Roof panel detached while driving

[Army Al]

My roof became un-gluded that's what G M dealer told my. Wanted $3000.00 to fix. Bought the strongest epoxy I could find my friend and I glued it back down, so far so good. It held up in the car wash. But gotta tell you I'm a little nervous.

Which model and year XLR?

 

[05 GRAND DADDY]

Which model and year XLR?

Hi Al went back to the beginning of these post found this.

i just bought my 05 from a private party. yesterday while driving on the freeway, mine flew off. i've been chasing wind noise by the rear view mirror with tape. i guess i know now. i'm going today ,to try and find it, but its probably destroyed. will gm do anything? insurance? does anyone make an aftermarket skin. any help would be greatly appreciated.

It's seem all that had the issue was 04-05's Mine an 05 and checked it to max. I see nothing wrong, but check it often now that I'm aware of this.

 

[Army Al]

Hi Al went back to the beginning of these post found this.

i just bought my 05 from a private party. yesterday while driving on the freeway, mine flew off. i've been chasing wind noise by the rear view mirror with tape. i guess i know now. i'm going today ,to try and find it, but its probably destroyed. will gm do anything? insurance? does anyone make an aftermarket skin. any help would be greatly appreciated.

It's seem all that had the issue was 04-05's Mine an 05 and checked it to max. I see nothing wrong, but check it often now that I'm aware of this.

In this forum, it appears there were 3 lost tops and 2 found faulty before flying off. Coming up on 2 year ownership and only drive with the top down. It's not my daily commuter obviously and I'm only averaging 100 miles per month. One less issue that concerns me in driving my Red Baron fortunately. For there are many issues in owning an XLR. Happy motoring for those who really drive their XLRs.

 

[shabushabu55]

roof come off driving freeway last night

I have 2004 XLR black 53000mile
I driving last night freeway about 70mph
big air noise then roof panel gone .
how to fixed , panel frying can't find,
need help please. mike

 

[David_B]

Could you guys that have had your roof panels detach please go here and file a report?

This needs to be recalled for safety reasons. Parts aren't supposed to fly off cars after they are 10 years old.



Thanks.

File a Vehicle Safety Complaint | Safercar.gov | NHTSA

 

[shabushabu55]

REPORTED NHTSA

 

[05 GRAND DADDY]

This is hard to believe, that apparently they only glued these aluminum tops skins down to a body framing roof base. You would think they would somehow made sure that top aluminum skin were permanently attached with screws to fasteners from up underneath and hidden under the inner head liner, so that it holds everything together! Now after reading another of the these flying roof skins episodes it's kind of scary to know that the top can come off of the car it is also a real safety reason for us XLR's owners, mainly for the vehicles traveling behind or beside us. They passed laws that piled up snow and icing on vehicles blowing off can cause accidents and even kill someone, and needs to be cleared off your car by law, well this is far worst then any snow or ice, because ice/snow will shatter on impact, but not these skin they are like flying huge razor blades! I don't understand why Cadillac does not do a recall and examine then repair any XLR with this issue or find a solution to fix all of them! This should be a considered as a high risk safety issue! It really upsets me to know that with Cadillacs integrity and years of a known name as a safe luxury vehicles that Cadillac would even want people think that as a respected name like Cadillac that they don't care and not take care of the problem before someone gets seriously injured or even killed!


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[rexster314]

Just like any other car manufacturer, GM probably decided that it's cheaper to settle a case stemming from a roof detachment than to have a recall of their product.

 

[ccclarke]

This is hard to believe, that apparently they only glued these aluminum tops skins down to a body framing roof base. You would think they would somehow made sure that top aluminum skin were permanently attached with screws to fasteners from up underneath and hidden under the inner head liner, so that it holds everything together! Now after reading another of the these flying roof skins episodes it's kind of scary to know that the top can come off of the car it is also a real safety reason for us XLR's owners, mainly for the vehicles traveling behind or beside us. They passed laws that piled up snow and icing on vehicles blowing off can cause accidents and even kill someone, and needs to be cleared off your car by law, well this is far worst then any snow or ice, because ice/snow will shatter on impact, but not these skin they are like flying huge razor blades! I don't understand why Cadillac does not do a recall and examine then repair any XLR with this issue or find a solution to fix all of them! This should be a considered as a high risk safety issue! It really upsets me to know that with Cadillacs integrity and years of a known name as a safe luxury vehicles that Cadillac would even want people think that as a respected name like Cadillac that they don't care and not take care of the problem before someone gets seriously injured or even killed!


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The folding top's exterior (including the rear deck lid) is not made of aluminum. It's called SMC (Sheet Molded Compound) a rigid, thermoset plastic. I wouldn't characterize it as a flying razor blade, --though I wouldn't want it flying end over end into my car.

Without pictures of the leading edge bond joint BEFORE it separates and completely yields, it's harder to determine the cause of this failure. Why the designers at Car Top Systems chose to join the skin to the frame the way they did may be due to cost, inadequate material to anchor fasteners, faith in what worked previously, (this wasn't the only folding top they designed) or a combination of all three, or something else entirely.

This isn't the first occurrence, and probably won't be the last as the cars age. The important thing going forward is to periodically inspect the leading edge of the top, (just as the drain tube in the rear compartment needs to be inspected and cleared) and quit driving the car (especially at high speed) if a whistling noise develops and have it immediately checked out and documented by a GM dealership.

Filing a safety report documenting the failure with the government is also important. It's probably the only way to force GM to issue guidelines and deal with a genuine safety problem. Hopefully, someone won't die before this problem gets the attention it deserves.

CC

 

[05 GRAND DADDY]

The folding top's exterior (including the rear deck lid) is not made of aluminum. It's called SMC (Sheet Molded Compound) a rigid, thermoset plastic. I wouldn't characterize it as a flying razor blade, --though I wouldn't want it flying end over end into my car.

Without pictures of the leading edge bond joint BEFORE it separates and completely yields, it's harder to determine the cause of this failure. Why the designers at Car Top Systems chose to join the skin to the frame the way they did may be due to cost, inadequate material to anchor fasteners, faith in what worked previously, (this wasn't the only folding top they designed) or a combination of all three.

This isn't the first occurrence, and probably won't be the last as the cars age. The important thing going forward is to periodically inspect the leading edge of the top, (just as the drain tube in the rear compartment needs to be inspected and cleared) and quit driving the car (especially at high speed) if a whistling noise develops and have it immediately checked out and documented by a GM dealership.

Filing a safety report documenting the failure with the government is also important. It's probably the only way to force GM to issue guidelines and deal with a genuine safety problem. Hopefully, someone won't die before this problem gets the attention it deserves.

CC

Thanks CC for that correction, I was mislead at some point and told the only body part of the XLR, that was aluminum, was the top for roll over safety protection. And maybe the person was talking of the framing, don't know. I had a thought that if we had a company develop some sort of a wind deflector, simular to like a (wind/bug gaurd) that would fit on the hood to deflect the wind up and over the roof, it would stop the direct wind force directly into that area. It would probably need to be taped with 3M tape to the winshield and clip behind the windshield moulding some how. I work with WindRestrictor forour XLR and other cars..........May be they be interested in this?

 

[ccclarke]

Until the root cause of the problem (laminar flow, cracked bond joints from vibration, defective materials, etc) is fully understood, any vendor marketing a potential solution could face a potential liability nightmare if the top were to separate. Such is our society. . .

As a vendor, I wouldn't touch this with a ten foot pole until the problem is fully understood.

Interested Bystander: "Nice car, what's that wind deflector on the windshield header for?"
Nervous XLR Owner: "It helps prevent the top from splitting in two and flying off."
Nervous Bystander: "Nice . . . . Ugh, you can follow me."

CCC

 

[rhastings]

Geez

The exact same thing happened to us in our '04 XLR. 70 mph and it went flying. GM customer service was of no help. We will contact them again and reference this website.

 

[nbw123]

I had a glass roof on a mustang separate along the leading edge and start to lift off. I used a couple of strips of Gorilla tape to hold it in place for a couple of weeks until I had a chance to get it replaced. It scared the he'll out of me when it happened


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[nerkpowers]

I was driving to Columbus last week, very windy and I was hearing a wind noise in the top. Had it to my mechanic today for replacement of the skid plate and noticed the top was beginning to separate in the front-middle. His body shop is currently searching repair methods. If anyone has any known procedures I can pass along, it would be helpful. I've already passed along the Corvette recall notice.


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[XLRATING]

The only slight humor I can see in this is now I can put a sticker on my car for particularly aggressive tailgaters that says "Back off or my car will throw its roof panel at you!"

 

[XLR_04]

I'm posting this because after a long search online, I found nobody who had this issue, despite the Cadillac dealer telling me that this is a "common" problem.

This is my 05 XLR, it started to get some wind noise and I figured a seal had started to wear. Dealer looked at it and said the same and recommended a silicon product for the roof seal.

Then while driving down the highway at around 70mph, the roof panel flew off the car. Thankfully it didn't hit anyone or cause an accident.

So, make sure you get your wind noise checked. Apparently this was an issue with Corvettes around that time, but I've seen nothing on the XLR.

View attachment 4613

my grandpa's 2004 XLR lost it's roof we were only going 45-50MPH (we had about 5-10mph head wind) when it was lost..
tailgaters on the single lane highway we were on.
we did search for it. for an hour and did locate the top

the adhesive on the plastic and was cleanly ripped from car(no adhesive on the car )
it started ripping from the driver side (since you could hear wind whistling from that side prior to it ripping off)


the panel is toast heavily scratched up. probably not reusable it looked like it was part of a roll over accident...

I was even recording a video prior to it coming off and you can hear the wind noise on the video
And did catch the loss of it on video ( but not the panel flying away)

 

[XLR_04]

my grandpa's 2004 XLR lost it's roof we were only going 45-50MPH (we had about 5-10mph head wind) when it was lost..
tailgaters on the single lane highway we were on.
we did search for it. for an hour and did locate the top

the adhesive on the plastic and was cleanly ripped from car(no adhesive on the car )
it started ripping from the driver side (since you could hear wind whistling from that side prior to it ripping off)


the panel is toast heavily scratched up. probably not reusable it looked like it was part of a roll over accident...

I was even recording a video prior to it coming off and you can hear the wind noise on the video
And did catch the loss of it on video ( but not the panel flying away)

looks like there is a new top version available that is bolted on, look like the insurance will cover it amount of $3,200 ouch.. minus $500 deductable

 

[mickeytee]

lucky

looks like there is a new top version available that is bolted on, look like the insurance will cover it amount of $3,200 ouch.. minus $500 deductable

You are lucky you got an adjuster that would pay for it. Its actually not a covered loss. Unless you say something hit it ,its not covered under collision as the car cannot collide with itself. its also not a covered loss under comprehensive as their Is a specific exclusion called inherent vice that excludes payment for it blowing off. Without that exclusion water pumps, fan belts , transmissions a cracked dash all maintenance items could be covered. The new roof carries the same part number they have always had. I am not sure they bolted the outer skin on. You are just getting the whole top assembly without trim and it bolts on. The panel bond that the factory used can be removed with heat but its supposed to be more than just the sun will do. Good luck and be thankful you are only out 500$

 

[XLR_04]

You are lucky you got an adjuster that would pay for it. Its actually not a covered loss. Unless you say something hit it ,its not covered under collision as the car cannot collide with itself. its also not a covered loss under comprehensive as their Is a specific exclusion called inherent vice that excludes payment for it blowing off. Without that exclusion water pumps, fan belts , transmissions a cracked dash all maintenance items could be covered. The new roof carries the same part number they have always had. I am not sure they bolted the outer skin on. You are just getting the whole top assembly without trim and it bolts on. The panel bond that the factory used can be removed with heat but its supposed to be more than just the sun will do. Good luck and be thankful you are only out 500$

correction it's only 2500 minus the 500 deductible..


"they claimed to have never seen anything like it before." so they have nothing "about it" in the policy.

of not being covered..

 

[mickeytee]

insurance

Just be glad you have an adjuster that does not know the policy. It is an exclusion in all 50 states. I worked in underwriting when I was younger. Just do not make an issue if they charge you more at the shop when its done. if it get s a supervisor involved , haha he may know what is covered. You could say someone stole it but then you would have to file a police report. Its lost but that is not a auto coverage because of the way it was lost. HAHA, Grandad is living right to get this one covered