[CBW]

Greetings all,
Has anyone ever heard of this happening? I got in my brand new Tundra yesterday late morning, it one of the few times here in Texas that everything was frozen so I had to sit a few minutes blasting the defroster. Once ice melted from the windshield I drove a few hundred yards, (on my property not on the road), with heater on full blast, to the barn so I could shovel up some sand to spread on icy walkways. Got there, put gear in park and was sitting there with heater still blasting on high while putting on my work gloves when suddenly heard a big explosion behind me! Turned to look and the rear window had just exploded for no reason that I could see! I got out and looked all around to see what could have possibly hit the window but there was absolutely nothing. No tree limbs overhead, no trees even nearby, no one else around, nothing had fallen into the back of the truck. Nothing. I was dumbfounded. I could only conclude that there must have been a defect of some sort in the glass or the window such that the extreme outside cold combined with the high heat inside must have caused it. It was so loud I actually thought someone was shooting at me and ducked down as low as I could in the seat. If I had been driving on the highway it likely would have caused me to wreck. This truck is barely a month old. I have contact Toyota of Cedar Park about repair and they seem very skeptical about believing me saying that they will have to investigate whether Toyota is responsible because they have never heard of this happening. So if you have had this happen before or if you have heard of it happen I would really like to know and what the outcome was.
Many thanks!

C

 

[Brian20]

The newer 2014+ Chevy Silverado/GMC Sierras have this same issue as well. It has something to do with the rear window defogger electrical connections, as in being a poor connection to the window, causing extreme heat, and shattering the tempered glass. Google it…loads of stories there, not that it will help you with the Toyota dealer, but it may give you a direction to look so you can maybe point out the flaw to the dealer. Good luck.

 

[cliffy]

I've never heard of this. I've had my '22 for over a year now in Ohio subzero weather banging through fields, etc. I'd check into what Brian20 posted above, for sure. Is your Tundra a crewmax? Maybe the rear window was installed on a bind or something?

 

[2underpar]

Not sure I buy extreme heat being the issue, tempered glass is heated to over 1,000 degrees. My guess is there is not sufficient molding somewhere protecting the edge of the glass. I worked at a glass company for years and you'd be surprised at how hard you can hit tempered straight on, literally with a hammer and not break it. Meanwhile, a button on your coat hitting the edge of the glass can pop it.

 

[CBW]

I've never heard of this. I've had my '22 for over a year now in Ohio subzero weather banging through fields, etc. I'd check into what Brian20 posted above, for sure. Is your Tundra a crewmax? Maybe the rear window was installed on a bind or something?

Yes a Crewmax. One month old.

 

[CBW]

Not sure I buy extreme heat being the issue, tempered glass is heated to over 1,000 degrees. My guess is there is not sufficient molding somewhere protecting the edge of the glass. I worked at a glass company for years and you'd be surprised at how hard you can hit tempered straight on, literally with a hammer and not break it. Meanwhile, a button on your coat hitting the edge of the glass can pop it.

Ok what about extreme cold on outside and extreme heat on inside. Absolutely nothing hit the window, I was sitting in still on my property. After a little research I did find a type of defect that can cause it, “Nickel Sulfite Inclusion”. Since you work at a glass company have you ever heard of that?

 

[CBW]

I really really do not want to file this on my insurance and don’t think I should have to.

 

[2underpar]

Ok what about extreme cold on outside and extreme heat on inside. Absolutely nothing hit the window, I was sitting in still on my property. After a little research I did find a type of defect that can cause it, “Nickel Sulfite Inclusion”. Since you work at a glass company have you ever heard of that?

I hadn't heard of that specifically but after looking it up one of the reasons is due to glass edge damage. When glass is tempered it is constantly under pressure after tempering, that's why it pops and explodes when it breaks. I'm not a glass expert but I do live in the Northeast so we deal with extreme cold all the time, you never hear of this. I'm just guessing after being in the industry for 16 years what the most logical assumption would be. I feel for you though cause I can't imagine how you prove it's not your fault....I'm not saying it is at all, I'm just saying you have to prove it's their fault to get them to pay for it. Good luck and keep us posted.

 

[CBW]

I hadn't heard of that specifically but after looking it up one of the reasons is due to glass edge damage. When glass is tempered it is constantly under pressure after tempering, that's why it pops and explodes when it breaks. I'm not a glass expert but I do live in the Northeast so we deal with extreme cold all the time, you never hear of this. I'm just guessing after being in the industry for 16 years what the most logical assumption would be. I feel for you though cause I can't imagine how you prove it's not your fault....I'm not saying it is at all, I'm just saying you have to prove it's their fault to get them to pay for it. Good luck and keep us posted.

Thanks for that info. Only proof I have is my photos. The show where the truck was parked with nothing else around, no dents or scratches and that it exploded outward and not inward along with bits of info like what you have provided here so thank you for that!

 

[cliffy]

I would also ask the tech to make sure the window was tracking properly and not binding some how. The seals should be checked also mine is a double cab but three of the four door window seals need replaced. None of my windows have shattered but the front door windows are noisy so seals are are problem on these trucks. Just an idea…

 

[310z]

I have heard of this happening. I have also returned to a truck in the woods with no one else around on a very cold morning. The window that shattered was in direct sun that morning. When returning to the truck around noon a side window was shattered.
With no evidence to back up my statement, I have been told it is weather related extreme heat or cold and some kind if stress at attachment points bolts or glue. I would call an auto glass replacement company and ask some questions as I know they have heard this story before and someone may know the cause. Toyota is not going to cover replacement until they can see a pattern and relate it to a production line issue, glue, heating element, or glass problem. But don't think that you are the only one this has ever happened to.

 

[Atombum]

My Dad had a black '75 Buick Regal that busted a passenger side front window while sitting in the parking lot where he worked. As in the OP's case, the glass fell both inside and outside the car. It was also in view of a guard shack, so vandalism was unlikely. It was summertime and that side of the car was facing south, so it was chalked up to a heat-related issue. After that, he never left the windows in the doors completely rolled up for fear of it happening again.

Tempered glass isn't immune to busting when there are temperature differences across the surface. Look up corningware. They changed their tempering process many years ago to save money and the new products are more prone to busting than the ones produced with their original method.

Knowing this, I'd hope Toyota would make this right.

 

[2underpar]

My Dad had a black '75 Buick Regal that busted a passenger side front window while sitting in the parking lot where he worked. As in the OP's case, the glass fell both inside and outside the car. It was also in view of a guard shack, so vandalism was unlikely. It was summertime and that side of the car was facing south, so it was chalked up to a heat-related issue. After that, he never left the windows in the doors completely rolled up for fear of it happening again.

Tempered glass isn't immune to busting when there are temperature differences across the surface. Look up corningware. They changed their tempering process many years ago to save money and the new products are more prone to busting than the ones produced with their original method.

Knowing this, I'd hope Toyota would make this right.

Not sure what you mean by "knowing this, I'd hope Toyota would make things right"? Knowing that a car window 48 years ago had a "similar" situation? That another company changed their similar process to a different process..not even a similar product? Not trying to be snarky here but I think sometimes consumers get a little ahead of themselves with their expectations. In a perfect world yes, they take care of every customer to the fullest extent. We all know that isn't possible, and sometimes shouldn't be, given the amount of fraud out there.

 

[CBW]

I have heard of this happening. I have also returned to a truck in the woods with no one else around on a very cold morning. The window that shattered was in direct sun that morning. When returning to the truck around noon a side window was shattered.
With no evidence to back up my statement, I have been told it is weather related extreme heat or cold and some kind if stress at attachment points bolts or glue. I would call an auto glass replacement company and ask some questions as I know they have heard this story before and someone may know the cause. Toyota is not going to cover replacement until they can see a pattern and relate it to a production line issue, glue, heating element, or glass problem. But don't think that you are the only one this has ever happened to.

Thank you for replying to my post. I am hoping to show these posts to Toyota manager as part of my defense so really appreciate you taking the time to reply with your story!

 

[CBW]

Not sure what you mean by "knowing this, I'd hope Toyota would make things right"? Knowing that a car window 48 years ago had a "similar" situation? That another company changed their similar process to a different process..not product? Not trying to be snarky here but I think sometimes consumers get a little ahead of themselves with their expectations. In a perfect world yes, they take care of every customer to the fullest extent. We all know that isn't possible, and sometimes shouldn't be, given the amount of fraud out there.

It show that it is actually possible and most likely due to a defect.

 

[Atombum]

It show that it is actually possible and most likely due to a defect.

Well, at least you got what I was trying to say. I hope you get a quick and reasonable resolution to your problem.

 

[Blenton]

One of the windows on my topper blew out randomly on a cold, sunny, winter spring morning. (We don’t always get clearly delineated seasons here… haha). It was the window between the back of the can and the topper. I was parked in the sun but there was still some ice on the top of the camper shell and between the cab and topper. I was inside a neighbors house helping them pack up and move when one of the neighbor kids ran it to tel me my window exploded. Thinking somebody had maybe tipped a piece of furniture and hit it (I wasn’t worried about the neighborhood kids - they are all good kids and would have owned up to breaking it if one of them did something) I was confused to go outside and see that all of the exterior windows were intact and that it was the window that nobody could hit that had exploded. I had my enclosed trailer hitched up so we weren’t loading anything in the bed. The owner at the glass shop - who I also know we’ll and do business with - mentioned the temperature differential could have cause an imperfection in the glass to propagate and fracture.

I also watched my windshield split in half from hot and cold. I was parked slightly downhill in a parking lot taking a phone call with the defrost blowing full hot. It had snowed several inches of wet, heavy snow that day and there was snow on the roof of the car that hadn’t been cleared off. All of sudden,a pile of snow slid off of the roof on to the windshield and two seconds later - CRACK!! Not quite gunshot loud but just as startling. A rock chip that I had acquired a few days before but hadn’t had time to get fixed yet (I tried but got back in town after they closed) split the entire width of the windshield. You could feel the crack with a fingernail. It was the factory glass.

 

[Blenton]

Here’s one from 2014.

Rear Window 2014 Tundra CrewMax BLOWOUT

Has anyone heard or had their rear window just blow out? I was driving down the road and all of a sudden boom glass everywhere! This is the electric up/down window... Any help would be great! Thanks

www.tundratalk.net

I’ve also seen a few posts about sunroofs blowing out, but it usually had something to do with thunderstorms.

 

[Kyleelizabeth]

Greetings all,
Has anyone ever heard of this happening? I got in my brand new Tundra yesterday late morning, it one of the few times here in Texas that everything was frozen so I had to sit a few minutes blasting the defroster. Once ice melted from the windshield I drove a few hundred yards, (on my property not on the road), with heater on full blast, to the barn so I could shovel up some sand to spread on icy walkways. Got there, put gear in park and was sitting there with heater still blasting on high while putting on my work gloves when suddenly heard a big explosion behind me! Turned to look and the rear window had just exploded for no reason that I could see! I got out and looked all around to see what could have possibly hit the window but there was absolutely nothing. No tree limbs overhead, no trees even nearby, no one else around, nothing had fallen into the back of the truck. Nothing. I was dumbfounded. I could only conclude that there must have been a defect of some sort in the glass or the window such that the extreme outside cold combined with the high heat inside must have caused it. It was so loud I actually thought someone was shooting at me and ducked down as low as I could in the seat. If I had been driving on the highway it likely would have caused me to wreck. This truck is barely a month old. I have contact Toyota of Cedar Park about repair and they seem very skeptical about believing me saying that they will have to investigate whether Toyota is responsible because they have never heard of this happening. So if you have had this happen before or if you have heard of it happen I would really like to know and what the outcome was.
Many thanks!
View attachment 896524
View attachment 896527

View attachment 896525
I just started my truck in my driveway (2023 Tundra, one month old). My husband was standing beside the truck about to get in the passenger side. He hadn’t even opened his door yet. No windows down and it’s 80 degrees outside. As soon as I started my truck, not even one second later, the back window shattered.