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My mother's 2012 Camry SE had the same popping noise coming from the sunroof. The dealer removed the headliner and installed some sort of sound deadening blanket (per the tsb), but it still did it. She ended up trading it for a 2015 Camry without a sunroof.
I always try to avoid buy a vehicle with a sunroof/moonroof/panoramic roof. I have known of too many people with them who have had issues, usually leakages. We have been lucky with my wife's CRV and its moonroof.
As an update... last night made the 6th time in 2 days of attempting to reach my case manager at Toyota with no luck after she was supposed to have called me on Tuesday. I keep getting told she is on another call, or attempted to call me and I didn't answer. Despite telling them I have no missed calls, she has two numbers, and my email (to which she sends a generic email that says I tried calling you and must have missed you) they tell me I have to deal with her. In her email she tells me to call a certain number, enter option 3 at the prompt, and enter her direct extension. It won't work and I get routed to a call queue which I keep telling the folks I get on the phone. Their response is always "Oh I'm sorry.... something must be wrong with our system. I assure you she wants to speak with you."
I told the lady last night if she doesn't call me today my next call is to a lawyer.
As an update... last night made the 6th time in 2 days of attempting to reach my case manager at Toyota with no luck after she was supposed to have called me on Tuesday. I keep getting told she is on another call, or attempted to call me and I didn't answer. Despite telling them I have no missed calls, she has two numbers, and my email (to which she sends a generic email that says I tried calling you and must have missed you) they tell me I have to deal with her. In her email she tells me to call a certain number, enter option 3 at the prompt, and enter her direct extension. It won't work and I get routed to a call queue which I keep telling the folks I get on the phone. Their response is always "Oh I'm sorry.... something must be wrong with our system. I assure you she wants to speak with you."
I told the lady last night if she doesn't call me today my next call is to a lawyer.
I think you should call a lawyer anyway. These guys are not on your side.
She called me yesterday and we finally discussed all of the issues. She had me submit to her pictures of the roof when it exploded, and as much info as I could gather which also included numerous posts on other forums (with very similar pics to my incident). I also submitted a satellite view of the road that my wife was turning on when it popped. She was calling the GM of the dealership today to find out exactly what steps they took to try to fix the car. She is to compile her research and I'm supposed to hear back from her on Monday to figure out what the next steps will be.
My wife's cousin is a very good lawyer who has helped us in the past fight Vanderbilt Hospital when they wouldn't file an insurance claim for my son and said he is willing to work this one as well. I know the owner of the dealership so I plan to talk to him when I see him over the weekend to see what he can push as well. With it being a safety issue (and no fault of the dealerships) he may be able to help as well.
Be careful with threats of hiring a lawyer, sometimes corporations will cut off all communication with you if you do that. Never threaten to hire a lawyer unless you really mean it.
I do really mean it. There's no bluffing here, as that car cost me a LOT of money. I could have easily bought a Lexus for what we spent on that car. They returned my call fairly quickly after telling them I would get a lawyer involved and were much more apologetic. I've heard of the Camry having the popping issues too so I wonder if it is a chassis problem since the Venza and Camry share the same chassis.
Long story short.... we purchased a brand new 2014 Venza Limited last year with 12 miles on it. Every option available including the panoramic glass roof. At 7k miles, the roof exploded making a turn (literally) so we took it to the dealership to have a new one installed. We were told then that it was defective glass. At 15k miles the roof began making a popping sound when going over train tracks, or taking an off-kilter incline such as a pitched driveway. Took it back to the dealership and was told that the popping was common and not to be concerned.
Fast forward to 25k miles. After a hard rain, we noticed the roof was damp where the a-pillar meets the roofline. Called the service manager who is a friend of ours and he had me bring it in. He said the sunroof drains were an issue on these and had them cleaned out. We again mentioned the popping. He said it was fixed, and if the popping noise wasn't a big deal to try to live with it because all they could do was make it worse. He mentioned they used a thicker and harder sealant on a couple and it would actually buckle the sheetmetal at the roofline if the wrong approach were used to an incline due to the lack of structural support.
As of this morning, the wife called and it is leaking again and the roof is still making the popping noise. We are headed to trade it in this evening as we are within 9k miles of being out of warranty and the dealerships around here all say they cannot fix it. It's sad really... as we love this car.
We're prepared to take a hefty hit to our wallet with trading it but at this point it's worth it to get back into something (not a Toyota) that we don't have these issues with.
So if you're looking for a Venza, AVOID the panoramic roof at all costs if possible. Toyota has acknowledged they cannot fix it, and don't seem too inclined to compensate anyone for the trouble.
WHOA WHOA WHOA, slow down! Pursue BBB before you pursue trade in. Trade in is tremendously costly.BBB has an arbitration service.
WHOA WHOA WHOA, slow down! Pursue BBB before you pursue trade in. Trade in is tremendously costly.BBB has an arbitration service.
Read the rest of the thread.
We're not going to accept the option to "repair" the vehicle, as per multiple (3 total) dealerships the flawed design isn't something they can repair. It is what it is. We either get them to allow us to "trade" it evenly with no depreciation hit on something without a pano roof (meaning basically we swap out), or to agree to buy it back.
I think you should call a lawyer anyway. These guys are not on your side.
You would only have a case if the store or toyota refused to fix the problem. They fix it, albeit not very well, but they do fix it.
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