2009 R36 Wagon Sunroof exploded overnight while parked in the garage over night

[Mr Spitfire]

Well I am pissed to say the least 😡

Went in the garage this morning and the sunroof as explode from within the cabin outward, there are shards of glass over the bonnet, roof, windscreen, garage floor and even in the cabin on the front seats console etc WTF 😡

I have just googled this and it seems to be common, and whilst I am reasonably active on forums I have never heard of this...anyone have any ideas

I will get onto the dealership in the morning, but I can just now see what stance VW will take on this...

The car has a full VW service history, I bet this will mean squat...and I can just see it I will have to suck it up and claim on my insurance...

Not happy 😡

[kamold]

wow that sucks! Surely it's not cold enough here in Aus for it to be a thermal shock event. These things are made for Northern European winters...

Hope you get some joy from your dealer, if not take it up with VWA, then consumer affairs. Clearly not fit for purpose if can spontaneously self-destruct.

[The One]

Goodluck with it matey, if they decide not to assist I'm not sure there's anything you can do? Since no-one can prove it broke by itself, e.g: how do you prove that something didn't fall from your garage roof and hit the glass? Unlikely I know, but I don't think any consumer affair jargon or anything like that can help you. All the best though. Never heard of this as a common issue...

[Polo GTEye N9]

Check out the ACCC website they offer suggestions on how to go about these Good Will matters, when out of warranty. I have used there templates to formally put my case with success at times. Try VWA for good will?

[LukePolo]

Hey! I just want to throw my 2 cents in there. I work for a window and door manufacturer and come across this sort of glass breakage day in day out.

What causes it is the expansion and retraction of the glass due to fluctuating temperatures. I agree with you that it shouldn't have happened, but all it takes is a bad seal, excess vibrations and a sudden increase or decrease in temperature, and bang...

Good thing with toughened glass though is that you can tell if there was an impact, having a brief look at your picture, there is no impact to the glass. Also if someone where to hit it, it would have shattered inwards, and not outwards ontop of that, the glass looks different as per the trauma.

Just saying, i think you might have a goodwill case on your hands.

Note also that the insurance company will not replace your glass with VW Glass, it will be AS approved glass from China and be of questionable but passable to Aus Standards quality...

Hope you get sorted.
Luke

[Caddyman]

Did you have your sunroof Tinted?

[Lucas_R]

Note also that the insurance company will not replace your glass with VW Glass, it will be AS approved glass from China and be of questionable but passable to Aus Standards quality...

Interesting info on auto glass Luke. Regarding your comment above - i recently had the windscreen in my Mk6 GTI Golf replaced as it was cracked, and O'briens used an "AS approved" glass.

Had nothing but problems with the 1st one, glass was visibly warped and therefore caused the wipers to shudder. Glass was also not clear (looks cloudy or foggy) and despite a clay bar / razor blade / polish etc it will not improve. To top it off, windscreen would leak whenever it rained or i washed the car.

Got it replaced, O'briens said glass was out of spec due to the warping. They used another windscreen of the same brand. All problems are solved except for the cloudy glass which is annoying.

The cloudyness would not bother me on a sunroof, but on the windscreen its annoying.

[LukePolo]

Interesting info on auto glass Luke. Regarding your comment above - i recently had the windscreen in my Mk6 GTI Golf replaced as it was cracked, and O'briens used an "AS approved" glass.

Had nothing but problems with the 1st one, glass was visibly warped and therefore caused the wipers to shudder. Glass was also not clear (looks cloudy or foggy) and despite a clay bar / razor blade / polish etc it will not improve. To top it off, windscreen would leak whenever it rained or i washed the car.

Got it replaced, O'briens said glass was out of spec due to the warping. They used another windscreen of the same brand. All problems are solved except for the cloudy glass which is annoying.

The cloudyness would not bother me on a sunroof, but on the windscreen its annoying.

Windscreens are made of whats called laminated glass (as ya'll probably know) Laminated glass is made up of two bits of annealed glass stuck to a PVC layering which is what holds the glass together when it smashes

What happens is what that AS approved glass made in China or where ever, the glass attached to the EVA or PVB layering is thinner and when it is melted and formed in factory through the rollers and moulds, you'll find more imperfections and potentially waves/warping in the glass or blurryness.

On a sunroof, the glass is not laminated, it's the same as the glass in the doors of the car which is called toughened, tempered or grade A safety glass. Laminated glass is not required in car doors or sunroofs.

Difference is there is no layering in between two pieces of glass and it is cooked differently in the factory. Toughened is a safety glass because of how it breaks, it is the same as a shower screen. It will break into granule type pieces instead of big shards like float glass or into the spider web formation like laminated glass.

[Mr Spitfire]

Did a little more digging and it seems that the temperature difference between the inside of the cabin and outside the vehicle and the type of OEM glass used is the culprit,

My R36 is a one owner vehicle and has a VW FSH, and is totally stock, the only thing I had done was window tint 6 years ago...the sunroof has no tint, and she has had a very easy life...

I will have the good wife load a couple of pics which will clearly show how the sunroof has been blown outwards from within the cabin,

It will go into the dealership tomorrow morning for assessment, and I will push for a goodwill warranty replacement...somehow I think I have more chance on leading the next mission to Mars..

[Umai Naa!!]

If you've owned it since new, with full dealer history, you should be ok. Kick up a stink if necessary.

As with all goodwill attempts, never expect to get the whole job covered. But do insist it gets a good vacuum.