# Rear Glass Exploded all by itself.. anybody else heard of this?



## stickerdick (Dec 29, 2008)

We have a 2006 Nissan Pathfinder and while sitting in our driveway Saturday AM, nobody in the truck, we were all standing outside next to our other truck, the rear glass exploded out of the truck. From what we can tell, it was the gas struts pushing out against the glass. Took it to the dealer, and they have said it will not be warrenty. Have anybody else heard of this? We are trying to deal with Nissan, but We are not holding out hope for a good result.


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## NPath (Dec 12, 2004)

stickerdick said:


> We have a 2006 Nissan Pathfinder and while sitting in our driveway Saturday AM, nobody in the truck, we were all standing outside next to our other truck, the rear glass exploded out of the truck. From what we can tell, it was the gas struts pushing out against the glass. Took it to the dealer, and they have said it will not be warrenty. Have anybody else heard of this? We are trying to deal with Nissan, but We are not holding out hope for a good result.


Never heard of this before. Last time I heard someone's rear glass get blown out was when a dump truck full of gravel drove by.


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## dvdswanson (Nov 6, 2005)

actually yes, you probably had a small chip in the window and the change of temp from outside to inside caused the chip to stress and pop the window. seen it twice, cold morning and cranked the heater, 5 minutes later boom. scared the crap out of me.


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## ballsie (Mar 29, 2008)

I am on the tahoe/yukon forums a lot and I have seen several posts about that exact problem.. I dont think it is specific to Nissan.


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## ntech (Apr 13, 2010)

seen a lot of Pathfinders and never this situation. must have been chipped or cracked


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## underling (Nov 26, 2006)

While a rare occurrence it is not all that uncommon. Tempered glass is under compression and with heat/stress on the glass it can explode on it's own. Typically this is do to an internal flaw in the glass as part of the tempering process, but can also be caused by an external flaw that gets too close to the core of the pane which is under compression.


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## minnight (Oct 29, 2007)

Had a side window in my ford go on its own also.Initailly i thought someone broke it on me but 95% of the glass was on the ground and next to nothing inside the cab.Happened overnight.The glass guy said it was not uncommon due to imperfections along wirh chips along with temp changes and vibrations given by other vehicles driving by it.


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## kevster (May 11, 2010)

Insurance should cover this.


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## underling (Nov 26, 2006)

It's what would be considered an act of God, which most insurance companies would not cover. Typically glass is covered under vandalism. Doesn't hurt to check though.


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## TommyC (Dec 18, 2012)

I just got a phone call from the garage where my 2007 pathfinder was getting the aircon fixed and they have informed me that the rear window has smashed. I had only cleaned it the day before and there where deffinately no chips or cracks in it. At first i thought the struts had been over pressurised but they had been on the car from new. I am guessing it was the cold from the air con on the inside and the 30+ heat on the outside of the glass and it just gave way. Same description as above. Small shards throughout the winder and the struts popped through. 

Insurance covered it under accidental damage but with a $600 access.. Found a new aftermarket window for $300 fitted though.


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## IanH (Feb 11, 2003)

My sunroof broke on my Subaru Legacy and it was covered under the normal glass coverage, $50 deductible from memory....Had windshield and sunroof replaced under one claim deductible.


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## smj999smj (Jan 1, 2006)

Around 1998 I was working for a Nissan dealer in NJ during the winter. A customer drove their Z31 into the service write-up area of the shop. It sat there undisturbed, windows rolled up, for at least 20 minutes when all of the sudden the rear hatch window blew out into a million pieces!


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## iuoinc (Dec 1, 2014)

The tempered driver side window of my new 2014 Nissan Rogue exploded outward while sitting in my driveway on the first really cold night of fall. The broken glass was on the ground outside the vehicle. The car was unlocked so doubtful that it was a break in attempt, and there was absolutely no sign of vandalism or a projectile of any sort. Definitely seems linked to a flaw in the glass with the annealing or tempering process. Nissan and the dealership would not admit that there was a manufacturing defect of any sort, and my insurance had to pay the repair cost. Just hope that none of the rest of my car windows made in that batch decide to spontaneously explode on me or my kids!


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## smj999smj (Jan 1, 2006)

It just a weird thing that happens to some cars every now and then without rhyme or reason. Cold air on the outside and warm air on the inside and "pop." If it was vandalism, the glass would have been on the inside of the vehicle, rather than the outside. It stinks, but at least your insurance covered it.


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## asherscole (Jan 2, 2015)

Happened to me 2 days ago. Glass is shattered and held together by the tint. Small shards of glass were outside the vehicle and the missing glass was from the bottom and both sides. The top is hanging on, so far. The police said it was from being super cold outside, not having a window cracked open for pressure to escape and having a tinted window parked facing the sun. I live in Colorado so a mile closer to the sun than most and, according to the local police dept, this is common here. They then laughed at me and said "Welcome to Colorado"!


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## Ross1967 (Feb 13, 2015)

Just had this happen to our 2012 Pathfinder. Sitting in a pick up zone at a school and there was a massive explosion, causing all occupants to duck for cover. Sounded like a gun shot. Thank God for the tinting that saved our young boy in the back seat from being seriously injured. No chips in back window as we had only just cleaned it. I am lost for words.


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## ROJD (Feb 27, 2015)

This just happened to me yesterday. I have a 96 Pathfinder with the tailgate lift glass. The wife and I were out the night before, coming back from the gym, and being a cold night here in Colorado, had the defroster on. Nothing unusual. The next morning I went out to start my day, and the entire back glass was uniformly shattered. The left and right edges, fro the top to bottom corners were gone. Most of the glass was outside, on the bumper, ground, and some on the roof! That told me the window burst and blew glass everywhere. There was hardly any on the inside. Cost me $236.


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