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2023 F150 - Sunroof Spontaneous Explosion

mmccor

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I've seen this issue in other threads but I believe most of them were older so reposting for any updates.

Drive a 2023 F150 Lariat with PB & BAP and around 54k miles. Purchased LY as a CPO after a tornado totaled out my 2013 F150.

Was driving back to Arkansas from Tulsa on Saturday 8/16 with my 10 yr old son in the car returning home from his soccer game. We were going 40 mph on a two lane road with no cars in front of us, no cars behind us (no vehicles in view in any direction), with no trees or structures above us. All of a sudden it sounded like a shotgun went off in the vehicle followed by noticeable airflow noises above me, which I immediately knew what happened (I work in the aftermarket industry so have some knowledge of vehicles). My son was immediately TERRIFIED as he is not used to loud noises, but thankfully I've been exposed enough to maintain safe control of the vehicle. The sun roof liner was closed so the broken glass I could hear falling down did not fall on either of us in the cab, but was caught by the liner.

After doing some research online it appears that this is a known enough issue that Ford is currently involved in a class action lawsuit which is ongoing.

I do have comprehensive insurance, so could file that route for the repair, but on principle alone can't justify shelling out $500 to deductible when this appears to be a known defect by Ford. I called Ford Customer Service yesterday 8/18 to create a case internally and took my truck to the only local dealership I trust to be competent in their service department. It does have a the 100K mile powertrain warranty but because this isn't related to the trucks ability to go, the service department stated there was nothing they could do to utilize said warranty. However, the service department did state in their report that "Inspect and did not find any obvious signs of foreign object intrusion to vehicle causing glass damage." Followed up with Ford CS after the trip to the dealership, at which point they stated they would have to contact the dealer to discuss, but Ford would not be covering 100% of the cost (estimate was $4k ish to replace entire pano roof including tracks). They did mention a program to help cover some costs, but could not guarantee anything.

At the end of the day, I will utilize insurance to get this fixed, but am really hoping to cause enough of a stink to get Ford to step up and do the right thing. Has any one had this issue and had any luck getting the cost of repairs covered by Ford? Any recommendations on how to handle would be greatly appreciated!

I really do love my truck, but cannot in good conscience continue recommend Ford to anyone else moving forward as I've already experienced so many issues on my last truck, as well as a few with current vehicle, that I'm considering abandoning the brand all together. I've been a loyal Ford customer since 2008 and a brand advocate in the automotive industry since 2012 when I joined my current parts company.

Ford F-150 2023 F150 - Sunroof Spontaneous Explosion Blown Sunroof


Ford F-150 2023 F150 - Sunroof Spontaneous Explosion Service Summary Edited - Copy


Ford F-150 2023 F150 - Sunroof Spontaneous Explosion Blown Sunroof 2


Ford F-150 2023 F150 - Sunroof Spontaneous Explosion Blown Sunroof 3
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Porpoise Hork

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Damn that sucks. Glad you had the screen closed. One of the potential issues with tempered glass. It can sometimes spontaneously shatter like that. You don't hear about this happening all that often but there have been reports of it across all makes and models, so it's not just a Ford issue. Your auto insurance will likely cover the cost of repairs minus the deductible of course.
 

Granger Ford

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I've seen this issue in other threads but I believe most of them were older so reposting for any updates.

Drive a 2023 F150 Lariat with PB & BAP and around 54k miles. Purchased LY as a CPO after a tornado totaled out my 2013 F150.

Was driving back to Arkansas from Tulsa on Saturday 8/16 with my 10 yr old son in the car returning home from his soccer game. We were going 40 mph on a two lane road with no cars in front of us, no cars behind us (no vehicles in view in any direction), with no trees or structures above us. All of a sudden it sounded like a shotgun went off in the vehicle followed by noticeable airflow noises above me, which I immediately knew what happened (I work in the aftermarket industry so have some knowledge of vehicles). My son was immediately TERRIFIED as he is not used to loud noises, but thankfully I've been exposed enough to maintain safe control of the vehicle. The sun roof liner was closed so the broken glass I could hear falling down did not fall on either of us in the cab, but was caught by the liner.

After doing some research online it appears that this is a known enough issue that Ford is currently involved in a class action lawsuit which is ongoing.

I do have comprehensive insurance, so could file that route for the repair, but on principle alone can't justify shelling out $500 to deductible when this appears to be a known defect by Ford. I called Ford Customer Service yesterday 8/18 to create a case internally and took my truck to the only local dealership I trust to be competent in their service department. It does have a the 100K mile powertrain warranty but because this isn't related to the trucks ability to go, the service department stated there was nothing they could do to utilize said warranty. However, the service department did state in their report that "Inspect and did not find any obvious signs of foreign object intrusion to vehicle causing glass damage." Followed up with Ford CS after the trip to the dealership, at which point they stated they would have to contact the dealer to discuss, but Ford would not be covering 100% of the cost (estimate was $4k ish to replace entire pano roof including tracks). They did mention a program to help cover some costs, but could not guarantee anything.

At the end of the day, I will utilize insurance to get this fixed, but am really hoping to cause enough of a stink to get Ford to step up and do the right thing. Has any one had this issue and had any luck getting the cost of repairs covered by Ford? Any recommendations on how to handle would be greatly appreciated!

I really do love my truck, but cannot in good conscience continue recommend Ford to anyone else moving forward as I've already experienced so many issues on my last truck, as well as a few with current vehicle, that I'm considering abandoning the brand all together. I've been a loyal Ford customer since 2008 and a brand advocate in the automotive industry since 2012 when I joined my current parts company.

Blown Sunroof.jpeg


Service Summary Edited - Copy.jpg


Blown Sunroof 2.jpg


Blown Sunroof 3.jpg
Oh wow. I do hear about this happening with temper glass but not seen it. Well the shade was closed so that's good!
 

Nomis

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This makes me want to drive with the shade closed haha. I didn't want a moonroof but all the 402a tremors in the lot had them.
 

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Powerboost_Law

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I had that happen on a 2003 Ford SVT lightning I had, the drivers side window just exploded one day.
 

Henfield

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Hidden stress fractures exist. If I order my next truck, it comes without a pano.
 

ginosega

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Same thing happened to me in my wife's Hyundai Santa Fe. Unfortunately we had the cover open so glass rained down on us all. No one got hurt but it for sure sounded like a shotgun going off and scared the heck out of us. To their credit Hyundai covered the replacement entirely and gave us a loaner car while it was on order. This was a known issue and there was a class action lawsuit pending against them at the time. Ford should step up and do the same for you.
 

Trainmaster

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Here in New York, a comprehensive claim against your insurance policy would cost you a $1,400 annual surcharge for five years. Cheaper to pay out of pocket.
 

Sojourner

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As mentioned above by @ginosega wrt to his Hyundai, this isn't strictly a Ford problem. IIRC, a number of other manufacturers are having similar problems.

Doesn't help the OP's situation, though. Glad everyone is safe.

Wish I could buy w/o a sunroof, but sadly it all comes down to packages....
 

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zx6roclet

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The one sole reason I ordered the base model tremor. This and those clown digi gauges were a no go.

Hope you get it resolved asap. Ford not having parts is total bullshit !
 

Kodiak

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A good reason to get the ceramic coating film. While this may actually heat the glass more with an internal film, it will/should hold it together if it explodes.

A nice external film would be better for heat reflection, but I do not know if they make those.
 

Eskram

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Mine is tinted as well. I took it with a grain of salt, but the shop that did it says they've done thousands of sunroofs and have never heard of issues breaking solely because of the tint.

I rarely use it, and if I actually ordered my truck, it wouldn't have been on the option list. It just happened to have everything else that I wanted and was available at the time I was shopping around.
 

hpwjr

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My sunroof exploded exactly as the OP described. My insurance had to cover it with a $400 deductible. It sounded like I’d been shot. Fortunately my cover was closed as well, but some glass still made it inside.
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