'No warning’: Cornelius man says sunroof suddenly shattered while driving

CORNELIUS, N.C. — Frank Mennella owns a 2020 Chevy Traverse. He told Action 9′s Jason Stoogenke he was merging on to I-485 in Charlotte when suddenly, his sunroof exploded.

“And this shot, this explosion happened. And I looked down to see if I’ve been shot. That’s what it sounded like. And then I looked up and I saw the roof had a hole in it. There’s glass pretty much all over the place,” Mennella said. “Spontaneous. It was no warning, no nothing.”

He said he took the SUV to the dealer.

“He says, ‘Well, I don’t think we can cover it under warranty.’ I said, ‘What do you mean?’ He said, ‘Well, it seems like something hit it.’ I said, ‘No. I was in the car and nothing hit it,’” Mennella said.

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He complained to GM but the company believes something hit his sunroof and that it didn’t explode on its own.

Mennella disagrees.

“I know I can’t explain it, what happened, but I know that nothing hit it,” he told Stoogenke.

Mennella ended up using his insurance to fix the damage. Stoogenke contacted GM and after he got involved, the company offered to reimburse Mennella’s $100 deductible. But Mennella said no, out of principle.

This sunroof issue is not limited to GM. Stoogenke led a nationwide investigation with WSOC’s sister stations into exploding sunroofs in early 2018.

>> READ MORE HERE.

At the time, Consumer Reports reporter Jeff Plungis found nearly 900 complaints about exploding sunroofs involving 35 automakers and more than 200 models. Some of these cases sparked lawsuits, recalls, and government inquiries. The NHTSA is still investigating.

Experts blame the problem on more vehicles having sunroofs and sunroofs getting larger, like those panoramic ones.

Advice:

• If you see a chip or crack in the glass, have it checked out.
• It may be cosmetic or you may need a new sunroof.
• If you have a choice between tempered glass and laminated glass, go with laminated -- it’s stronger and stays in one piece if shattered.

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