Back in the October of 2019, a Ford sunroof lawsuit was filed after the owner of a 2013 Ford Escape claimed her panoramic sunroof exploded spontaneously while she was driving, spraying down bits of glass on her and her infant daughter. The cause of the explosion reportedly stemmed from tempered glass that was too thin.
However, a judge dismissed the class action lawsuit just a few months later, noting that it “defies common sense to claim that a manufacturer must disclose every single failure of any component or part to every potential purchaser, even if the failure is minor and not dangerous, or even if it has only happened a handful of times.” Regardless, an appeals court disagreed, and now the Ford sunroof lawsuit is back in the lower district court, according to Car Complaints.
The appeals court found that it is possible Ford was aware of the exploding sunroof issue and said that customer complaints revolving around the issue “are circumstantial evidence that the defendant is on notice of the defect.” The court also noted that there is enough evidence that the sunroof is a potential hazard and it is up to a jury to decide if Ford is liable in the case.
Ford claims that it has seen a mere 0.05 percent failure rate for its panoramic sunroofs – a number far equal to or greater than competitor failures – which it began offering in a variety of vehicles back in 2007. That, it argues, isn’t a high enough number to warrant the automaker looking further into the issue or taking action.
According to the lawsuit, a number of Ford and Lincoln vehicles are equipped with defective sunroofs, including the 2007-present Ford Edge, 2009-present Ford Focus, 2010-present Ford Fusion, 2011-present Ford Explorer, 2009-present Ford Flex, 2011-present Ford F-150, 2009-2014 Ford Mustang, 2008-present Ford Escape, 2014-present Ford Transit Connect, 2013-present Ford C-Max, 2007-present Lincoln MKX, 2009-2015 Lincoln MKS, 2013-present Lincoln MKZ, 2010-present Lincoln MKT, 2010-2011 Mercury Milan, and 2010-2011 Mercury Montego.
We’ll have more on this and all Ford Motor Company lawsuits soon, so be sure and subscribe to Ford Authority for the latest Ford lawsuit news and 24/7 Ford news coverage.
Comments
i will never buy another ford with a pano moonroof. the basic design has been around since 07 or so and is garbage unreliable crap. just google ford bamr failure or panoramic moonroof and all you will find are people reporting horrible experiences. From flatout total failure like noted in the case, to cracks, failure to operate, and to as lame as just being noisy and not sealing.
average folks don’t want sunroofs but manufacturers seem to think it’s a feature draw and just auto include them in packages.
you suck ford.
When I got my NEW Ford F150 Ecoboost, I opted to by new because it has a warranty and I picked what I wanted on the car, you do have a choice. I know that there will be issues and plan on using Ford to fix them. I also have an Audi that has a warranty and expect that I will use that warranty as well if something comes up with it. The point is that these are complex machines and will NEVER be perfect. If you want a simple car, by something from the 60’s and work on it yourself. If you never take care of your car, things will go wrong. There are such things as maintenance. Even the sunroof needs to be cleaned depending on where you keep the car. Gees, you need a bicycle instead of a car or better yet, you need to ride the bus.
Completely agree that things will break and not every machine can be perfect. It’s not unreasonable to expect glass not to explode because of poor tempering. I have a 2021 Ford F-150 and just experienced the glass sunroof literally exploding while driving down the highway at 70MPH (Utah). The issue is Ford won’t fix these (and obviously I can understand the dealer’s point) because it’s a glass break and effectively impossible to diagnose defect versus rock hitting it versus the owner dropping something on it. But that doesn’t exactly help the consumer who just purchased a $65K truck.
Now tell us how u really feel🙃
Should not have glass roofs on vehicles in the first place. What a totally stupid idea!
We have a 2008 Escape, not the pano roof, but the smaller moon roof, leaks so bad we have to take towels to the carwash to keep the seats dry, broke the transmission at 160,000 miles, but still love it! Bought a newer Explorer, (no sun roof!). Love our 3.5, but that is Escape SO much fun to drive.
I have had Fords for a long period of time and others as well. The sunroof seals go out, it happens. I had a Dodge where the sunroof seal was not sealing and a simple cleaning took care of the problem. All cars have issues and to think that a machine is going to be perfect is unreasonable.
I own a Ford Edge limited 2011 my panoramic roof does not work at all 😡😡😡
I just bought a ford 2022 maverick and have less then 400 miles driving approx speed 15-30 mph and my sunroof exploded without warning the slide underneath the glass caught all the glass . The dealership won’t warranty it basically your left with a bad taste in your mouth Ford can’t Warranty is a product because it’s glass just so everybody knows but it’s a pain in the rear you can’t drive your vehicle that’s brand new trying to save gas it almost 6 dollars a gallon I’d advise to stay away from the sunroof with the maverick due to how new the vehicle is let them work out the issues first whether it be too thin of glass not tempered correct what have it be again I would not make the same mistake buying one.
We have a 2021 Ford Expedition, which we bought brand new from a Ford Dealer late in 2021, it had less than 400 miles on it. While traveling thru Harrison Arkansas at 65 miles an hour, our Pano Moon Roof Exploded. We had just closed the cover about 30 minutes prior to the explosion. There was nothing around us, nothing above us and we didn’t realize it was the moon roof at first, we thought a bomb went off somewhere close by. And then we heard the wind noise and realized it must of been the Moon Roof, which made no sense at all. Luckily, the Ford Dealer in Harrison Ark covered the big hole with heavy sticky plastic and we were able to get home, (slowly and with lots of air noise). Ford made us pay for the repair (even though the vehicle was practically brand new AND we had paid for the extra bumper to bumper insurance). Now since researchering exploding Pano Moon Roofs and finding out it’s an actual glass defect that Ford knew about, we are terrified to uncover the beautiful Pano Window. What if it had exploded while the grand babies were strapped into their car seats or while they head been looking up into the sky? They would of gotten glass in their eyes and face and mouth. Does it take actual injuries before they do something about the problem? That seems so terrible!!! We are very, very upset and it is currently being reviewed by Ford. We are hopeful they will do the right thing but According to everything I have researched 🧐, it’s not looking good. We’ve never owed a Ford before but I will say that all the Chevy’s and Toyota’s have ALWAYS fixed their problems.
I have a 2020 ford escape with moon roof and it exploded on me driving down the road. there weren’t any other vehicles around me and I didn’t go under an overpass. It was 730PM in the evening and the sound was like a gun shot going off which sent me into instant anxiety. I pulled over and the hole was the size of my head in circumference. Ford has denied my warranty claim and insists it must have been hit by something. I’ve been complaining to Ford service shops since I purchased the vehicle that there is a flapping sound coming from the roof. Im taking this further as I could have been seriously hurt in this accident. I’m so thankful my daughter was not in the car when it happened and that the screen was closed so I didn’t get glass rain down on me. This is unacceptable and they need to take responsibility.