After-market sunroofs, what's your experience with them? (Acura, Cadillac, Honda)
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I'm not a fan of sunroofs, especially living in Florida because we run the car ac 12 months a year, and the little air you get from a sunroof actually makes things hotter.
The big difference between a factory installed sunroof and an add on is the structure of the roof. We have a sunroof car we are building right now, and it has this nice, formed in jam all around the perimeter to reinforce that area. When you install an aftermarket unit, you simply cut a hole in the thin roof metal and plop the framework of the sunroof into that hole. Roofs are VERY THIN these days, and do not afford much strength.
Another factor is leaks. I have seen countless cars that, after a few years begin to leak, even the factory units.
I absolutely LOVE my truck. Its my first truck, and it’s a 2019 Nissan Frontier Midnight Edition. (It’s badass. ) I fell in love with it when I saw it...actually immediately. So much so, that I didn’t do enough research to find out that it can come with a sunroof. (I had a Nissan Altima with a sunroof, and I love it.)
Anyway, I asked Nissan if they can add a sunroof, and turns out they have a company they use for after-market stuff. (The company is highly recommended by Nissan and other car companies.) The sunroof would have a limited lifetime warranty (with the company, not with Nissan), and my Nissan warranty for my truck would not be impacted by the install.
I made an appointment to get the sunroof installed, but I started feeling weird about it after I did that.
I do not want to destroy my truck. I think my intuition is telling me something.
Gives me heart failure every time i see someone cut open the roof on a vehicle, but they seem to do fine. Leaks sometimes; never heard about a roof sagging or collapsing. Sure, get it from the factory if you can.
I've had one in 3 cars, all factory. None of mine have leaked and are easy to use but I think I've used them once every 3-4 years and then I decide it's too hot and too noisy. I'd be fine without one.
I've had one in 3 cars, all factory. None of mine have leaked and are easy to use...
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cali Doll
I had no issues with my 2008 factory installed sunroof...
The thread, and question, are about aftermarket sunroofs, in the present day.
I clearly remember the 1980 era when everyone chopped a hole in their roof, bolted in a craptastic kit sunroof, and came to hate it. I've also owned factory sunroofs for... a very long time and never had trouble with them. But apparently the fad of putting huge sunroofs in pickups has returned... and that's the question on the table.
The control switch would not be in a factory location, and would not be the same button that matches the other controls. It would look out of place and like a hack job.
The control switch would not be in a factory location, and would not be the same button that matches the other controls. It would look out of place and like a hack job.
I dunno about that. Most vehicles that don't have every single feature have blank plates and so forth, and a genuine factory switch of some kind can be adapted to control an aftermarket feature. I've done exactly that on a couple of vehicles - put rear air springs in an Odyssey and used a factory switch to control the compressor, for example.
But there are other reasons not to chop holes in the roof.
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