leaser]

Thanks for this!

 

[yrwei52]

Be very aware of Exploding Sunroofs in the 2020 Mazda CX-5 GT. Less than 1 year old, under 20000 km. Exploded outward on a pleasant day, quiet highway at 110 km/hr.. Startling blast, ear damaging?, Had just finished an oil change and washing at Gary Moe Mazda, Red Deer, Alberta. (10 minutes earlier. Mazda Canada will not cover the sunroof glass replacement ($600 Can.)
Will check our insurance, but obviously it’s a Mazda DEFECT, and will be reported to Consumer Reports as well.

Looks like you’d contacted the Mazda Canada directly and they refused to help you to cove the moonroof replacement. I feel Mazda Canada is worse than Mazda North American Operations in the US on helping their loyal customers. We’ve seen many successful cases here that MNAO has approved the moonroof replacement in the same situation. I also believe the moonroof explosion has to be the defect of tempered glass itself, or improper installation which created imbalanced pressure to the glass. as we can see the explosion is outward, and how difficult an object can break the glass in almost parallel while the car is moving on the highway?

Yes, the OP can use insurance to pay for the moonroof replacement, but he may have deductible to meet, and he most likely will have premium increase in the future due to this claim.

 

[sm1ke]

Some owners have been "lucky" with getting their sunroofs replaced by Mazda, but generally people find some resolution through their auto insurance. It's a shame that this issue is as common as it is in the auto industry - you would think that glass manufacturers would have figured out the reason for all the blowouts and engineered a fix for it by now.

 

[181962]

Appealing to Mazda Canada directly would be worth a try if not done so already. I wouldn't stop at what the dealer said about Mazda policy if that was the case.

Making a point of the fact you had just come from a dealer service raises the possibility they did something to create the pre-conditions for this event.

It is possible there was an impact from a small object you did not detect in combination with the glass in a specific, peculiar and vulnerable state--temp, residual water from the wash, interior vs. exterior barometric pressure, whatnot all in combination where a small impact would cause the explosion. An automaker's stonewalling will likely be a presumption of an impact which of course would not be covered under warranty which is what you have to push against.

 

[181962]

Some owners have been "lucky" with getting their sunroofs replaced by Mazda, but generally people find some resolution through their auto insurance. It's a shame that this issue is as common as it is in the auto industry - you would think that glass manufacturers would have figured out the reason for all the blowouts and engineered a fix for it by now.

While many if not most automakers have experienced the issue in one model year or another, in point of fact the reported instances are quite rare relative to the number of vehicles sold. There were only about 1,200 cases across the industry reported to the NHTSA over the 1995 - 2019 period as noted in the Scotty video. I'm not sure if the NHTSA has ever pushed for a mandatory recall on the matter though there have been a few voluntary recalls and TSBs.

What's interesting is reporting on the issue has all but dried up starting in 2020. Perhaps the glass manufacturers quietly went about changing their processes or issued some new guidance on frame design . Another possibility is that the instances have remained rare and the press lost interest.

To bring a little humor to the matter, though perhaps not amusing to the OP, here's a Hyundai Veloster recall TSB from 2013:

https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/rcl/2013/RCRIT-13V051-5876.pdf

The TSB calls for covering both sides of the glass with templates followed by dropping a specific steel ball through a PVC pipe of a specific length and diameter at a room temperature of 65 - 75 F degrees. If it didn't break the owner was sent on his way. If it did, then he got new glass.

In any case, beware the anecdotal fallacy. One cannot take a ratio of the number of threads or posts on a particular issue to the total threads or posts and project that to a frequency of occurrence, if that needs to be said. Sites like this attract enthusiasts and people with problems whereas the great mass of not unhappy buyers wouldn't bother coming to a site like this.

If you google "Mazda exploding sunroof" the first link is to a thread at this site. It is entirely possible that many, perhaps even most, of the instances of a shocking problem such as spontaneously exploding glass is reported here and seeking advice especially with service departments stonewalling.

 

[Leaser]

Mazda Canada now has 3 month warranty. Replacing the sunroof at our cost. CX-5 is JUST under one year old therefore not eligible for warranty replacement. Inspection and oil change last week did not involve sunroof, although they did wash the vehicle (nice!). It would be nice to see a one year sunroof warranty in the future and/or fix the problem!

Thank you everyone for your valuable advice!

 

[sm1ke]

Mazda Canada now has 3 month warranty. Replacing the sunroof at our cost. CX-5 is JUST under one year old therefore not eligible for warranty replacement. Inspection and oil change last week did not involve sunroof, although they did wash the vehicle (nice!). It would be nice to see a one year sunroof warranty in the future and/or fix the problem!

Thank you everyone for your valuable advice!

Some further advice - advise Mazda Canada that you will be filing a complaint with the NHTSA and the BBB as this is a safety issue (this happened while driving, which is potentially dangerous and distracting to other drivers, but also very distracting to you as the driver), then contact the NHTSA and file a complaint, as well as the BBB. If there are more complaints out there, it may spark the NHTSA to investigate further.

 

[Buzzman12]

Mazda Canada will not cover the sunroof glass replacement ($600 Can.)
Will check our insurance, but obviously it’s a Mazda DEFECT, and will be reported to Consumer Reports as well.

I would like to hear their excuse for not repairing this under warranty.
Mazda Canada has a 3 year/unlimited distance warranty, bumper to bumper.
I read the whole thing, and nowhere does is state in the exceptions that the shattered glass is not covered.
This is especially disturbing as it happened within the first 12 months.
What is their reasoning here?
If this were me, I'd be livid.

 

[SLM62]

I know this is an old thread, but to add to it, My wife's 5-year-old '18 CX5 just had the sunroof shatter while driving down the road. Seemingly spontaneously. Not following any vehicle, very average temperature, cloudy day, no likelihood of rock bouncing onto it. Also, initially, there was a fist-sized hole of missing glass, but most of that glass ended up sliding on the roof behind the sunroof, evidence that it shattered with upward forces. It is tempered glass, not laminated. From online research I've done so far, it seems this is an uncommon but not unheard of phenomenon for cars of all makes with sunroofs and glass roofs. Spontaneous shattering like this could be a flaw that takes time to reveal itself (poof!), or unusual stresses (temperature or incorrect stresses from when it was assembled, etc), or other unknown causes. Ours will be covered under insurance, but still a $300 deductible.
Buzzman12, I can't blame Mazda (or all the other manufacturers) for balking at covering this under warranty. This is an insurable claim, just like a rock-busted windshield would be. The issue being that the nature of tempered glass makes it really hard to determine a definitive cause. So, I claim to Mazda that it broke spontaneously, but really, how do they (or even I) know it wasn't a rock, kid's baseball, or who knows? And considering how rampant fraud and scamming is in this society and culture, I don't blame anyone for needing proof. (Sorry for the cynicism!)
Considering the excellent reliability of this car and the other 5 Mazdas we've owned over the past 18 years, I can accept this is just freak bad luck and so it does not shake my faith in Mazda generally. But geez, what a pain!!
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[D.O]

After reading a few threads about this I am planning on buying some hurricane window film! I think that would at least prevent shards raining down. This could be preventative maintenance for the '21 cx-5 with 9,600 miles I just got.

 

[cz5gt]

Good tint should help too and also you get infrared (heat) and uv protection bonus.

 

[ceric]

Good tint should help too and also you get infrared (heat) and uv protection bonus.

Agree. I have seen it. Tint film is able hold broken pieces together. For huge roof glass, it still might cave in.

 

[Hylux]

I would not put any film on. I have been told by a professional window tinter and read it somewhere. It will increase the risk of shattering, it was something to do with heat reflection back into the glass. Do some research.

 

[D.O]

Hmm I did some reading and some say yes it will reflect heat in the glass and many others say it works no problem. But I would be using clear security film so it shouldn't have a big effect on the heat.
https://www.consumerreports.org/car-safety/laminated-glass-reduce-risk-exploding-sunroofs/