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Exploding sunroofs: Complaints are soaring-here are the car brands and models involved



Exploding sunroofs: Complaints are soaring-here are the car brands and models involved

 | Global News

Shayla Lovic and her husband, from Brampton Ont., were driving to a doctor’s appointment for their then three-month-old daughter on a quiet February morning this year when they heard what sounded like “an explosion.”

The roof of their 2016 Volkswagen Jetta had just shattered into tiny pieces. When Lovic, still confused about what had happened, turned to the rear passenger seat, she saw her infant daughter covered in glass, the 26-year old marketing manager recently recalled in an interview with Global News.

“At that point, I freaked out.”

The baby was unharmed, it turned out, but the sunroof shattering caused the car, which was traveling on Highway 427, to swerve. Thankfully it was around midday and there were no other vehicles around, she said.

Lovic’s story, which made news at the time, isn’t the first of its kind – or even the first to have made it to the media. Global News has reported on a number of such cases, including, most recently, that of Jim Ashe, a Calgary realtor, who in 2015 also got a scare from a loud noise while driving and pulled over to find the sunroof of his Buick shattered.

But instances of shattering sunroofs are becoming more and more common on Canada’s roads, according to data provided to Global News by Transport Canada.

The number of such complaints went from zero in 2007 to over 110 in 2016. The tally as of Oct. 16 of this year stood at 103 incidents.

Transport Canada has recorded 351 complaints about shattering sunroofs since the year 2000. Here are the affected car brands and models:

Brand # of Complaints Model # of Complaints
HYUNDAI 61 SANTA FE (HYUNDAI) 37
NISSAN 49 MURANO (NISSAN) 19
BMW 32 3 SERIES (BMW) 13
FORD 29 SORENTO (KIA) 10
TOYOTA 27 MAZDA3 (MAZDA) 9
KIA 17 RAV4 (TOYOTA) 9
MAZDA 15 ROGUE (NISSAN) 9
VOLKSWAGEN 15 FOCUS (FORD) 8
HONDA 14 EDGE (FORD) 6
JEEP 9 ELANTRA (HYUNDAI) 6
ACURA 8 PATHFINDER (NISSAN) 6
CHEVROLET 8 VENZA (TOYOTA) 6
DODGE 7 X5 (BMW) 6
MERCEDES-BENZ 7 CHEROKEE (JEEP) 5
INFINITI 6 CR-V (HONDA) 5
BUICK 5 ESCAPE (FORD) 5
CADILLAC 5 JETTA (VOLKSWAGEN) 5
CHRYSLER 5 JUKE (NISSAN) 5
MITSUBISHI 4 SONATA (HYUNDAI) 5
SUBARU 4 TIGUAN (VOLKSWAGEN) 5
VOLVO 4 VELOSTER (HYUNDAI) 5
AUDI 3 300 (CHRYSLER) 4
LEXUS 3 1 SERIES (BMW) 4
LINCOLN 3 ACCORD (HONDA) 4
GMC 2 C-CLASS (MERCEDES-BENZ) 4
MINI 2 COROLLA (TOYOTA) 4
RAM 2 F150 (FORD) 4
FIAT 1 GOLF (VOLKSWAGEN) 4
JAGUAR 1 GRAND CHEROKEE (JEEP) 4
OLDSMOBILE 1 HIGHLANDER (TOYOTA) 4
PONTIAC 1 MDX (ACURA) 4
SMART 1 OPTIMA (KIA) 4
Total (Oct 16, 2017) 351 SRX (CADILLAC) 4
ALTIMA (NISSAN) 3
CIVIC (HONDA) 3
CX-9 (MAZDA) 3
ENCLAVE (BUICK) 3
FRONTIER (NISSAN) 3
IMPREZA (SUBARU) 3
JOURNEY (DODGE) 3

South of the border, Americans have filed over 850 complaints about shattering sunroofs with the U.S. federal government between 1995 and September of 2017, according to Consumer Reports.

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