On Tuesday morning I left our factory to drive to the Calgary International Airport. As I was travelling down the on-ramp from Barlow Trail to Deerfoot Trail north, I heard a loud crack, almost like a gunshot, and realized that my front seats were covered in glass. I looked up and saw a hole in the sunroof so I pulled the sun-visor across to prevent additional glass from falling in.
I didn't see a rock at any point and the closest large vehicle was 200 meters ahead with several cars between that truck and my Highlander.
I pulled off at the next exit to examine my Highlander. There was a hole about the size of a baseball in the sunroof. Strangely, the glass was bent 'upwards' as if something had been propelled out of the vehicle through the glass, and not the other way around. There was no damage to the roof or anywhere else, just the middle of the sunroof. Also strange, I have a large Thule ski box that nearly completely covers the sunroof (the box was unloaded, it wasn't windy and the box definitely didn't touch the sunroof). For a rock to hit the sunroof would have been extremely tough indeed, and even if it did, it magically managed not to touch the vehicle or hit the underside of the ski box (which was undamaged).
My insurance company said I wasn't covered. I drove it to the Toyota dealer beside the airport and was told that my warranty wouldn't cover it. The dealer gave me a ride to the airport, got the job done and when I returned to town the work was done and I paid for it.
This has been a fantastic vehicle all around. The Toyotas dealer have also been very impressive. However, after picking up my repaired vehicle and doing a little online research, I feel that the most likely root cause was in-fact in-structure mechanical glass shattering, and not a projectile of any sort.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
On Tuesday morning I left our factory to drive to the Calgary International Airport. As I was travelling down the on-ramp from Barlow Trail to Deerfoot Trail north, I heard a loud crack, almost like a gunshot, and realized that my front seats were covered in glass. I looked up and saw a hole in the sunroof so I pulled the sun-visor across to prevent additional glass from falling in.
I didn't see a rock at any point and the closest large vehicle was 200 meters ahead with several cars between that truck and my Highlander.
I pulled off at the next exit to examine my Highlander. There was a hole about the size of a baseball in the sunroof. Strangely, the glass was bent 'upwards' as if something had been propelled out of the vehicle through the glass, and not the other way around. There was no damage to the roof or anywhere else, just the middle of the sunroof. Also strange, I have a large Thule ski box that nearly completely covers the sunroof (the box was unloaded, it wasn't windy and the box definitely didn't touch the sunroof). For a rock to hit the sunroof would have been extremely tough indeed, and even if it did, it magically managed not to touch the vehicle or hit the underside of the ski box (which was undamaged).
My insurance company said I wasn't covered. I drove it to the Toyota dealer beside the airport and was told that my warranty wouldn't cover it. The dealer gave me a ride to the airport, got the job done and when I returned to town the work was done and I paid for it.
This has been a fantastic vehicle all around. The Toyotas dealer have also been very impressive. However, after picking up my repaired vehicle and doing a little online research, I feel that the most likely root cause was in-fact in-structure mechanical glass shattering, and not a projectile of any sort.
Thanks, Mark
- hutch724, Calgary, AB, canada