2021-2025 Nissan Rogue Models Equipped with Rear Windshields that Can Explode, Class Action Suit Says

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A proposed class action lawsuit alleges that 2021-2025 Nissan Rogue vehicles are equipped with defective rear windshields that are prone to explode spontaneously.

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The 51-page class action lawsuit asserts that the alleged defect plaguing the Nissan Rogue models at issue can cause the rear windshield to catastrophically fail without warning, often with a “loud explosion and flying glass.” Per the case, a Nissan Rogue rear windshield can explode even while a vehicle is being operated and despite the absence of adverse weather conditions, a collision, or misuse.

The suit says the apparent problem can cause a Rogue’s rear windshield to fail well before the expiration of its expected lifespan and regularly within Nissan’s three-year, 36,000-mile warranty.

According to the class action suit, the sudden explosion of a tempered glass rear windshield on an affected Nissan Rogue modelcan shoot pieces of broken glass into the air, creating a dangerous situation for drivers and other vehicle occupants. In particular, consumers have reported “shards of glass landing near infants, and baby strollers being covered in glass shards,” and vehicles with shattered rear windshields are at increased risk of theft and break-ins, the suit shares.

According to the filing, Nissan insists that the exploding rear windshields are the result of “normal wear and tear” and that the defective parts are not covered under warranty. As a result, the lawsuit says, consumers are forced to pay hundreds out of pocket to replace the apparently faulty windshields.

The filing alleges that the defect in the tempered glass windshield is a result of the manufacturing process, which leaves residual amounts of nickel sulfide embedded in the glass. The tempered glass contains sodium carbonate and calcium oxide, referred to as soda-lime glass, the case states.

While automotive manufacturers prize soda-lime glass for its lightweight, practical properties, “microscopic imperfections” containing nickel sulfide can retain heat from manufacturing for years, the filing explains. The case adds that when nickel sulfide finally begins to cool, it adds more tensile stress to the tempered glass, causing “spectacular failures with no visible cause.”

“Nissan’s use of thin, tempered soda-lime glass, containing manufacturing defects, to produce the rear windshields is substandard, dangerous, and inadequate,” the lawsuit charges.

Despite its awareness of the defect, Nissan “has failed to fix the defect and provide an adequate repair or recall the class vehicles in a manner that would adequately address it,” and has instead “failed to disclose, and actively concealed” the defective windshields, the class action lawsuit claims.

“Nissan knew of the defect at the time of sale or lease of the defective vehicles,” the case alleges, charging that the windshield defect is “ubiquitous” and would have been detected during the “rigorous and extensive” pre-sale testing of the vehicles.

The Nissan Rogue class action lawsuit seeks to cover all United States residents who purchased or leased a model year 2021-2025 Nissan Rogue vehicle.

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