I do and have for the past 20 years, when I got my first car. The deal is that of the 10 or so cars I've called my own in that period of time, nine have had sunroofs and eight of them have given me grief.
There are so many things wrong with sunroofs that I'm not sure where to begin. Let's start with the fact that a roof on a car is part of its structural integrity. Cutting a hole in the roof sounds a little off, don't it?
Then, there's the added weight of a glass panel overhead that elevates a car's centre of gravity. And about that hole; talk about opening up your car to the elements and risks of water infiltration which leads to rust and all sorts of other nasty things. And lastly, installation.
On that last point, I have to bring up a luxury test car that I cruised around in a short while back. This $100k+ prestigious car sported a panoramic, twin-pane sunroof – and it rattled. It made the type of noise that makes you grind your teeth and want to fill your ear canal with cement. I was mortified.
Them sunroofs on my cars have all, at some point or another, failed, leaked, rusted or jammed just because that's what they do. Crap gets into the drains, fills them up, causes the drains to leak water into the car or, if you're lucky, will cause rust to develop in your “A” pillars which are only another essential part of your car's entire structure.
Biggest insult here? You have to pay a premium for all these headaches! In most cases, well over a grand!
I know that some of my colleagues out there could not fathom living one day without the extra light that a proper sunroof affords a cabin. They say it lightens up the mood and they enjoy the warmth of the sun on their head.
What they won't tell you is that that extra light messes with some car's gauges, HVAC and audio displays. Depending on the angle, the sun's rays render some information practically illegible. What they're also not thinking about are the sun's harmful rays cooking their skulls and getting them that much closer to some form of skin cancer.
For whatever little good comes from a sunroof, the negatives far outweigh the positives. I say they should be banned!
BTW, convertibles are an entirely different subject.
There are so many things wrong with sunroofs that I'm not sure where to begin. Let's start with the fact that a roof on a car is part of its structural integrity. Cutting a hole in the roof sounds a little off, don't it?
Then, there's the added weight of a glass panel overhead that elevates a car's centre of gravity. And about that hole; talk about opening up your car to the elements and risks of water infiltration which leads to rust and all sorts of other nasty things. And lastly, installation.
On that last point, I have to bring up a luxury test car that I cruised around in a short while back. This $100k+ prestigious car sported a panoramic, twin-pane sunroof – and it rattled. It made the type of noise that makes you grind your teeth and want to fill your ear canal with cement. I was mortified.
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| Photo: Rob Rothwell/Auto123.com |
Them sunroofs on my cars have all, at some point or another, failed, leaked, rusted or jammed just because that's what they do. Crap gets into the drains, fills them up, causes the drains to leak water into the car or, if you're lucky, will cause rust to develop in your “A” pillars which are only another essential part of your car's entire structure.
Biggest insult here? You have to pay a premium for all these headaches! In most cases, well over a grand!
I know that some of my colleagues out there could not fathom living one day without the extra light that a proper sunroof affords a cabin. They say it lightens up the mood and they enjoy the warmth of the sun on their head.
What they won't tell you is that that extra light messes with some car's gauges, HVAC and audio displays. Depending on the angle, the sun's rays render some information practically illegible. What they're also not thinking about are the sun's harmful rays cooking their skulls and getting them that much closer to some form of skin cancer.
For whatever little good comes from a sunroof, the negatives far outweigh the positives. I say they should be banned!
BTW, convertibles are an entirely different subject.