Wiper problems of the 2019 Toyota Highlander

November 7, 2023: while driving across the California desert at 70 miles an hour, temperature was 71°, and freeway traffic was light, without any other outside influences, the sun roof spontaneously exploded, blowing outward, as though someone had put an explosive between the glass and interior of the vehicle. It sounded like a shotgun blast. I pulled over and examined the vehicle; the remaining glass in the sunroof was blown out, arched above the roof of the vehicle, with a spray of shattered glass inside and on the roof of the car. There were no vehicles around me, no impact, and I’m returning home, I reviewed my dash cam looking for other signs (like a bird crashing into the roof). There was nothing. Upon searching this mystery, I found that many others have experienced the same thing. The car is now at the dealership. The car is well cared for, and the roof/glass, prior to the explosion, was undamaged.

The windshield has developed a rapidly lengthening crack from the bottom to the top at the center of the glass. There is no evidence of an impact anywhere along this crack.

While washing the vehicle the cold water from the hose caused the windshield to crack from the base of the windshield to the roof. Vehicle had been parked in the sun prior to this. Vehicle had just spend to the dealer for service sign and no mention was made of a prior crack or chip in the windshield.