Toyota Camry Owner Hit With $22,520 Repair Bill From Dealer For His Panoramic Moonroof - How Can This Be Avoided?

The owner of a 2020 Toyota Camry from Newmarket, Ont., Canada, found out the hard way this week that, sometimes, it is nearly impossible to “fix” a simple moonroof glitch. The owner’s wife made the terrible mistake of actually opening the moonroof (I mean, what was she thinking?) only to find that it would not close when she wished it to. It seemed a bit askew on the guides upon which the glass roof slides back and forth.

This problem reminds us of the many glass roof problems that have been reported by owners. 

“My wife was out with the vehicle and it was a nice day, so she opened the sunroof, but when she got home and tried to close it, it wouldn’t close,” owner Mark Hilts told CTV News Canada. Since moonroofs are just simple mechanical devices added to cars as options, Mr. Hilts figured the repair would be a simple one and not cost an arm and a leg. He found out the hard way that in the case of this particular roof, on this particular car, the repair is anything but simple and affordable.

The dealer found that the roof had a twist to the frame and that the glass was binding. The solution? Replace the entire roof at a cost of $22,520 (CAD). “I thought for sure that the decimal place was in the wrong spot,” he told CTV News. “It was disbelief, like if a sunroof is $22,000, how much is the motor or transmission? It must be double that.”

If this were the only information we had, we’d have skipped on reporting this story. Perhaps the dealer was mistaken, or some shenanigans were afoot, and Mr. Hilts was being taken for a ride by one unscrupulous dealer or individual at that dealership. However, CTV News, one of Canada’s most trusted news sources, dug deeper. They reached out to Toyota of Canada, which offered this statement:

Upon inspection of this vehicle, it was determined that it suffered a deformation of the frame of the panoramic sunroof assembly caused by an external factor. This resulted in the need to replace the full sunroof assembly. The cost of the replacement reflects the size of the unit and the complexity of the replacement procedure. We encourage the customer to get in touch with their dealership to further discuss this matter.

Mr. Hilts did discuss the matter with his dealership. They suggested an alternative. Instead of properly repairing the giant glass roof, they could simply force it to close and then “seal it shut.” The cost to jury-rig the roof of this just five-year-old Toyota would be $576. This is the option that Mr. Hilts and his wife opted for. Now they cannot open and close the roof anymore. “They disconnected the power to it, and it’s sealed shut, and now we can’t use it,” Mr. Hilts told CTV News.

Panoramic glass moonroofs are becoming ubiquitous on top-trims of even mundane and mainstream vehicles today. It is almost impossible to find a well-equipped vehicle that does not come from the factory with one of these “all-glass” types of moonroofs. If you want things like heated seats and a premium audio system upgrade, you usually need to accept things you don't want, like the all-glass roofs and low-profile tires. The days of picking and choosing your options one by one are long gone.

As bad as this particular problem is, roofs made from glass have other problems. Many glass sunroofs crack or break, often with no attributable cause. This can sometimes be covered by insurance, but it depends on the vehicle owner’s policy and state insurance guidelines. The advent of battery-electric vehicles helped to accelerate the adoption of problematic all-glass roofs in vehicles. The Tesla Models X, 3, and Y all feature glass roofs, as do many other BEVs such as the Ford Mustang Mach-E. It’s not just EVs with novel roofs, either. Your author’s own 2024 Toyota Venza Hybrid has a novel all-glass Star Gaze roof that can turn clear or opaque at the touch of a button. Owners report the price to replace it runs from $6,400 to $9,800 if it fails.

What Are This Owner’s Options?
Let’s set aside the two options that the Toyota dealer offered to the Hilts. Is there a third or perhaps a fourth option for dealing with this issue? As an engineer, car expert, and owner of multiple cars that have had sunroofs fail in one manner or another, I think the answer is a definite “yes!”

The engineer part of me says, “Why not try to fix the rails in situ?” Meaning, try to fix the roof without disassembly. After all, the Hilts ended up just sealing it shut anyhow. Perhaps the rails could have been persuaded to allow the roof to close on its own just one last time? This idea does come with some risk of the glass breaking, but victory usually goes to the bold.

As an experienced vehicle owner with multiple cars that have had sunroof failures, my second path to repair would be out the driveway of the Toyota dealership and directly to an experienced body shop repair person. Body shops are all about straightening out bent stuff on cars. Perhaps a good body man could make a repair? If not, they might have another solution, or suggest a specialist they know who could give it a go.

Back in my days growing up four miles from Downtown Boston, we used to have a sort of joke about situations like this. We’d say, “It would be a shame if Cliffid from Medfid stole that car and torched it.” The joke was that the insurance might pay for the problematic car in full if it were suddenly stolen and destroyed. Haha. We’re kidding. I wonder if Cliffid is still helping car owners, or if he gave up the franchise?  Don’t let us give you the impression we condone insurance fraud. We’d never do such a thing.

Big Glass Roofs, Low Profile Tires, and Stop-Start Technology - Let’s Ditch ‘Em All
My personal opinion is that there are three trends in the automotive world that we should stop rewarding with sales, and that automotive content creators should stop pretending they are “features and advantages.” The three terrible trends are all-glass roofs, silly low-profile tires, and auto-stop start. Who’s with me? Please tell us your thoughts in the comments section below. 

You can view a TikTok image on this subject here. The CTV source is found here. 

Images by John Goreham.

John Goreham is the Vice President of the New England Motor Press Association and an expert vehicle tester. John completed an engineering program with a focus on electric vehicles, followed by two decades of work in high-tech, biopharma, and the automotive supply chain before becoming a news contributor. He is a member of the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE int). In addition to his fourteen years of work at Torque News, John has published thousands of articles and reviews at American news outlets. He is known for offering unfiltered opinions on vehicle topics. You can connect with John on LinkedIn and follow his work on his personal X channel or on our X channel. John employs grammar and punctuation software when proofreading, and he sometimes uses image generation tools.