Tillsonburg, Ontario — Only three weeks after an Ontario woman purchased a 2021 Volkswagen Tiguan her sunroof shattered from potentially something as simple as shutting the door.
Michelle Tupper of Tillsonburg, Ont., grabbed her wallet from her car and then closed the door of the vehicle and the “back window just completely smashed right out,” she told Global News.
Tupper was surprised because she said she shut the door in a “normal” way.
Following the incident the vehicle was taken to a local Volkswagen dealer for examination.
Volkswagen refused to pay for the damage and Tupper ended up having to pay more than $500 out-of-pocket to get it fixed.
“It should be investigated, it should be looked into more,” Tupper told Global News.
Volkswagen Canada told Global News one of its technical specialists viewed the vehicle in person and determined “the cause of the glass breakage to be outside influence.”
“The action of closing the door likely caused pieces of glass to fall to the ground, however the breakage itself was in fact the result of some sort of impact from the outside,”Thomas Tetzlaff, manager of media relations for Volkswagen Canada told Global News.
“We understand the customer’s disappointment, however this is not a manufacturing defect,” he added.
In April 2021 however another Volkswagen owner’s sunroof shattered while driving on the highway.
The incident occurred just 10 days after Philip de Manbey purchased a 2021 Volkswagen Atlas Execline. He was on his daily commute to east Toronto along Highway 407, where he said traffic was minimal and the weather was clear and dry.
“Bang, like a gunshot, the roof just exploded,” de Manbey told Global News.“Who would have guessed we are all driving in potential time bombs.”
At first, Volkswagen also refused to pay for his sunroof and similarly attributed the damage to an outside source.
However, Volkswagen ended up contributing $500 toward de Manbey’s insurance deductible, but it denied responsibility for the breakage.
Tupper said she wanted the public to hear about her experience before purchasing a Volkswagen.
“I don’t have much faith in this vehicle at all,” Tupper said, adding she’s wondering whether another window or her sunroof will break.
