Honda Sunroof Class Action Lawsuit Overview:
- Who: Honda is facing a class action lawsuit over an alleged manufacturing defect in its vehicles’ sunroofs.
- What: Vehicle owners allege the sunroofs spontaneously explode, showering drivers and passengers in glass and posing a major danger on the roads.
- Where: U.S.
Honda knowingly sells vehicles with sunroofs and moonroofs that randomly and suddenly explode, showering drivers and passengers with broken glass, a new class action lawsuit alleges.
Mary Tappana, Darryl Roberts, and Dustin Fulcomer filed the lawsuit against the automaker, alleging violations of state consumer protection laws, breach of warranty, unjust enrichment and fraudulent concealment, arguing the company has long known about the manufacturing defect that affects 2015- 2020 Honda and Acura vehicles, but has refused to do anything about it.
All three bought Honda vehicles with sunroofs, and all three had those sunroofs “suddenly, and without warning” explode.
“The explosion caused Ms. Tappana to become distracted and put her and others on the road at risk of a collision. She was unable to immediately pull over, as she was driving on a busy highway. She drove two miles to the nearest exit before she was able to stop and assess the damage,” the claims reads, stating the experience was similar for Roberts and Fulcomer.
“The sunroof defect creates serious danger for vehicle occupants and others on the road,” the lawsuit states.
“Drivers of class vehicles have reported sunroof explosions causing shards of glass to fly through their vehicles, sometimes while driving at high speeds. The loud explosion and flying glass distract drivers and create a hazard to the people in the Class Vehicles and those around them.”
Honda refused to fix the defect or reimburse any of the drivers for the shattered sunroofs, despite knowing about the defect since 1995, and all three had to pay out of pocket to replace their sunroofs, the drivers say.
According to the claim, Honda’s representatives have often suggested to consumers that their sunroofs were damaged by a flying object such as a rock or gravel. “In fact, the sunroof defect manifests even when the glass is not exposed to an airborne object. The sunroofs explode as a result of the defect present in the Honda and Acura vehicles at the point of sale,” the claim reads.
The group wants to represent anyone in the U.S. who has purchased or leased one of the vehicles, and also Missouri, Washington, and Florida subclasses. They seek certification of the Class, damages, interest, injunctive relief, legal fees and costs, and a jury trial.
Honda isn’t the only automaker facing legal action over exploding sunroofs; in Canada, Hyundai is facing a class action lawsuit that accuses it of failing to warn drivers about a defect that causes sunroofs in some of its vehicles to spontaneously shatter.
Do you own a vehicle with a sunroof? Let us know if you’ve ever had any issues with it in the comments section!
The drivers are represented by Adam Polk, Jordan Elias, and Simon S. Grille of Girard Sharp LLP; Matthew Schelkopf and Joseph B. Kenney of Sauder Schelkopf LLC; Benjamin F. Johns of Chimicles Schwartz Kriner & Donaldson-Smith LLP; and Steven G. Calamusa of Gordon & Partners, PA.
The Honda Sunroof Class Action Lawsuit is Tappana, et al., v. American Honda Motor Co., Inc., Case No. 2:21-cv-09046 in the U.S. District Court Central District of California.
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165 thoughts onHonda Knowingly Sells Vehicles With Sunroofs That Spontaneously Explode, Class Action Alleges
My sunroof glass randomly exploded! As I was driving, I suddenly heard a VERY LOUD “pow!” kind of noise from the top of my car. It was incredibly loud, and sounded like a gunshot or a firework on the roof of my vehicle. I was able to pull over to inspect my car, and I immediately saw the damage to my sunroof. The rest of my car stayed perfectly intact, and there was no rock present, no foreign debris, and no mark on my interior sliding sunshade (indicating nothing hit my sunroof glass to shatter it). The road was smooth and there were no potholes present. My car was driving smoothly, no warnings of any sort alerted me to any issues.
This unexpected incident posed a risk to my safety and others safety as well! Glass shards would have hit my face had my sunshade not been closed! Glass shards flew off the back of my vehicles and there was another vehicle driving in the same lane behind me.
I have photos of the damage and I also have two dash cams in my car – one of the cams records video footage of the front view of my vehicle, and the other camera records video footage of the back view from my vehicle.
A certified Honda dealership has my car at their shop right now. Honda Corporate has been slow to respond and they are falsely claiming they have never heard of this happening! They also told me that despite the lawsuits about this sunroof glass issue, they have not paid anyone out yet in terms of replacing their glass!
I own a 2023 Honda Ridgeline. I was driving on highway 696 (MI) coming home just before rush hour. No cars in front of me. I heard a loud explosion and my sunroof shattered into thousands of pieces. I almost got into an accident if it wasn’t for the fact that all lanes were clear.
2 weeks ago I was driving my 2025 Honda Pilot on a 30 mph road with no cars in front of me when my sunroof spontaneously shattered. I ended up with a small piece of glass in my hand and glass all over me and the inside of my car, as well as all over the top of my car. So far Honda has refused to cover any of the repairs under my new car warranty, even though I am under mileage and years. They keep saying it must have been an outside influence that broke it which is not the case.
I was driving my 2022 Honda Ridgeline RTL-E over the Corpus Christi Bay bridge on January 21, 2026 about 1 pm, when my sunroof exploded. I thought someone had shot out one of my windows. My passengers thought a window had been shot out. We could hear a lot of noise in the car. We asked each other if we were okay no side windows, front windows or back windows were damaged. After we calmed down I could tell the noise was coming from the sunroof, the hand pushed cover was still closed. When we could pull over we checked the damage and called local honda dealership to secure repairs.
I was driving yesterday to work In the morning on a busy highway and all of the sudden a loud explosion sound and the car shook. I had no idea I thought someone hit me. I’m looking around seeing still trying to focus I did not know if I needed to pull over. No other car seemed phased. When I could get off a couple miles ahead there is a huge hole in my sunroof. I was shaking and like what the heck. My brother in law who I called told me that Honda has a bad design. Now I am out money and time from this happening. There was no crack in it prior. I have a Honda CRV