I was leaving work, got into my car, shut the door (not hard) and the rear window shattered. I hadn't even started the car. There had been no cracks in the window, and it was in the mid 70s. The window bowed out like it had been kicked out from the inside. Most of the glass just shattered but stayed together except for a large hole above the rear wiper. All edges of the window were jagged - like it had been chipped away. I had to get the window covered before I could drive anywhere, otherwise, the glass would have fallen apart as I drove away. I'm at least glad I wasn't driving when this happened or had my grandchildren with me. Based on comments I've seen online, there is nothing Ford will do so I contacted my insurance agent and it will be replaced tomorrow. I'm concerned it will happen again.

While driving home, on a fairly warm day, with the defrost/heater on, I heard a bang. My children and I jumped at the sound. I initially thought the windshield had cracked, but when I looked up I saw the shattered back windshield in the rearview mirror. The entire window was spiderwebbed from the wiper up and the edges all cracked. Fortunately I was not on a major highway, as I tried to get home to take a closer look the window started falling into the vehicle. Apparently my window warranty had expired just before this happened and Ford won't do anything to replace it. The price of replacing that window is more than my monthly payment. I will have to wait two years until I'm able to afford a new window. Congratulations Ford Company - you have perfectly timed your warranty to get out of paying for your very own defective part!

Used the auto start on my Explorer and when I got in it and looked out the back window it looked like it was covered in ice. So I turned on the rear wiper and the glass broke into the vehicle. You can see where the glass completely shattered I am guessing from the window heater. I called Darlings Ford in Bangor, Maine to find out if it was covered under my extended warranty but they said it wasn’t. In researching this problem I see that other people have had the same problem. Obviously it’s a design flaw.

On Friday, March 8, 2019, I was visiting my grandparents' house. Before I was leaving, I decided to remotely start my SUV (like I always do in the Winter). The SUV was started for about 10-12 mins before I left the house. As I was walking toward my SUV, I heard a loud bang and seen something fall from behind my SUV. As I got closer, I could see black glass on the snow below my SUV and a hole around the base of the Wiper Blade. I could hear the glass crackling.

I drove home and got my husband and father to have a look at it and to cover where my windshield should be. I emailed the Service Manager at my local Ford Dealership but didn't hear back until Monday, March 11, 2019. The Service Manager informed my husband that she would be calling Ford Canada and would get back to us. Fast forward to that afternoon, my husband wasn't after hearing from her, so he called our Ford Dealership. We were then told that Ford would not replace our windshield as we were over our kilometres. My husband then proceeded to call Ford Canada and was told the same thing - we were over our kilometres and therefore; it would not be covered. I am so furious with Ford as this is clearly an issue with not only Ford Explorers but also F150's from what I can tell.

The only thing I am thankful for, is that this happened while my vehicle was parked with no one else around. I could have easily left the house 2 minutes earlier and got a face full of glass. I could have been parked at work and started my SUV and a student or fellow teacher could have walked behind as this happened. I could have been parked in a parking lot for that matter and started the SUV only to have someone walk behind as it exploded.

There are so many what if's and luckily none of these occurred; however, Ford should see that this is a safety concern, not only for the owners but just anyone passing by. It may not have happened yet, where someone was hurt from a spontaneously exploding rear windshield, but I'm sure it's only a matter of time.

Nov/2018 - Driving at night and I heard a loud bang like a gun went off, looking around I didn't notice anything right away. As I continued driving I started to notice I couldn't see out the back glass clearly. When I got to my destination the back glass was completely shattered.

I called Ford and they said that its unfortunate, they have no recalls or notices about this happening. I can take to a dealer and have them diagnose the issue. When I called dealers they were all booked solid for 2 weeks. So rather than drive around with a plastic on my back glass for 2 weeks I opted to get repaired out of pocket.

Feb/2019 - Vehicle is sitting in the parking lot at work and back glass is shattered again.

Called Ford, and repeat the conversation from Nov., again they say take it to a dealer. I get to a dealer the same day and they are unaware of anything to diagnose for this issue.

Ford Canada tells me there is nothing they can do and that I need to pay out of pocket yet again.

I was driving my company's 2017 Explorer to work on a cold snowy morning, when my rear window shattered spontaneously. At first I thought it was caused by an impact, but there was no evidence of impact, and the glass failed around the rear wiper, and along the sides of the back hatch.

Then I thought it was a hot/cold issue - warm in the car, but -15C outside.

I discovered that this window failure has occurred to several other owners on this website, several of which were in warmer weather.

The dealership charged my company for the damage, even though the service tech told me that she had heard of this happening on one other occasion.

Was at the beach on a beautiful 78 degree day. Returned to my locked, parked card to find the back window shattered! At first, I thought someone had thrown a ball through the window, until we inspected more closely and realized:

1. There was no ball or projectile inside the car (there's no way someone could have removed anything from the car. 2. The glass bowed out as if something went through the window from inside the car (which was impossible). 3. The glass didn't shatter in a pattern resulting from a projectile. It looked like it has exploded.

The police came and drew the same conclusion. The glass looked like it exploded. Pardon my language but WTF!!!! It wasn't a hot day. The car was mostly parked in the shade. There was literally no explanation other than a spontaneous shattering of the back window! Who should have to worry about their windows spontaneously shattering/exploding, especially under totally average weather conditions when their car is parked???????

I Googled this, and much to my surprise found that this issue isn't new! I haven't seen many other reports on 2017 vehicles, but I can find plenty for early models of Ford cars/trucks/SUVs.

I contacted my dealer, and the service department was obnoxious. (They are going to rue the day they had to deal with me.) The woman on the phone implied that I did this to my car and claimed that it couldn't be a defect because this would have happened earlier if it were. (Note, the car is just under 12 months old. It was purchased on 9/5/2017.) She also said they wouldn't cover the replacement because the car has over 12,000 miles, and glass is covered for 12 months of 12,000 miles.

After taping up the window and driving 2 hours home, I marched into the dealership and went right to the GM. He Googled the issue and found cases of this issue with other 2017 models. He gave me a number for Ford Customer Relations, which I will be contacting on Monday morning (it's the weekend now). I'm going to fight to have Ford pay for the replacement, but I feel like I'm fighting the nasty giant.

Right now I'm FURIOUS and have little faith in Ford products. Nobody should have to worry about a window in their vehicle spontaneously exploding/shattering. This is nuts!

Sunny day outside. Temperature around the 0 degree Celsius mark. Just a bang and glass was shattered. Wife was driving with her mother in passenger seat and seven year old son in back seat. Definitely was upsetting. Bought vehicle brand new less then a year ago. Called dealership. Dropped car off and they gave me a loaner for free. Was informed that this was the second explorer to be brought in to them in the past month. Might have to pay for repair myself but because of no service reps in on a Saturday, they couldn't say for sure. Far as I am concerned I should not be responsible for this repair but.... waiting on phone call.

Update from Apr 17, 2018: -Ford admitted there is an issue and they covered the cost completely.

-Loving Ford right now.