sunroof failure

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Care, Maintenance & Troubleshooting' started by kearlywa, Jan 10, 2025.

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  1. kearlywa

    kearlywa New Member

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    Hello. Sorry - this newbie mistakenly posted this in the Gen 4 forum earlier today...

    We have a 2015 Prius with about 135K miles. It's been a fantastic little car. Since last year, it has mostly been driven by our teenage son, only about 3 miles to/from work and college. The car has no mechanical issues and drives great. It gets all regularly scheduled maintenance at the Toyota dealership about 35 miles down the road from where we live. Same place we purchased it in 2015.

    About a month ago, we came out and see that the gasket around the sunroof is bulging out in random spots. There is some obvious sun damage on parts too (see photos). We are not seeing or feeling any obvious water, but there is clearly more humidity in the car than normal. The floor mats also have water -- but it is winter here and there is disagreement as to if the water on the front floor mats is from snow/wet boots or the sunroof issue.

    We're afraid to open the sunroof to try and fix it because we're concerned we won't be able to close it again and perhaps make the leaking worse.

    I called our local glass/window shop and they said they don't do anything with sunroofs and suggested it's probably just clogged.

    I decided to take it to the dealership and after $90 diagnosis fee, they quoted us $4100 plus tax to repair this. They explained that they cannot ONLY replace the gasket, but the entire two-piece glass panel also needs replacing -- they claim that they cannot get the gasket without the glass. Needless to say, we are looking for alternatives.

    Option 1: Seal it shut -- this was suggested by the guy at our dealership who signed me out today. He referred me to a glass place that apparently does this. I called them and they say they can look at it, but cannot say if it's feasible to seal it before they see it in person. We would commit to driving this car until it dies if we go this route.

    Option 2: Sell/trade-in for another car (without a sunroof). Eat the $4k if we go thru dealership of course. The dealer offered $3200 at best on trade-in.

    Option 3: Try to repair it ourselves -- this makes me incredibly nervous and it sounds practically impossible to even find the damn gasket part number from our limited online research. AND we are not mechanical folks. My dad, rest is soul, being an old school mechanic, would be disappointed I even bought a hybrid but we are who we are.

    I appreciate any advice you can offer. Kathy in WA
     

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    #1 kearlywa, Jan 10, 2025
  2. ChapmanF

    ChapmanF Senior Member

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    If I'm not mistaken, a lot of the buckled rubbery bits you've photographed are really edge treatments on those glass panes. To the best of my knowledge, they aren't any replaceable part, but factory applied on the glass panels themselves. I also don't think they are critical to sealing; that's taken care of by actual rubber weatherstrips below the moonroof glass which may still be just fine. (And the solar panel, I think, is just attached by adhesive urethane, not much differently than windshield or hatch glass.) The gnarly edge treatments may be more of a cosmetic problem than anything.

    As for humidity in the cabin, a common place for leaking is tiny cracks in the roof panel seams leading aft from the solar panel toward the hatch. The skinny trim pieces that cover those seams can be popped out for inspection and sometimes a bit of self-leveling silicone sealant there will do the trick.
     
    #2 ChapmanF, Jan 10, 2025
  3. Tombukt2

    Tombukt2 Senior Member

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    Wheels do not fall off these . Engines do . About anytime now . Easy on repairs . It easy to have 6500 in repairs and still no car. Beware
     
    #3 Tombukt2, Jan 11, 2025
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  4. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    We were lucky as heck with our Gen 3:

    1. Avoided sunroof (dislike them for various reasons)

    2. Got a colour other than Blizzard Pearl paint, which was a peeling disaster

    3. Caught on about the EGR “issue”

    ^ @kearlywa for more info on EGR (Exhaust Gas Recirculation) see top two links in my signature (on a phone turn it landscape to see signatures). As @Tombukt2 alluded to, engine failure could be coming up soon.

    For all these issues, Toyota is not on your side.
     
    #4 Mendel Leisk, Jan 11, 2025
  5. Kenny94945

    Kenny94945 Active Member

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    Tough one :(
    $3200 car value.
    Parts (seal) are not available separately.

    If I understand, the sunroof is not leaking.
    Further, you have not "tested" by opening and closing.

    1) My cheap option is to remove the damaged seal, fill the gap with silicon sealant, and disconenct the sunroof operation switch. $50.

    2) Next would be disassembling the sunroof to put it on a shop bench and begin searching for a "like", aftermarket, universal, or OEM used seals. I could see this getting complicated, including part trial and error. Plus a risk that you not be able to reassemble, sunroof function becomes sporadic, or the sunroof will begin leaking. $500.

    It reads like you are up to speed/have researched your options.

    3) Although the roof flexes, you could try "bondo". Fill the gap and repaint the roof. This might make the car look nicer than # 1 and retain the $3200 value. Plus you still have the headliner as an obvious functioning "there was a sunroof here". If you can not DIY this, I could see a $1500 cost.

    The car is used by your son as an errand and short commute-only vehicle.

    BOTTOM LINE: If you wish to retain... I am swayed to # 1 above.

    Instead of the other options, I would trade it in, BUT this car is used only as an errand vehicle.
    Again, I would use sealant, retain the car and drive it till a truly expensive failure.

    All FWIW. Good luck.
     
    #5 Kenny94945, Jan 11, 2025
  6. ChapmanF

    ChapmanF Senior Member

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    At the risk of repetition, I don't think the rubbery bits the OP is concerned about are even seals, or of anything but cosmetic importance. It might be a perfectly good option to just razor-blade off the unsightly buckled bits and enjoy the car.
     
    #6 ChapmanF, Jan 11, 2025
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