2023 F150 - Sunroof Spontaneous Explosion

[SumGuy]

Unless you dropped $60k cash to pay for the vehicle outright, that's slightly irrelevant. The statement is akin to saying well you own a $500k home so you should be able to drop $33k on a new roof out of pocket.

More importantly, it's the principle of the matter. I did pay some good cash for the truck, so it should function relative to the amount paid. If this was wear and tear or I had personal liability in the creation of said damage, absolutely I'd agree. But spontaneous explosion where, not just vehicular damage, but actual bodily injury is a real possibility? I can't back anyone's financial situation being a factor in that scenario. A billionaire is just as entitled to their safety while operating a vehicle as much as a pauper, if if the issue is related to a manufacturer defect; whether that be in design or materials.

Not trying to start an argument and be a keyboard warrior, but clearly this is an emotional topic for me given my young son was in the vehicle when it happened. Thankfully we were uninjured, but companies need to be responsible for their product, particularly when it's likely the most dangerous thing the average American does on a daily basis.

I do regret getting the pano roof when ordering my truck. And I have kids too. I get it. I doubt ford will do much but hopefully they help you some.

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[Aonarch]

Why file with your insurance? Your rates will go up. Just pay it out of pocket.

Depends on the state. A comprehensive claim here doesn't effect your rates.

 

[L33der]

My ’19 did this one early morning as I was heading out to my hunting spot. When it “exploded,” I actually hit the ground because I thought someone had taken a shot at me—it was that loud and scared the hell out of me. I looked around and saw nothing, so I just went to my stand. When I came back about eight hours later, the inside of my truck had three inches of snow since the shade was left open .

Ford covered it under warranty, thankfully. Then about a month later the same thing happened again, this time to the passenger side cab glass when I turned on the rear defrost. That was also covered under warranty. Hopefully yours will be too.

 

[B-real]

I probably wont be popular with the OP for this post, but I dont see any indications that this is a widely occurring issue, or that Ford acknowledges that. On top of that, I cant see any reason why they would cover this. Even if you were within your 36k warranty I am sure they would say that there "possibly" could have been a rock strike to your glass prior to it breaking, which "could" have weakened the glass, therefore it is not a warranty item.

If I were in your boat I would just replace the glass. No way I am paying to have the entire system replaced. Those tracks can get cleaned out well enough to continue using them.

 

[Billflangjr]

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.

Yea just got mine replaced because it leaked like a Water Fall !

 

[Nomis]

Yea just got mine replaced because it leaked like a Water Fall !

Did you ever go through automatic car washes? I just use wand wash with the hope to avoid leaks.

 

[Billflangjr]

Did you ever go through automatic car washes? I just use wand wash with the hope to avoid leaks.

No I don't do Car washes at all. Dealer said I had a bad weather striping on glass. It's built into the glass so they replaced everything.
So far so Good, here in Florida it's been raining everyday!

 

[Delta55]

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.

Just had the same experience on 2 Dec 25 with my 2023 F-150 Lariat I bought brand new in Feb 24. My wife and I were driving on the interstate hwy when we heard the same loud sound you described (shotgun blast sound), no indication of any road debris hitting the vehicle and there was no other damage to the frame of the vehicle except the shattered rear sunroof panel. I have a little over 20,000 miles on the truck and will be taken it into the dealership to see if the repair is covered under the warranty.

 

[ginosega]

Just had the same experience on 2 Dec 25 with my 2023 F-150 Lariat I bought brand new in Feb 24. My wife and I were driving on the interstate hwy when we heard the same loud sound you described (shotgun blast sound), no indication of any road debris hitting the vehicle and there was no other damage to the frame of the vehicle except the shattered rear sunroof panel. I have a little over 20,000 miles on the truck and will be taken it into the dealership to see if the repair is covered under the warranty.

Man, that sucks. Let us know how it goes with the dealer, and good luck!

 

[Jerome10]

I kinda like light from sunroofs but ever since these pano roofs have become a thing my desire for them has gone way down.

My initial hesitancy was actually for accidents. Maybe I’m wrong but rolling over with an all metal roof seems better to me than same accident with the entire roof shattering and being open. I’m sure strength is ok but I’d rather have metal up there.

Then I started hearing stories of leaks and some shattering like this.

To be fair my uncle had a 2000-ish Mercedes ML SUV. That super popular one at the time. It was brand new and a total hunk of junk he didn’t keep long. But that thing had a regular rectangular sunroof that exploded on him on the interstate. So it isn’t just pano, though I’d imagine the much larger panes of glass make it more likely.

It sucks. I get why people like them (my sister has them in both their family cars and she raves about the sunlight, especially in the winter). They give a very open feeling to the cabin. But I sorta feel like the older rectangular ones gave you some light and could open on a nice day, but also keep the roof mostly metal and be less prone to stress shattering.

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