Let the Sun Shine in at Your Own Risk

The Nissan Quest's panoramic roof is part of the trend toward expanded glass sunroofs. Sounds great but safety hazards exist.
Photo © Nissan North America

Panoramic roofs on vehicles are one of my top options that sound great but aren't on a used car. They have the potential for being a major safety problem.

An Associated Press article on these glass roofs caught my eye because it says they're a growing trend. The first one I spotted was on the 2004 Nissan Quest minivan (which is not a fantastic used car value for other reasons). They seemed like a great idea for letting the sun shine in without the accompanying wind noise, but since then I've learned they're a potentially bad idea for safety reasons.

Clarence Ditlow, executive director of the Center for Auto Safety, said in the AP article consumers might be susceptible to having some sort of debris hit the roof and cause it to break. He also warned that the wide area could become a portal in which a motorist could be ejected in a rollover accident. (They're also expensive to replace.)

In addition to the Quest, panoramic roofs are also available on the Ford Edge, Lincoln MKX, Cadillac SRX, GMC Acadia, Saturn Outlook, Buick Enclave and the Mercedes-Benz R and S classes. In the same AP article, a leading roof manufacturer estimates that the number of panoramic glass sunroofs could more than double to about 700,000 vehicles by 2012.

So, be leery of used cars with panoramic glass roofs as they become more prevalent. They're a potential problem.