Exploding sunroof on Hyundai Sante Fe

[stout]

My panoramic sunroof on my 2022 Hyundai Sante Fe spontaneously exploded today while driving down a county highway…the glass shattered and fell in (tempered glass failed completely resulting in a 18” x 20” hole and glass fell onto the retractable fabric sunroof cover, so not into the car itself). Likely due to heat, as there was nothing else around us. We were able to pull over and eventually get the vehicle to a dealership who put us in a loaner and said it will be fixed in 3-4 weeks. I alerted NHTSA, as I personally know of another Hyundai owner who had the same thing happen to his sunroof last week and the complete spontaneous failure of tempered glass does not bode well for safety in a rollover accident. When I called Hyundai from the dealership to file the incident claim, the customer service rep told me this was a known problem with the Hyundai panoramic sunroofs. I’ll never buy a vehicle with a panoramic sunroof again.

 

[cvjw]

When I was lemoning out my 2013 Nissan pathfinder for cvt issues, others were lemoning theirs out for panoramic sunroof defects. I did research on the Subaru ascent when I was thinking of purchasing one, and those cars also had a problem with their panoramic sunroofs. I have one in my Honda Pilot and have had zero issues. My son has one in his BMW and also has had zero issues. I suspect it may be certain car manufacturers who have the most issues.

 

[Anthony1971]

Every Car maker has had them shatter. If you were to buy another a car with smaller rims and gentle ride -- avoiding big bumps helps as well. Hit a big bump ( a much smaller one with bigger rims) the car will flex overtime this can weaken and shatter the glass. Sorry that happened. I was happy the last car I bought the glass roof was an option on the top line version although it was a stargazer roof which is even more glass then a panoramic. Every other car prior had glass sunroofs that I used maybe 3 times in each car...... But when I was in 20's the T tops were always off.

 

[TheSouthernBelle]

My panoramic sunroof on my 2022 Hyundai Sante Fe spontaneously exploded today while driving down a county highway…the glass shattered and fell in (tempered glass failed completely resulting in a 18” x 20” hole and glass fell onto the retractable fabric sunroof cover, so not into the car itself). Likely due to heat, as there was nothing else around us. We were able to pull over and eventually get the vehicle to a dealership who put us in a loaner and said it will be fixed in 3-4 weeks. I alerted NHTSA, as I personally know of another Hyundai owner who had the same thing happen to his sunroof last week and the complete spontaneous failure of tempered glass does not bode well for safety in a rollover accident. When I called Hyundai from the dealership to file the incident claim, the customer service rep told me this was a known problem with the Hyundai panoramic sunroofs. I’ll never buy a vehicle with a panoramic sunroof again.

We've had a few Hyundai vehicles and as oddball problematic as they can be, for the most part, they've done well with covering their known issues and problems. The downside on Hyundai, a second owner warranty is 60,000 miles which is a bummer, not the 100K.

Given it's a 2022, I'd presume the sunroof will be replaced for you at no cost so that's hopefully a positive in this case. We have a 2016 santa fe with the giant sunroof that goes all the way back to the 3rd row and I hope that it doesn't die or shatter on me. However, all three of our hyundais we've had have had burning oil issues, two were sonatas and the most recent is the 2016 santa fe. Our sonatas had their engines replaced by hyundai at their expense given we were the first owners and inside of 100K miles. Unfortunately, our santa fe was purchased second hand and is only under warranty as a second owner until 60k miles. At 80k miles we noticed the same oil issue. So, Hyundai won't replace our engine or repair at no cost. I've read that hyundai/kia have fixed the issue however, there are still comments on the hyundai boards that newer hyundais are still experiencing oil consumption issues. I know you're likely preoccupied with your sunroof debacle right now but keep an eye on your oil consumption given this is such a widespread issue with hyundai and kia. It usually starts cropping up around 50-75K miles for most owners. Every car maker has their issues, but what makes ownership more enjoyable is not having to dump a bunch of money into them. Just google it and keep an eye out for the issue, they may not do an engine recall, ours didn't have one but we still had our engine replaced. Good luck with the roof!

 

[LYSE]

That sucks, but it's just luck of the draw. I once had a shower door spontaneously burst.

Hopefully you have a nice loaner.

 

[stout]

We have a 2016 santa fe with the giant sunroof that goes all the way back to the 3rd row and I hope that it doesn't die or shatter on me. However, all three of our hyundais we've had have had burning oil issues, two were sonatas and the most recent is the 2016 santa fe. Our sonatas had their engines replaced by hyundai at their expense given we were the first owners and inside of 100K miles.

Oh yes, unfortunately! My DD17 is driving my old 2017 Hyundai Sante Fe and we just finished the three oil consumption tests (it failed all three) and are now on the detergent portion (not exactly sure what that is), but the dealer says a new engine is in her future…that one has 78,000 miles on it.
Yes, my sunroof will be replaced under warranty and my rental is covered. It was just so shocking on Saturday. I’m still avoiding panoramic sunroofs (and maybe Hyundai) when I purchase something new in a few years.

 

[TheSouthernBelle]

Same here. I’ll be avoiding Hyundai on our next purchase too. I thought maybe we just had bad luck but it seems like it’s so widespread.

 

[MomToOne]

I have had 2 Hyundai Sonatas now. They have been great cars for me - first one was right at 100,000 miles and still going crazy strong when some idiot totaled it in a wreck. I was upset - I'm convinced that car would have gone another 100,000 miles. My current one is pushing 90,000 miles now and has only needed the normal wear and tear type repairs. And that car is supposedly one of the ones with the possibility of one of the "big" issues. But it shows no signs of it and they've extended the warranty for that problem for what seems like forever, so I'm good with it.

But besides being too cheap to pay for extras this is also why I don't buy bells and whistles like sunroofs - just more stuff to break in my eyes. I go with base models. About the only thing I insist on is power windows and bluetooth LOL

 

[ronandannette]

Same here. I’ll be avoiding Hyundai on our next purchase too. I thought maybe we just had bad luck but it seems like it’s so widespread.

Widespread for tempered glass, nothing to do with Hyundai. I’ve had it happen in a Dodge and one of our Chevy work vans. As somebody mentioned upthread it happens with glass shower doors and even Pyrex bakeware occasionally. It just happens...

 

[TheSouthernBelle]

Widespread for tempered glass, nothing to do with Hyundai. I’ve had it happen in a Dodge and one of our Chevy work vans. As somebody mentioned upthread it happens with glass shower doors and even Pyrex bakeware occasionally. It just happens...

I'm avoiding Hyundai for the oil burning issues I mentioned above, not the sunroof. I have had 3 hyundais and all 3 had the same issue sadly.