Mysterious spontaneous Window Explosion

[dposner]

My duaghter was driving our 2007 Yaris on US 80 east towards sacramento on a clear hot day with the windows up and the AC on when for no apparent reason the right rear passenger side window (the part that rolls up) "exploded". We found no obvious evidence of a projectile nor did she see or hear anything prior to the window exploding.

Has anyone heard of anything like this or have a conjecture what might have happened?

Thanks!

[nqd]

that happened to me on a bus once....the window near my seat busted....later on found out it ...someone shot bb's into it

but it could have been a rock of some sort....

[BailOut]

It was probably a rock kicked up by another vehicle. The rock doesn't have to enter the vehicle in order to cause the destruction of a window.

[Thirty-Nine]

Exact same thing happened to my wife in her 1994 VW Jetta. She was passing a semi on the interstate, and the passenger's side window just exploded.

[duck]

i believe tempered glass can explode with a temperature change such as in this case but it's more probable that a rock or something hit it.
one time i shattered a spare car window by throwing little piece from a broken spark plug at it.

yesterday i heard about a few glass ikea desks suddenly shattering for no good reason.

i guess as insurance often says... it was an act of god

[dposner]

Thanks. I guess I'll buy the rock theory. It just seems odd to have a side window break this way. I'll just chalk it up to bad luck!

[kimona]

The front passenger window on my Camry mysteriously exploded in our driveway not long ago.

It was a wickedly hot day. We opened the door and got something out of the glovebox, then closed the door, and the window exploded into thousands of tiny pieces.

[Yaris Revenge]

Sure.... a rock.... that's what it was.

*Yaris Revenge nonchalantly stows away his sniper rifle*

~YR

[sherryberry]

whoa i have yet to have an exploding window happen to me. and i hope it never happens. i haven't even had any real cracks on a window yet.

[kurokoma-kun]

Temperature change can do it--knew someone whose sliding glass door blew up in the middle of the night.

Very scary--your dauhgter ok, dposner?

[Pavel Olavich]

It's Sun Spots, man.


Sun. Spots.

[blacksan]

I have seen this occur several times during temperature extremes (hot & cold) over the last 25 years of my career. It can be attributed to defects, projectiles and just plain stress (body flexing) of materials in my experience. I have seen it occur more on newer vehicles then older models. The one common denominator in my experience has been heavy AC, or heat application to the drivers compartment.

[drifto]

Sure.... a rock.... that's what it was.

*Yaris Revenge nonchalantly stows away his sniper rifle*

~YR

lol

yes it happened to me once after hitting a huge pothole while driving an old pontiac. the glass hit the actuator in the door panel and exploded while i was driving. felt like i was in a scene from the french connection :biggrin:

[Kaotic Lazagna]

my friend's Corolla S's rear window exploded due to the a/c being on and (she forgot) the rear defroster on at the same time during mid-day.

but your case is the side window? may be a rock like what the other members said.

[dposner]

Thank you for all the creative thinking. Some more information. Actually two of my daughters were in the front of the car (and they're both fine -- thank you.) They are completely sure they were not passing or being passed. So I guess a rock would have had to come from the front and curved into the window but in order to completely smash the window it would have had to be reasonably large (not a pebble) and so I find it hard to believe they wouldn't have noticed it. The combination of temperature (Really hot with AC on) + some compression effect (like the camry owner reported) now seems more likely to me. (I guess I don't want to believe YR implied theory!) Toyotas are amazingly air tight. Maybe I can get MythBusters to test some of these theories.

[swng]

Sorry to learn about the incident! Could it be due to some imperfection in the manufacturing or installation of the windows? I don't have a clue! Hope warranty (if not, then insurance) can help.

[DjT]

My glass shattered once because some dude tried to break into my car.

[HTM Yaris]

Just a theory , no offennse . Maybe they were where they were not supposed to be and your daughters concocted that story . Maybe one of them took off their seatbelt and the metal part hit the window . If their story is true then there would be glass fragments all the way back to the rear window , which indicates the car was actually moving . If the glass fragments were in the floorboard and seats , it would indicate the car was at a standstill .

My son tried the same story with me .......
Again no offense , just sharing my experiences .

[Meteorite Man]

Was kinda thinking the same but didn't want to offend.

[gm830]

Thank you for all the creative thinking. Some more information. Actually two of my daughters were in the front of the car (and they're both fine -- thank you.) They are completely sure they were not passing or being passed. So I guess a rock would have had to come from the front and curved into the window but in order to completely smash the window it would have had to be reasonably large (not a pebble) and so I find it hard to believe they wouldn't have noticed it. The combination of temperature (Really hot with AC on) + some compression effect (like the camry owner reported) now seems more likely to me. (I guess I don't want to believe YR implied theory!) Toyotas are amazingly air tight. Maybe I can get MythBusters to test some of these theories.

wow i hope i don't have this problem when i get mine since we live in the same area :-o at least it won't be as hot by the time i can afford it =)

[duck]

some people here have a point.
a friend of mine backed into a dumpster then told her parents she left school to find the rear window smashed and had no idea what happened.

i'm not sure we can go all CSI on the glass and determine what happened, when, and how.
auto safety glass is very well made. it can withstand strong hits and so on.
on the plus side, when it breaks it shatters into small, but manageable pieces without sharp edges.
but on the minus side, the pieces will get everywhere and you will be finding them in your car for years.

[Pavel Olavich]

To the original poster: Someone was trying to assassinate you! They missed and blew out your window, but next time they might not miss....you better lay low, and disappear from Dodge for a while.....

I suspect it is your significant other....she may have taken a life insurance policy on you, and it seems you're worth more dead then alive......

[sherryberry]

To the original poster: Someone was trying to assassinate you! They missed and blew out your window, but next time they might not miss....you better lay low, and disappear from Dodge for a while.....

I suspect it is your significant other....she may have taken a life insurance policy on you, and it seems you're worth more dead then alive......

:laughabove: :laughabove: :laughabove: thanks for making my day.

[steved]

Shhh... it was me..

[vst]

Well, guess what? This just happened to me on my 2007 Toyota Yaris Sedan driver's side window. Just exploded while driving down the highway. No projectile or anything hit us. It just exploded!

Does anyone know if this is covered by our warranty?

[dwag555]

i have a 2007 yaris, passenger window broke no rocks or evidence of vandalism. could it be from heat and the electric part making it go up to tight,, in turn making stress??

what stops the window at the top, a switch, high current sensor,, something not adjusted right??

with so many of these incidents, it looks like a defect to me?

[starlet81]

I was riding in the rear set of a taxicab in Singapore some years ago on the way to the airport -- I think it was a Nissan Bluebird. It was still dark (pre-dawn) and raining. Suddenly, the entire windshield shattered with a loud bang -- I thought someone must have thrown a brick at us. The cab driver coolly pulled over and wrapped his hand with a cloth, punched a hole in the windshield, and continued driving. He got us to the airport on time.

The cab driver explained that the windshields had been popping in quite a few of their cabs of that make & model, and that the manufacturer had diagnosed it as a fit issue; the glass was made slightly too large for the frame. Rather than replace them all at once, they were just driving them until they popped, then replacing.

[suckerface]

I was riding in the rear set of a taxicab in Singapore some years ago on the way to the airport -- I think it was a Nissan Bluebird. It was still dark (pre-dawn) and raining. Suddenly, the entire windshield shattered with a loud bang -- I thought someone must have thrown a brick at us. The cab driver coolly pulled over and wrapped his hand with a cloth, punched a hole in the windshield, and continued driving. He got us to the airport on time.

The cab driver explained that the windshields had been popping in quite a few of their cabs of that make & model, and that the manufacturer had diagnosed it as a fit issue; the glass was made slightly too large for the frame. Rather than replace them all at once, they were just driving them until they popped, then replacing.


LOL! The idea that the cabbie was so calm about it must have made it an even more incredible experience.

[yarrr]

Just no to the whole hot day and A/C temperature theory blowing windows. Ever take a hot car into a car wash? I guarantee the window temperature changes much faster than your A/C will ever do. Not to mention the front windows would change temp faster, considering they are about 20 times as close to the A/C vent.

BB gun is my first guess. Dishonest Daughters a close second. Rock a very distant third.

edit: i just realized this was necro posted, but most of it still fits.. a 2007 yaris having a window break in 2010 was broken by a bb gun. The shattering glass will make more of a noise than the bb hitting it, so its no surprise you guys don't hear it hitting, and the bb will bounce off more than it will enter the vehicle.

edit again: The window motor is on a track. It can't push the window up any higher than closed.

[yaris2010RS]

guys, that last post was from 08......lol.

but my .02 is if its tempered glass a small chip or pressure point can appear fine untill all of a sudden the pressure is released.

had this happen when i was having a dinner party, a guest dropped a cup but it didnt break, only a tiny chip off the rim, put it on the counter and got a fresh one. to our disbelief about 20mins later the cup exploded, sending glass accross the room

[Yaris Hilton]

Safelite runs an ad on TV showing a tiny star crack in a windshield from hitting a pebble, then the car hits a big bump and the windshield shatters. They claim that if you let them fix it with their glue they inject into the crack it will prevent catastrophic damage.

[yarrr]

guys, that last post was from 08......lol.

but my .02 is if its tempered glass a small chip or pressure point can appear fine untill all of a sudden the pressure is released.

had this happen when i was having a dinner party, a guest dropped a cup but it didnt break, only a tiny chip off the rim, put it on the counter and got a fresh one. to our disbelief about 20mins later the cup exploded, sending glass accross the room

Usually only cookware and measuring cups are tempered. Drinking cups are mostly just plain glass. My measuring cup has about a thousand chips in it from people whacking spoons on it. It still reaches temperatures well above 200 degrees and comes back to room temperature on a daily basis.

Safelite runs an ad on TV showing a tiny star crack in a windshield from hitting a pebble, then the car hits a big bump and the windshield shatters. They claim that if you let them fix it with their glue they inject into the crack it will prevent catastrophic damage.

The windshield is glued directly to the car body. Side windows hang on a rail. Stress coming from hitting potholes or twisting the frame aren't really even comparable. Also the windshield doesn't shatter in the commercial, it goes from a small crack to a big crack.