2023 Kia Sportage

I had gotten my windshield replaced by safelite last year. On a cold day while driving to work, I went to adjust my rearview mirror and the rearview mirror came off from the windshield. It completely detached. I was adjusting it as I would any other time I adjusted the rear view mirror. This obviously left me in a lurch because I had to go to work. So I drove without a rear view mirror until I could get a replacement after the work day. This is obviously a dangerous situation to be in. I reached out to safelite because they have a lifetime warranty. They informed me that they will not cover replacement because a small piece of glass came off of the windshield which according to them means it must have been a result of force.

While driving on a highway at approximately 5:00 p.m., a loud explosion occurred. My husband said it sounded like we were shot. Once we pulled over, we discovered the panoramic sunroof had exploded. We immediately pulled off on the nearest exit and drove the car right back to the dealer. While my husband drove the car, I researched sunroof explosions and found several complaints of other Kia cars with panoramic sunroofs that had exploded. Upon arrival at the dealership, the service department was closed, but we were able to bring the car inside the garage since it was raining. There was no impact to the sunroof and no bridge where something could have fallen from it. The broken glass looked like it had exploded outward like a volcano. Shattered pieces of glass were scattered on top of the cloth covering but most pieces must have flown off the roof during driving. A saleswoman made a ridiculous claim that the explosion could have been caused by hail. It was 55 degrees out. Another salesman made a comment that it could have been some kind of combustion or that something fell on top of the sunroof (like a meteorite fell from the sky while driving?). Now, the following morning, Kia (a man named Walt) is claiming something hit the sunroof, "pictures don't lie", and they will not do any work on the car until my insurance company is contacted and an appraiser comes to look at the damage. We also took pictures and do not see that an impact occurred. No other cars on the highway at the time the sunroof exploded were impacted with their driving or even pulled off the road, so I cannot imagine Kia's claim that "something hit the sunroof." No other cars were impacted.

I have had several problems with the windshield of my Kia Sportage. First off, it has a terrible glare or distortion while driving at night. I think it has to do with the elements inside the windshield. Secondly, the windshield cracks with even the slightest hit from anything on the road. I have had my car for 5 months and have received 6 chips to my windshield. Two of them happened when another vehicle was driving the opposite direction down the road. Three of them happened when I didn’t have a car or anything anywhere around me. One of them happened when an 18 wheeler was driving next to me with no other cars around. I’ve seen in the Kia Groups several other owners are complaining of the same problems. I don’t think these Windshields are safe.

My husband and I own a 2023 KIA Sportage that was purchased on May 11th, 2022. The car has barely 1700 miles on it, and in mint condition. My husband and I were at a stoplight turning left when all of a sudden we heard a loud explosion, almost like a shotgun. It was so loud my husband and I could physically feel the loud gun shot, and truly scared us to the point where we thought it might have been a drive-by shooting. We didn’t notice any damage at first until we pulled over and saw the start of the panoramic sunroof (near the front windshield) shattered completely. There currently is no recall on this issue despite the hundreds of reports. I am unable to drive my car as the front windshield can crack/explode at any moment.

When traveling over the mountain when the sun is coming up or going down and it hits the windshield at an angle the wires for the heated windshield creates a rainbow across the windshield making the driver unable to tell where the lanes are or if there are vehicles in front of or merging. This has happened to me on 3 different occasions. I have not noticed it after the sun is already up. Just rising and setting.

Windshield began to crack when the vehicle had approximately 500 miles. The windshield does not show impact from a rock or any object. The crack was noticed when getting into the vehicle, the crack did not occur while driving. Within a week the windshield showed extensive cracking within a short period of time, thereby preventing repair. The crack began on driver side and runs all the way to the bottom passenger side.