So, like any other morning I decide to drive to work. I park my car next to the office, and about two hours later I was told I needed to move my car, since people (much more important than I) might need the parking space later one. Well, that's fine and dandy, so I go to my car, notice a few bird droppings on the roof, open the door, slammed it shut, and my roof shatters. Specifically, the third panel from the front, the non-movable one.

So, naturally dumbfounded, I stood right outside of my car for a good 20 mins. I tell my coworkers about it, they stand around for another 10. And then I grab a camera ad took these pics.






So here's my question: wtf happened? If you notice, the glass curves upward toward the hole...as if the force of impact is from within the car. Nothing in or around the car indicates anything dropped on it... no foreign objects within my car except for broken glass. nothing indicated to me before I opened the door that there could be anything wrong with the roof other than the happy bird juice splatter. It seems something weakened the integrity of the roof which would have turned it to jelly, waiting for me to slam a door to finally give in.

Now..... I have three possible outcomes:
1. glass was defective from factory and finally gave in (after four weeks?...weird timing)
2. something was dropped from above which did not break the glass but flew off to god knows where. or someone dropped something and went downstairs and retrieved it.
3. some hater was chipping at the side of the glass to ease a possible break in later.

Here's the weird part: if it was one of the latter two, then it was done so gently as to not wake the factory alarm I have in my car. Perhaps the alarm is useless afterall.

I think the most telling clue is the last pic there... if you notice, the rear edge is completely shattered while the front is relatively intact. Actually it's not intact at all, but it's in better shape than the back. It doesn't look like one single impact caused the weakening of the glass. If i had to bet, i'd bet on 3, cos we've had several break-ins around the area. But at the same time, that would be the most awkward entry point for the car, why not smash a side window? 2 seems far fetched (that should have set off the alarm, unless it sucks that much), while 1...they dont make auto glass that weak, do they?

In the meantime, my car is in the dealership while the mechanics investigate, and I get an echo to cruise around for now. I'm gonna do a 1/4 run on it, just to spite the world.

 

That sucks so much ___, man... I hope you work everything out.

 

What a nightmare!!

 

i live my life one echo quarter mile at a time.

 

holy crap! you must've slammed your door pretty freakin hard for that to happen, i've never heard of anything like that before, but then again there aren't too many glass-roofed cars around, but anyways, sorry for ur misfortune and i hope u can get it all worked out......

 

ok do this with the echo

1. Look for a nice open parking lot, no bumpstops or anything.
2. Hopefully it rains in the next 2 or 3 days
3. If it does rain, go out to the parking lot at night
4. Have as much fun with the e-brake as humanly possible
5. Tell the dealer the rear tires must have been defective
6. If that doesnt work tell them to screw off and it was payback for the glass

ps. If you dont mind, i would also like to know how fast those things can go

 

I know someone else posted their front, moveable glass roof panel broke after getting hit by a rock on the freeway (it was in open mode though).

I really am curious as to how much these panels cost as the glass roof does worry me somewhat.

Also, tip for everyone here... dont drive on the freeway or at speeds above 55 mph with the sunroof in vent mode or open. You're just asking for broken glass. This rule applies to any car with a sunroof that opens outside the roof. (who wants to go 75 mph with the roof open anyway?)

People like you are the reason we have welfare.

 

Was it cold outside... probably not that cold since you are in oakland. I have seen people break windows by slamming doors when it is cold outside.

Maybe the tC is just REALLY well sealed when the doors shut. Either way, yikes.

 

It was in San Francisco, actually. but yeah, it was bay area type cold... 50-55 and cloudy. Rained like crazy on Sunday. Today was nicer but still cold comparatively. And I don't think I slammed the door that hard...then again those doors are heavy. I'm starting to lean toward the grand hater auto theory again... mostly because of the rear edge thing. that's where the tampering probably occurred... they thought they could pry it open like some nonsliding liftback moonroof.

But I feel well taken care of at this point... if the dealership says warranty doesn't apply then I can get insurance to pay for it. 250 deductible but I have some money to spare. One thing I'm wondering about is why isnt it safety glass? Looking at the service manual (thanks DuMa!) it's only tempered. I easily could have had passengers in the back, and that would had been a bloody mess.

 

sigh...another thing to worry about that I hope never happens to my baby :?

hope it works out for you and dont abuse that echo.

 

The reason it is tempered glass and not safety glass is because safety glass would not hold up to heat and hold it's shape this is something we in the auto industry ran into many many years ago most likely (before your time) I know I just dated myself. Tempered glass will hold it's shape in the most extreme heat however it will also blow up in very extreme heat not something we have had here in cali as of lately. When tempered glass has had something hit it causing it to break the point of impact will be the center of a spider web. what I am saying is if you look at the glass you find a pattern in the break looks like a spider web and usually the center of the web is the contact point unforteunately not all of your glass is there. with out this area to prove impact your dealer should take responsibilty for the defective glass.

 

Yeah I have to agree with everything that's been said here.. except here's the part I was thinking about.. if you look at the picture you can tell something weakened the center area of that glass..

the pressure of slamming the door (even lightly closing it) blew that window out.. but what I'll have to determine on this tC is the evidence of a pressure relief valve from the inside cabin. Hondas have this.. at least my 91 and 96 did, you could hear a flapping noise (rear bumper left, area) if opening and closing the door quickly, this would allow the interior to not be as hot since extra temperature would increase pressure, blowing this open and allowing ventilation when a car is parked. I am beginning to think that the tC might not have this function, ever notice how HOT it is inside this car after being parked? And this pressure could weaken the glass over time and cause it to pop like this picture shows..

I think that the glass might be defective, but am leaning towards someone screwing around with it.. what is the production # of your tC? could be a bad one that slipped through the factory.. or early production run.. if they have a manufacturing glitch.. this could be a MASSIVE recall! and the liability is enormous.. but someone might have already weakened the surface by trying to break in.. that's what I am thinking..

you closing your door was just the part that did the glass in.. let us know how it goes and let us know your production # (last 4-5 digits of VIN)..

also.. i am in michigan, it's a lot colder here than san fran.. been cold at night in the high 20's-low 30's.. for about 4-5 days now.. raining, i think we had sleet and a little freezing rain (please help me out of michigan!!).. but the car has been fine.. the temp couldve helped this weakened state, if someone screwed with it..
sorry about that, yeah it sucks!

 

That sux!
I'm thinking it may be a hot/cold issue. Like it was cold outside the car but hot inside the car. Was it? Did you park in direct sunlight with both shades open?

 

Wow. I have a few comments about this issue.

First off, I live in San Antonio, TX, where it's always hot as hell. I don't work until about 5pm, meaning my car is baking in the sun until that time. You can imagine the temperature of the car on the inside. Anyway, my point is, it's super hot here, and this never happened to me or anyone else.

Also, Kaypee stated that the car only sat there for about 2 hours until they went to move it from the side of the building. That's not long enough to really heat up the inside from the sun.

Another thing is the "pressure". Anytime the door is opened, the pressure (if any) would be instantly equalized with the outside air. So an immediate spike in the interior pressure of the vehicle is highly unlikely. Even if you were to slam the door as hard as you could, the glass more likely to break would be the one in the door. Also, cars aren't "sealed" when the doors close. There are vents,... and have you ever noticed water on your door sills when it rains?

I would rule out pressure or heat.

I think someone was messing with your car or you got a bad panel...and yes, the Scion Security system is a POS, in my opinion. It doesn't "alert" you for anything unless the glass really is broken. (I argued with Scion HQ for an hour about this issue )

Anyway, I would try to get Scion to replace it if possible. Maybe it was a faulty panel, or maybe someone was really tampering with your car. Either way, if Scion will replace it, cool beans. At least you won't have to report it to your insurance. Good luck.

- Desi

 

I leaan towards the defect theory. a buddy of mine bought a new honda element a few months back. he'd only had it for a couple of weeks when the same thing happened to him with the back window. he was just driving along and "bang" the glass broke. if in the manufacture or the handling of the glass it got a small chip on the edge or something then it would just be an accident waiting to happen.

 

[quote="kaypee"]



quote]

it wasn't the force of vibration that broke the glass, it wuz how quick yu closed the door. take a look at the pictures. the glass shatters upwards and to the outside. if the glass had shattered to vibration only, gravity would pull the broken pieces into the cabin. the air pushed into the cabin by your closing of the door needs to escape somewhere, and your sunroof gave in as it proves to be the weakest part of the car.

aside from that point, the glass roof yu had could still be defective, but it wasn't impact that broke the glass.

you may choose to disagree.

 

I would partially agree with hnefrdo, but with one difference: I would be willing to bet the glass is prestressed from the factory and that it just needed an excuse to break. This piece of glass was probably defective and the sudden pressure/vibration made it break. The fact that the glass went up says prestress to me- break a twig in half and it splinters outside the curve. Also, you did not mention if you were singing a very high note when you closed the door. Anyway- toyota's fault.

 

sorry to hear about it, i can't really think of anything new besides the stuff that has been said. i just hope you'll get it replaced free of charge.

 

Update...

So anyone wanna know the cost of that panel? A bit under $1400. Don't know if it includes labor or not.

Mechanic says it's not covered under warranty...although it doesn't look like he did anything more than a cursory inspection. So I reported the claim, looks like insurance will just roll over (dumbasses, they're out $1200+ if they don't fight it) so I'm gonna call Scion Corporate and try to get some information. I'm prepared to just pay the deductible, so I'm not irate at all.

 

This reminds me of a few years back in Norfolk we were staying at a hotel, and we had a huge nor-easter (big storm from the atlantic that comes out of nowhere) roll through, and the pressure dropped immensely, all while our dodge caravan was parked outsite. A few hours later we notice we can see the seatbelt through one of the windows... wait a minute.. the windows are tinted! The pressure inside the cabin was quite a bit heavier than outside. Had to replace the window and the price was just below deductable... It sucks, but not really the fault of Dodge at the time, or Scion now, because this situation is so freak. However, a blowoff valve like the one from the honda mentioned is a great idea.