2023 Toyota Sequoia
08-09-23, 07:12 PM
#706
Lexus Fanatic
I like having a sunroof, I do open it from time to time but when it’s not open I leave the shade closed. I like the darkness of the interior and I like the noise suppression of the shade.
Specifically refusing to buy a car with a sunroof limits you too much when looking for cars, since almost all cars have them
Specifically refusing to buy a car with a sunroof limits you too much when looking for cars, since almost all cars have them
So do I. Dealbreaker for me. And I can’t believe Prius and Venza and Crown all have fixed glass roofs. Even the Mirai. Such a shame.
08-09-23, 08:48 PM
#708
Lexus Fanatic
iTrader: (20)
i think you're saying it's a deal breaker for you if a car does NOT have a sunroof right?
08-09-23, 09:36 PM
#709
Lexus Test Driver
My preference is for a car without one, but I won't let the presence of a sunroof stop me from buying a car I am otherwise in love with.
My truck doesn't have a sunroof, but my Fusion and LS400 did. I do prefer less glass living in Las Vegas.
My truck doesn't have a sunroof, but my Fusion and LS400 did. I do prefer less glass living in Las Vegas.
08-10-23, 12:14 PM
#710
Lexus Fanatic
08-10-23, 02:40 PM
#711
Lexus Fanatic
Though generally a deal-breaker for me, I'm not quite as extreme against sunroofs as this article, but the author brings up some good points:
https://www.thedrive.com/article/419...-get-a-sunroof
https://www.thedrive.com/article/419...-get-a-sunroof
08-10-23, 02:45 PM
#712
Lexus Fanatic
Back to the (thread-topic) 2024 Sequoia, here's a nice video on a TRD version, with a lot of close-ups:
https://www.google.com/search?q=2024...id:kWQc5HXINtQ
https://www.google.com/search?q=2024...id:kWQc5HXINtQ
08-10-23, 03:25 PM
#713
Lexus Fanatic
Though generally a deal-breaker for me, I'm not quite as extreme against sunroofs as this article, but the author brings up some good points:
https://www.thedrive.com/article/419...-get-a-sunroof
https://www.thedrive.com/article/419...-get-a-sunroof
No one actually uses a sunroof. When you buy a new car, you may try it out once or twice, and then about a week later you forget that it’s even there. If it’s raining, opening it would be insane. And if it’s hot out, it’s just a hole in the roof letting the air-conditioned atmosphere escape. If the weather is perfect, go ride a motorcycle, OK? About the only practical use of a sunroof is to monitor law enforcement helicopters tracking you.
Go ride a motorcycle? And risk my life? Pass.
You should never cut holes in a car’s roof. The unibody structure of most vehicles is such that the roof is an integral part of its strength. Carving out an opening in it is like installing a screen door in an egg. Insanity.
If you actually do open a sunroof, you’ve seriously screwed with the car’s aerodynamics. Suddenly laminar airflow becomes a turbulent top of additional drag. And despite desperate attempts at mitigating the sound, you’ve created a noisy vortex that almost always makes regular conversation between driver and passengers impossible.
It’s something else that will inevitably break. And when it does, it's fiendishly expensive to fix.
They weigh too much. Honda occasionally deletes the sunroofs from a car if the additional weight of that roof screws up EPA fuel mileage testing on the dyno. That's right, sunroofs are so heavy they can affect fuel mileage. Think somewhere between an additional 50- and 80-pounds for a normal sedan’s glass panel sunroof. Or between 120- and 200-pounds for those insane “panoramic” sunroofs you can find on luxury SUVs.
All that weight is in exactly the wrong place—at the top of the car, where it raises the center of gravity. When was the last time you saw a racecar with a sunroof, huh?
They steal headroom. That roof has to go someplace when it’s open, and that’s usually right to where the rear seat passengers keep their foreheads. So you don’t just get a sunroof, you get less utility too!
They're too damn expensive. Car companies cleverly bury the cost of sunroofs in “option packages” that bundle together convenience features that often aren’t all that convenient. But Dodge does offer a sunroof as a stand-alone option on the Challenger and Charger for $1,195. So you’re paying nearly $1,200 for a hole in your roof, filled with a heavy glass panel, that makes the car worse when it’s open, and screws up the aerodynamics.
08-10-23, 05:21 PM
#714
Lexus Fanatic
That's why I said that my views, though similar, were not quite as extreme as his.
Also, keep in mind that you usually don't keep a vehicle more than the lease period (2-4 years)......I usually don't keep a vehicle more than 5. Some of the worst sunroof problems may not occur untll later in a vehicle's life....although that still doesn't mean I'd want one.
08-10-23, 05:28 PM
#715
Lexus Fanatic
But I have kept vehicles far far longer than that, and know many people who do and none of them nor I have ever had an issue with a sunroof.
08-11-23, 08:09 AM
#716
I have had only used vehicles ranging from 6 years to 15 years old. I’ve never had a problem with a sunroof leaking or getting stuck. It does rattle slightly on my GS though, but if I close the shade I don’t hear it. I also take good care of my cars and don’t park them under trees.
I am very surprised to read the disdain for sunroofs on a luxury car forum where there is usually an appreciation for superfluous luxury and technology features. As for the new Sequoia I think it’s an epic fail for reasons previously mentioned.
I am very surprised to read the disdain for sunroofs on a luxury car forum where there is usually an appreciation for superfluous luxury and technology features. As for the new Sequoia I think it’s an epic fail for reasons previously mentioned.
08-11-23, 11:02 AM
#717
Lexus Fanatic
if you treat the rubber gasket around the glass with something like Sin Etsu grease it will solve the rattling...
08-11-23, 01:04 PM
#718
Lexus Champion
If I used them it would maybe be different but I just don't like them and as far as getting heat out that's the only function I've found useful. Even then all windows down as you walk out to the car has the same effect so...
08-11-23, 01:06 PM
#719
Lexus Champion
i NEVER open the shade on my santa fe (which is a panoramic roof, half opening, half fixed). i see no reason to let light in.
about your tesla, you said you opted for the entire glass roof... i thought they only came that way?
as for feeling open, i'd rather it felt closed like a cockpit.
if i wanted open i'd drive a van. 
about your tesla, you said you opted for the entire glass roof... i thought they only came that way?
as for feeling open, i'd rather it felt closed like a cockpit.
if i wanted open i'd drive a van.
08-11-23, 01:11 PM
#720
Lexus Champion
I just did all that stuff on my new VW and fr what? I'm never going to open the roof again until next year for the next service