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shattered roof twice

shattered glass roof

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We just had our glass roof shatter for the second time in three years. On a commuter highway at peak volume time both times. You hear an explosion and the glass splinters into tiny fragments blowing out the back onto the vehicle behind you and raining down around you in the car. The front 8 inches coated with sun deflector is shattered also but sticks together because of the coating. The whole damn roof should have this coating which the Mercedes dealer is going to apply when they replace the roof. You cannot replace a glass roof with a solid roof either. This is a serious design flaw that could cut people in the car or cause you to veer into other traffic. At least the second time, we knew what was happening. Want to hear from anyone else who has had this happen. Replacing the roof is over $1000 and if you don't have glass coverage, good luck. The first time, the insurance company covered the claim because it was roof damage and they didn't realize until it was too late that it was all glass and we didn't have glass coverage at the time! Also usually a good wait for repairs as they don't usually stock roofs. :angry:

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You should buy a lottery ticket, because it's incredibly rare to have the glass roof shatter (let alone twice).Also, it is possible to swap between solid and glass roof! A few members on our forum have done it.Sorry to hear about your experience. I love mine... it was one of the primary reasons I bought the car!-Iain

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I don't need luck like that! And it is not rare. Google - "Smart car roof" shattered - and you will see that this has been going on since Dec 2003, that I could find. Sitting in driveways, heat related, not heat related - it was 8 degrees Celsius when ours went this morning. One guy rolled the car after the roof blew, was thrown out the open roof area and the car rolled on him. This could happen with any glass roof but if they have known about it since Dec 2003 they could have easily put a coating on it to stop it exploding and causing further damage. We love the car, except for this design feature! It was the Mercedes parts and service that told me the roof could not be replaced with a solid roof, maybe the 2006 model is a problem, I don't know, but who am I supposed to believe?

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I Googled it. While I'm not disputing what you say, every single article I've found on Google appears to either be copy of a blog post, or points to another. And I couldn't find any of them that actually had hard facts. All of them had the same line: "A number of glass roofs have shattered for no apparent reason."I'd be interested to find out more.

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There is a referral to a TV Watchdog program that did a piece on the shattering roofs but I haven't been able to track it down yet. This is my husband's (the lawyer) commuter car and we are NOT happy about this. Don't have a problem with the car in any respect except for this but this is dangerous. You can take our experience as hard fact - if the roof had a coating on it, there would be a lot less damage and danger. I recently found a piece of glass left over from the first shatter 3 years ago! I have already spent a couple of hours removing clinging glass and vacuuming and am not done yet. I was supposed to be at work this morning.

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Again, I'm NOT disputing your position. I simply find it interesting because yours is the first case of spontaneous roof shattering I've heard of in Canada since the fortwo went on sale here almost four years ago. The only others I've heard of were caused by airborne debris striking the roof at highway speeds.

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Sorry, my fault for not giving enough info. Been talking to various people about this all morning before I posted here and neglected to put in an important fact. This was NOT spontaneous, and not what I am complaining about. This was flying gravel, on a paved commuter highway, hitting the roof. My problem is that it isn't coated to stop it from exploding and falling on you. The front eight inches where the sun deflector coating is, shatters, but doesn't come loose. The rest of the roof needs the same type of coating to prevent any further damage to people inside from falling glass. My husband was in his court clothes and had bits of glass stuck all over, in his hair, etc. Could have been very much worse than it was. By the time I switched vehicles with him on the highway and got back home, I was in the same condition from the loose bits still hanging on the edges. Because of the incidents of spontaneous, or otherwise, shattering glass going back to 2003, I think they should have been coating the whole roof a long time ago. I find it difficult to believe that we are the only Canadian roof shattering incidents in the history of Smart cars AND we have had it happen twice. Both on busy commuter highways at peak volume times. An inexperienced driver could have panicked and caused even more damage. Still want to hear from anyone else who has experienced this.

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One guy rolled the car after the roof blew, was thrown out the open roof area and the car rolled on him.

So, he wasn't wearing his seatbelt? Serves him right!The coating you're talking about at the front is an opaque sticker; if you put that over the entire roof, it'd become no different than the solid roof. That strip was added after numerous reports of roof-shattering. Rocks would hit the front of the roof and ping! Shatter right away. The strip (usually) prevents this.It's tempered glass, so the shards themselves are designed to shatter into very small, non-sharp pieces. So, it's safer that way...-Iain Edited by Duck

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No Doubt this explains the switch of roof material for the 2007+ models (2008 in North America).There have been a few roofs shatter, well, I know one or more have been reported here. I think one occured during the Cross Canada Relay in 2006 or 2007.I think MB should be contacted directly, and maybe ask them to cover the roof with a transparant material on the inside.

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So, he wasn't wearing his seatbelt? Serves him right!

That's a little cruel, no? I'm sure that person's insurance reduced the claim accordingly for lack of the seatbelt, but it's not like the driver intended for that to happen.Where is this story?

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Problem is, the car model is discontinued... and because the incident rate is so rare - I can't imagine they'd be in any hurry to implement a revision or patch.Don't get me wrong - this would suck so bad. Cleaning out all those bits of glass is going to suck, having them all stuck in the carpet and seats and in every crevase of the car! I just think that it's a freak accident, not a regularily documented problem that warrants a mass exodius from Mercedes or anything.-Iain

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I've heard about glass roofs shattering too, but it was a couple of years ago. The cause seemed to be flying gravel (caused by cartyres). I haven't heard any stories about it the last couple of years though, I thought they had solved the problem. Here in Europe all smart glass roofs got a protective band on the front part of the roof, I thought that was to protect it from flying gravel. Don't know when they started to fit those, it looks like a black sticker.

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I didn't get a coupé for this reason, that and the fact that the cabrio is cooler ;)Seriously, the new smart's roof is polycarbonate and that would be a good idea as a trade-in prospect, considering the incredibly bad luck you have suffered.For those with a glass roof that want to prevent this, I would recommend removing the leading edge's vinyl strip and covering the entire exterior of the roof in 3M StonGard, which would not only stop most rocks from shattering the roof, but would hold the bits in place if it did crack. Stongard is perfectly transparent when applied, so the view would not be compromised. Cost should be in the order of $200 or so.....Either that or trade to a 450 coupé with the optional opening sunroof, or retrofit the dumpster bin lid pure roof.Edit: spelling

Edited by Mike T

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Well, I must say, these are the sharpest non-sharp pieces I have ever encountered, even with gloves on! And there are still glass roofs out there that could use a safety coating.The same freak, rare accident happening to the same car twice in three years sort of doesn't remain rare or freaky. And I am not advocating a mass Exodus from Smart car, just step up to the plate and take care of something that should have been taken care of after the first dozen or so incidents, no matter how they happened.

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I think one easy solution regarding the protective film on the leading edge of the glass roof is to take the car to a window tint shop and have them cover the remainer of the roof glass in the protective film used to protect against rock chips on the front of the car (hood, bumper, headlights).

linky

EDIT: what Mike said :P

Edited by Jibber

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I had the inside of my glass roof tinted. It didn't take to well to the dots around the edges but it cuts some of the rays and would probably contain a lot of the glass if it did shatter. Cost was around $60.

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I've only heard of two other shatterings in Canadian smarts--- the one already mentioned here at the end of the 2007 relay/fundraiser (on spilt gravel on the highway) and the other when somebody slammed the rear hatch closed (apparently the air couldn't escape the cabin fast enough).Our glass roof has held up fine and I do love it, but I will now follow Mike's suggestion and get a coating. I would like smart to pay for this, but that may be wishful thinking.I see no reason why the glass roof can't be replaced with the plastic dumpster-style roof if you really want that. I have heard of the plastic roof being replaced with a glass one.

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Just step up to the plate and take care of something that should have been taken care of after the first dozen or so incidents, no matter how they happened.

Was it Edward Norton in Fight Club? Car company looks at a problem, figures out how much money it would cost for a recall, figures out how much money the potential lawsuits from the defective part will cost, if A>B then they do nothing...

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That, and....anyone buying a car with a tempered glass roof should know that there exists a possibility it could shatter, so it is demonstrably NOT a design flaw if a piece of road debris breaks it. A lawyer - of all people - would know this.3M StonGard is the solution.....I am surprised that anyone that had this happen once already didn't explore this opportunity after the first one shattered.

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The only other incident that I know of is Gary's car and it happened on the 416 enroute to Ottawa with a police escort. Gravel from a dump truck I believe. Gary will tell the story better than me.Cappytanjack ...

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I did not know that this had happened to others but asked what it was made of when I bought the car.I guess I am glad to have the new one with the Polycarbonate roof. I love all of the light I have coming into the car, even on rainy days and that is the reason I got the coupe!I can always drive the other car if I want a convertible. :D

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3M StonGard is the solution.....I am surprised that anyone that had this happen once already didn't explore this opportunity after the first one shattered. Reply to above:As my husband said after the first time, what are the odds?? Well, now we know, pretty high. And we have taken great pains to not drive behind gravel trucks since then but this morning, he pretty much didn't have a choice, boxed in before he could do anything about it. And why should we, the car owners, be required to add a feature for safety that should already be there because the company is already more than aware that it is a problem? It is a design flaw if its a known safety hazard.My purpose in posting here is not to get into it with whoever about whatever. Just to let people know what CAN and HAS happened, perhaps save somebody some grief and bodily harm, and to collect some names and stories about those events to maybe do something about it so the rest of you don't have to.

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The solution is not to claim that a plain tempered glass roof is a "design flaw" and cry or shout at the manufacturer's doorstep...although politely asking Mercedes-Benz Canada what they might do to help wouldn't hurt.Some people didn't specify the glass roof in their new cars precisely BECAUSE of this potential problem. Eyes wide open, right?The tempered glass roof was a dead obvious characteristic of the car (which on the other hand was the reason some people bought them), a fact that anyone buying a fortwo coupé ought to have known about before buying it....but more to the point, those concerned about shattering roofs know what to do, apply 3M StonGard to the outside of the roof.

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Thanks for the post. I agree with you. I'm sure nobody was trying to get into it with you, or at least they didn't mean to. I'd also have wondered, "What are the odds." While you've researched and found other cases in Europe (and now here), it really is so rare that I wouldn't have thought to use the 3M stuff to prevent future heartache.

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