What's in your wallet sunroof drain

Our Expedition had the same problem, drain blocked up, aided in rotting out the rockers. One of the reasons I ordered my SRT without a sunroof.
 
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Lots of pollen, tree needles, and other stuff play havoc with sunroofs around here, especially if you are parked out in the open.

I also recommend a liberal treatment of Gummi Pflege on the seals. I use it on all my seals once a year. Doors, hatch, hood and sunroof.


Better/different than Shin Etsu?
 
Better/different than Shin Etsu?


Just my personal observation, Shin Etsu is an excellent product as well. It takes an extra step though. When I first used it I noticed it attracted some dust. Then someone told me to wipe off the excess after a few days. So for me the Gummi Pflege is easier to use. Both do the job very well.
 
Compressed air, a little hot water, then another shot of air down the drain tubes a few times a year has kept ours clear. The drain tubes are easily accessible on the Chrysler though.
 
I avoid buying cars with sunroofs if possible. They are a waste of $1,000 to $1,500. I live in Florida and never use them. It's too hot 10 months of the year and the other 2 months I have no interest in opening it. They will eventually leak or fail. No thanks.
 
Do sunroofs need to be cleaned in areas that get a lot of rain? Never had to do it in my cars or heard of anyone here doing it.
Yes. Any sort of drains do.

My wife’s old 08 VW had a clogged drain once. My 135i convertible has drains down the A pillars that can clog with pollen too.

I just chased the drain in my 1991 300D the other day.

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I personally hate sunroof. BMW loves to basically mandate them. My last one spit some plastic bits at me one time when I opened it. Got it repaired then didn't open it for a few years. Was getting rid of it so I tried it and it was stuck. Oh well. Better stuck closed than open or leaking. It's gone now. Now all I have is a convertible top which is more fun but opened it below freezing and cracked the plastic window. Haven't replaced it yet.
 
  • Don't park under trees
  • Don't bother leaving a bad review for the shop, they probably hired a service to post a gazillion positive reviews
  • Safelite has actually been the only place I've had luck getting a windshield replaced
 
  • Don't park under trees
  • Don't bother leaving a bad review for the shop, they probably hired a service to post a gazillion positive reviews
  • Safelite has actually been the only place I've had luck getting a windshield replaced
I don't see why this is a reason not to leave one. It takes 5 minutes to leave a review, and people still check negative ones for this reason.

If you are really unhappy you can also post with a picture. It makes it even harder for the business owner to dismiss.
 
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On a side note, I went to the highest rated auto glass shop on google in the area. One man shop (with an assistant). Guy did a horrible install in every possible way- the cowling is messed up, the trip is messed up, didn't even out the rear-view mirror back properly. Although I don't do windshield replacements, I am to the point that expectation management needs to be do it yourself- the chances of getting a professional job from start to finish is no longer realistic in anything, from a meal to an auto repair.
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I went with a guy that had fantastic reviews on Yelp. I noticed when the guy came it was not the same guy. The imposter said the guy was taking time off. I let him do it. Looked at it when he was done, and seemed OK. But later on after he left is when I noticed the very sloppy work.

Tried talking to the guy on the phone who I believe is the owner/one I thought was going to do the work. I sent him pics per his request, but he did not seem to want to call me back. Credit card company wanted me to get 3 bodyshops to make comments. I kind of faked it back to credit card company. None of the body shops wanted to bad mouth the guy......especially if I was not paying them for review of poor work.

It took awhile but the credit card company finally refunded me for full amount. Thinking the reviews were fake. Or maybe if the proper guy did the work it would have been fine..........?
 
I went with a guy that had fantastic reviews on Yelp. I noticed when the guy came it was not the same guy. The imposter said the guy was taking time off. I let him do it. Looked at it when he was done, and seemed OK. But later on after he left is when I noticed the very sloppy work.

Tried talking to the guy on the phone who I believe is the owner/one I thought was going to do the work. I sent him pics per his request, but he did not seem to want to call me back. Credit card company wanted me to get 3 bodyshops to make comments. I kind of faked it back to credit card company. None of the body shops wanted to bad mouth the guy......especially if I was not paying them for review of poor work.

It took awhile but the credit card company finally refunded me for full amount. Thinking the reviews were fake. Or maybe if the proper guy did the work it would have been fine..........?
Reviews now need to be read with the upmost concern that positive reviews may not be accurate or may in fact be fake/fictional.
 
I have had at least a dozen windshields replaced at Safelight with zero issues. Either my experiences are an anomaly - or some people have really bad luck.
I drove 30,000 plus miles a year in my employment- went through some windshields.
 
Most sunroofs have a rear drain on each side that is hidden where it comes out at the bottom by being behind a plastic section of the back wheel well on each side. If that is causing the problem you can remove the plastic sections and snake them with a wire of appropriate diameter. Or a thin OD polyethylene tubing. Snaking them from the top is almost impossible because you can't get to the connection on the top on most vehicles.
 
I run a thin weed eater string thru my sunroof drains annually and then pour water from a bottle down each drain to verify that they drain.
 
The first thing I thought of after seeing my windshield replacement butchered, was I should have taken it to safelite........
I was trying to save money, but that bit me in the behind.......
I thought I had coverage on my auto ins. But was shocked I did not. Don't know what happened there........ I have it after the fact.

Maybe if the guy with the great reviews had done it, it would have been done OK. But his substitute was not up to the task.
 
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