My 2002 Escape had its second rear window explosion this morning. Two years ago it exploded in a parking lot at 30 degrees a half hour I arrived at work without using the rear window defroster. I woke up this morning to a more violent exposion with glass scattering 6 feet from the Escape. It was last driven yesterday morning. The car was parked outside and I live in the country so there was definitely not anything or one involved other than the car. Is there a fix for this or a recall?

 

1-26-10. The rear window of my 05 Ford Escape exploded. I believe the problem is the rear defrost system. There is a burn hole on it. While parked at the WaWa, the glass exploded shattering the entire glass out the back of the vehicle. I made a police report. The officer said that this was not the first report he has taken regarding the explosion of the rear window on the Escape.

 

Just wanted to let everyone know what we have found out. Took my Escape to a Geico body shop because I decided to make a claim on my comprehensive. If the cost was less than the deductible, then we would just pay it but I had a feeling that this could be expensive. Especially since my front windshield needed replacing too due to a crack that ran on the bottom from the driver's side to the passenger's side. It wound up costing $1,500 so I'm glad we went the insurance route.

They had told us that they were having trouble getting the rear windshield so my husband, who used to work for Ford, called around and got the number of the glass company to see where we could get the glass. The regional manager of the glass company said that this is a fairly common issue with SUVs because that back window is subjected to a lot of trauma by opening and closing with the trunk or on it's own. That is the main reason that these windows explode. Given the proper circumstances (temperature, hinge issues, rear defroster, and opening and closing) the window will explode. I had 2 Ford mini-vans before the Escape and never had this happen with any of those. Now the window didn't open separately from the trunk, but the rear window was attached to the hatch. I used my trunk extensively with those vans. Needless to say, I'm not looking forward to the day this rear window explodes again. Hopefully, it won't happen while I still own the car.

 

I would like to encourage everyone that has this issue with their car window to file a report with http://www.safercar.gov/.

The more complaints they receive, the more likely it is that they will investigate this situation and if necessary recall the glass on our vehicles. If there is a recall, we could possibly be reimbursed for the money we have paid to have our windows replaced. We have all been very lucky that no one was hurt from the shattering glass. I hesitate to think about what would have happened if I were driving at a high speed when the window blew out. The explosion could have spooked me into losing control of my vehicle and the flying glass could have caused people driving behind me to have an accident. Most of us have been fortunate that the car was either stopped at a light or parked when the windows exploded. Others might not be so lucky.

Please file a complaint. http://www.safercar.gov/

 

I was driving on the highway at 50 mph when my rear window "imploded". This is a 2006 Ford Escape. I say imploded because it sent glass flying all the way to the front windshield. I nearly crashed. Ford Motor Company customer service person in Detroit denied any problem with the rear windows. My local Ford dealership was even less helpful. The quoted cost was $1,200.00 for repair. I looked online and found out that thousands of people have had this happen. I decided to keep plastic over the hole until I can sell. I have owned 9 (nine) new Ford trucks and SUV's, but this one is my last. The company has a problem with these rear windows and will not admit it or help. My insurance would not cover the replacement because there was no reason given. It was not an accident or an act of nature. Without a reason; there is not reason except faulty glass or a defrost wiring problem, no claim!

 

Yesterday I was "booby-trapped" by exploding rear liftgate glass on my 2010 Escape rental car from Dollar. There are a number of reported instances of exploding glass on the internet. The general experience is that the user is blamed, even though it seems to have something to due with temperature stresses on the glass / use of defogger, etc. In my case, the presumable cause was that the rear liftgate glass was unlatched when I opened and then closed the liftgate. On the impact of closing, the glass exploded. (The car was "cold" (parked overnight) / 60 degree ambient air temperature, fair / clear weather. etc.; nothing touched the glass as the gate was closed; so many of the potential contributing factors described by others did not apply in my case.) I have been opening and closing car windows and doors for most of my 53 years, and have never damaged a vehicle by doing so. I suspect there is a combination of factors that can make these windows into mini-bombs waiting to go off: the force comes from compressed gas inside the rods that support the glass when its open. With little mechanical leverage (shallow angle), these must support a surprisingly heavy wiper motor assembly that is attached to the glass (you only can tell how heavy it really is after the glass explodes and it is dangling in front of you). I suspect that some of the panes must have defects or weaknesses in them, since this does not happen to everyone. Still, the very fact that it happened to me under these circumstances tells me that either a serious design or material defect was present in my rental vehicle.

 

Has anyone gotten any compensation from Ford? I don't have a warranty as the vehicle has over 100K miles.

I have roughly a 40 minute drive to work. It was a cold day and drove with the heat on and the roads were fine after a snow the night before, but there was no snow left on the vehicle. I came out at the end of the day to find the rear window missing about six-eight square inches of the window missing and shards of glass below in the snow. The glass appeared to have been hit from the inside, but I think it exploded from within. I'd had no trouble with the rear defogger or wiper. I found out that a co-worker noticed it at lunch, so sometime between 8:00 am and 1:00 pm this happened. No one saw anything.

 

I'm sorry to say that I've got another instance to report.

I had a cold start on a sunny day that was about -2 Celsius. Defroster was on for a few minutes before stopping for gas. As I pulled out of the gas station I probably got up to 40 or 50 km/h (on a smooth road) when I was shocked to hear the explosion. The driver behind me slammed on his brakes, but thankfully did not have an accident.

It cost $450 to have replaced - thankfully not as much as some of the others here.

I sure hope it doesn't happen again!

 

My new 2010's rear windshield just shattered when I closed my back door today. Warranty department is saying they will not cover it. Thank goodness my insurance has a habit of going after companies that don't cover good products...mine just told me they were in this case being that the Ford is new.

 

The National Highway Transportation Safety Admin. is looking into this issue; I was contacted after I filed a complaint at their web site. They asked for photos, etc. which I sent.