Rant of the Day - Sunroof

[MiniDave]

So, I've owned a lot of German cars in particular, and while at the local MINI dealer yesterday asked if it was possible to order a car without a sunroof now, like I did with my 2009 Clubman S. The answer was sadly, no.

Not only do I have no use for a hole in the roof, I never open them, but I also hate the extra heat they bring into the car in summer. I'm not sure I notice the handling detriment of having the extra weight up there, but nonetheless, there is that factor too.

Audi, BMW(?) Mercedes - I don't think you can order a car without a sunroof anymore, or any highline car for that matter.

Here's my other issue. My 19K mile 2018 Audi Allroad is currently at the dealers, waiting on replacement sunroof drain tubes. Huh? you might say.....aren't they just pieces of tubing? Well, I assume so but my dealer insists that they can't clean them and that they must be replaced with factory Audi sunroof drain tubes - apparently they crack? Of course to even get to them requires removing the headliner.....a job I'm not keen to DIY.

One of ours is leaking, I found water back in the very rear compartment - my nose told me something was wrong as I started smelling mold when I got in the car that had been closed up for a few days, and then some electronical stuff started not working, leading me to that compartment in the left rear quarter of the car, full of water and expensive electronical parts. Since then while waiting for the tubes to come in (new and improved, and of course on back order now) the bride found a shorty car cover that only covers the top of the car, so it's easy to put on and off and that has managed to keep the important gubbins dry - but the smell remains even so.

The quote to replace the drain tubes is close to $2K, $200 of which is the tube itself, and they'll do both just in case and while they're in there. And of course they also found a few other things that I really should do.....replace the leaking motor mount (that's only $1000) and repair some corroded wires (back in the flooded compartment, I knew about those and I will DIY that) $1600 if they do it, and clean out the front drain tubes, those can be reached so that's only a $450 item. My total quote for today's efforts will be about $5K by the time you factor in shop supplies and $500 of tax.

All because of an option that I never wanted and never use.

Picture of what's in the previously flooded compartment...the tan connector with the broken wire is all corroded inside, and it's the one I'll be replacing - that little bit of plastic was $34 for both halves. Difficult to see but there is a fairly large and expensive computer body control module in there - it was under water. When I found it I dried it off and cleaned all the terminals with contact cleaner and it seems to be working still.....but I have a feeling I'll be getting one of those one day soon too.

[MiniDave]

Doing some research, apparently this has been a problem on a number of Audis thru out their range, and they have done an extended warranty on Q3's for this exact problem. I see VW products have the same issue, based on the TSB's I found.....

So, when the parts come in I'll take it over and have them do it and save the tubes for me, then I'll send a sternly worded letter to Audi corporate and see what they'll do about refunding my $2K.

I'm concerned about the mildewy/moldy smell, even when completely dried out, if the car has been closed up for a few days it's really pronounced. I'll ask if they can spray any spots they find on the back of the headliner with something to treat it. I don't know if they'll do it or not, but that's another thing I'll be mentioning in my letter to Audi.

Unlike my 2017 (which does not have this issue - yet?) I did not get a complete service history with the 2018 car - the 2017 has had every service done by the dealer on the yearly basis rather than miles since the mileage is so low - 25K miles when I bought it last year. The 2018 car has no history in the Audi system, I don't know if they never did any or what....I know it was an extra car at their vacation home hence the low miles - only 15K when we bought it last summer.

We had water intrusion issues with our 92 100CS and our 2004 Allroad - the dealer did the factory authorized repairs on the 2004 sunroof leaks, but years later the issue reappeared. No issues in the 4 years we had the 2014 Allroad and no issues with the 2017.......

[94touring]

That sounds annoying and costly.  And a reason to not buy another one.  Funny my 1994 Rx7 with sunroof doesn't leak and has never had an issue but new cars are total pieces of shit when it comes to parts breaking down after a few years.

Regarding heat through the roof.  Mine has a painted surface so sun doesn't come through.  I crack it open when the weather is nice and it gives a nice calm breeze.  Maybe you can paint yours if the glass creates heat.

[scalpel_ninja]

I was browsing the VW site checking out the new ID Buzz and decided to price out a Golf R too. They actually charge extra to delete the sunroof for their "Euro" option.

One of the main reasons I still love my daily R56 JCW, peeling paint and all, is because it doesn't have a sunroof.

[BruceK]

I sure hate sunroofs too. There isn't literally no reason for them. They have not been, and never will be "enjoyable". If you want open air motoring get a genuine convertible.

My '02 Cooper S has dual sunroofs, one of which opens and one of which is fixed in place. I go through a once a year maintenance exercise to open the sunroof and then close it to make sure it is still functional and exercise the mechanical bits, but I never ever drive with it open.

When we bought my wife's Mazda CX—5 five years ago it could only be obtained equipped with sunroof. Of course we've never opened it and honestly, we forget it's there until the car has been parked in the hot summer sun, and you can feel the heat coming through the sunroof's shade.

And as long as I'm ranting on unwanted car features, I absolutely hate a powered hatchback. There is no reason to complicate that by adding a power liftgate feature. I have added padding to the inside of our garage door because I was certain at some point the damn liftgate would be accidentally engaged while the garage door was closed. Glad I did that because it did happen while a key fob was sitting in my pocket, the wrong button was pushed, and the liftgate started opening. 

[MiniDave]

I know what you mean, tho Rose likes the powered liftgate, and the under the bumper kick to open feature.

The Audi has one glass panel that moves and one that's fixed as well, and while it doesn't seem to get as hot as my 2003 MINI did with it's sunroof, I still don't need or want one.

I also take issue with so much tech in these new cars, and the fact that you really have no choice. I remember when I bought my first new Audi 5000 in 1978, it had a 4 speed manual gearbox, roll up windows and a wonderful cloth interior. It still had plenty of "luxury" features, like factory A/C (that really worked!) cruise control power 4 wheel disc brakes and power steering, but other than that it was pretty normal. I loved it! It was comfortable, rode and handled great, had tons of room inside and was quiet as a church on the hiway. It was light too, only weighed about 2500lbs IIRC.

It only had 100hp so it wasn't exactly quick, but it seemed plenty fast enough at the time, especially with the manual gearbox.

Ah the good old days.

[MPlayle]

I guess I got lucky when I bought my Subaru Crosstrek Wilderness a couple years ago - no sunroof.  It did not have the extra "bells & whistles" package that foisted a sunroof on you and I did not want that extra package.  Its rear hatch is also manual.  There are still lots of features I will likely never use, but at least it has an oil dipstick for checking the oil level without going through the crazy computer.

[Brit_in_TX]

Another vote for hating sunroofs.  All my cars have them, and they never get used.  The Hondas they are standard and you cannot have them without.  The GMC can have them removed (and you get a small credit back), however I bought mine when it was 18 months old and it was already spec'd with it.

Another thing I hate is leather interiors in cars.  Especially in Texas they get too hot, and I had a rental the other day and it had a "pleather" and that was even worse. At what point was it decided that fabric interiors were no longer acceptable in well spec'd cars? 

[MiniDave]

Agreed....note my comment about my 78 Audi 5000 - it was considered at least on the same level as Mercedes and BMW at the time, and almost all of them had cloth interiors - leather was an expensive option that only a small percentage took. Mercedes and BMW mostly used vinyl. The cloth in my Audi seemed to wear well too....and the other wonderful thing was they came in colors! copper red, green, light blue, tan, grey, gold....I mean.....wouldn't that be nice again?

I suppose you can still spec American made cars the way you want them? I don't mean poverty spec or salesman's spec where you didn't even have power steering or brakes, but at least you can de-option a bunch of un-needed crap?

The first Lexus LS400's could be bought without a sunroof and with cloth interior, they soon changed that and leather and sunroof became mandatory about 6 months after they first went on sale.

Going slightly off topic here, I'm impressed with the interiors on the new MINIs, they've gone to a woven bamboo fabric on the dash and door caps, and the fun thing is there are big enough pores in it that they run LEDs behind the fabric that can change patterns and colors. They also offer a white interior this year! One thing that always bothered me were the dreary dark interiors......

[scalpel_ninja]

When I leased my Subaru Ascent, it was ordered from the factory with everything I wanted and nothing I didn't. When I told the salesperson who was writing down the specs, he looked at me funny when I said I didn't want a sunroof and didn't want navigation (part of the same multi-thousand dollar package). He also questioned me when I opted for a bench second row (8 seats) and not captain's chairs (7 seats). I looked at him and said: "I never use the sunroof, it's extra weight, something extra to break, stock navigation is almost never good, and why am I paying more money for less seating?"