Hyundai Sunroofs Prone to Shattering, Class Action Says

Top Class Actions’s website and social media posts use affiliate links. If you make a purchase using such links, we may receive a commission, but it will not result in any additional charges to you. Please review our Affiliate Link Disclosure for more information.

Last week, a class action lawsuit was filed in California federal court against Hyundai alleging that the carmaker fails to warn consumers about the potential for panoramic sunroofs in certain models to spontaneously shatter.

Lead plaintiff Bill Glenn alleges in his class action lawsuit that although Hyundai recalled its Veloster model in 2012 and 2013 for the defect, it failed to take similar action with other models including the Sonata, Tucson, other Veloster models, the Sante Fe, Sante Fe Sport, and Elantra GT.

According to the Hyundai class action lawsuit, the sunroof in the plaintiff’s own 2014 Santa Fe Sport spontaneously shattered six months after Glenn bought the car. He alleges that the replacement sunroof also shattered unexpectedly a month after it was installed.

“Starting in the mid-2000s, manufacturers introduced a substantially larger style of ‘panoramic’ sunroof, which spans almost the whole roof,” the Hyundai class action lawsuit alleges. “These sunroofs are aesthetically pleasing, and thus command a premium price, but also pose new and significant engineering challenges. Replacing metal roofs with large plates of glass requires precision in the strengthening, attachment, and stabilization of the glass.”

However, according to the panoramic sunroof class action lawsuit, “Hyundai (and other manufacturers) have failed to meet these demands, with several manufacturers issuing safety recalls because of the propensity of panoramic sunroofs to spontaneously shatter.”

Glenn claims that Hyundais with panoramic sunroofs that are darkened with a ceramic tint are affected by the spontaneous shattering. “The shattering is so powerful that startled drivers have compared it to the sound of a gunshot that is followed by glass raining down upon the occupants of the vehicle, sometimes while driving at highway speeds,” he alleges in the Hyundai class action lawsuit.

Glenn alleges that over 100 complaints about the shattering sunroofs have been lodged with the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Further, according to the Hyundai class action lawsuit, the Korea Automobile Testing and Research Institute reported in a 2012 investigation that the panoramic sunroofs where susceptible to spontaneous shattering “at least in part due to the ceramic tint used on the glass.”

“Despite its awareness of the danger,” Glenn alleges in the class action lawsuit, “Hyundai to this day has not warned drivers about the risk of sunroof shattering, still sells the defective vehicles and denies that the defect exists even after owners experience the problem.”

According to the panoramic sunroof class action lawsuit, Hyundai must have known about the defect in the panoramic windows because of “exhaustive prerelease testing.”

Glenn claims that because of the shattering sunroofs, Hyundai breached its warranty and violated California state consumer protection laws. He seeks to represent a nationwide Class of consumers of allegedly affected Hyundai vehicles. He also seeks damages amounting to $5 million, as well as an injunction that would require Hyundai to disclose the alleged defect.

Glenn is represented by Eric H. Gibbs, Dylan Hughes and Steve Lopez of Gibbs Law Group LLP, and Kim D. Stephens and Jason T. Dennett of Tousley Brain Stephens PLLC.

The Hyundai Shattering Sunroof Class Action Lawsuit is Glenn v. Hyundai Motor America, et al., Case No. 8:15-cv-02052, in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.

UPDATE: On June 24, 2016, a federal judge partially granted Hyundai’s motion to dismiss the sunroof defect class action lawsuit, nixing California consumer protection law and unfair profit claims. The plaintiff’s fraud claims currently remain. 

UPDATE 2: On Jan. 20, 2019, Hyundai owners involved in a class action lawsuit over an alleged shattering sunroof defect say they have reached a settlement that would provide several options to Hyundai drivers including a trade-in and cash.