Sunroof installed! - 2007 Prius, Minneapolis

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(craigk @ Jul 13 2007, 06:50 AM) [snapback]478014[/snapback]</div>

would like to talk with you regarding sunroof, cost, place, etc

I'm local MPLS

(612) 578-1212
berkley

 

Does your moonroof have a warranty? Webastco does not reccommend putting one into the Prius, and therefore will not warranty it Did you get a warranty from your installer? Could you give me the phone # of your installer so I can contact him to see if I can replicate whatr you have done. Thanks, Amaranta

 

Any chance of a front shot of the roof. They did a fantastic job on your sunroof. I think you can definitely be proud of that.

Enjoy,
GT

 

Re: Sunroof installed! - 2007 Prius, Minneapolis

So how are the sunroofs doing about 6 months later? I'd love to get one installed in my 08 Prius but I don't think anybody on the east coast does it (I'm in Harrisburg, Pa, MD, and NJ all the time).

Has anybody had any issues?

 

Re: Sunroof installed! - 2007 Prius, Minneapolis

So if I understand their language correctly, they have stopped installing sunroofs on Prius?

 

Re: Got the Sunroof Blues

My dealer (and 3 others), all of whom wanted nothing more than to jack up the price of all my added goodies (custom katzkin leather etc...) at first said "yes" to installing a sunroof, then got back to us with a "NO NO NO!!!" for Prius.

Each time, and from different installers that these dealers use, the word was identical on the topic: they aren't safe, they aren't stable. They are fine as long as the frame isn't strained w/ an accident (or car flipped in an accident) because the engineering of the car roof itself isn't structurally sound with a hole in the middle.

As much as I want one, and will miss my other car for this reason, I certainly don't want to trade safety for it. All the airbags in the world won't be enough if the roof caves in - or so I'm told.

It's significant to me that the leading manufacturer of these aftermarket sunroofs states that they will NOT warranty for a Prius install. Also, it is hard to imagine that Toyota themselves wouldn't have offered one as a high-end option, as surely they know people would pay for them. What does Toyota know that we don't re: this issue?

I want one... don't get me wrong, but the company themselves that makes them and wants to sell them clearly doesn't want to sell them to Prius owners. Until they do, is it a good/safe risk?

... and damn, this sucks.

 

Re: Sunroof installed! - 2007 Prius, Minneapolis

You know the more I see this sunroof the more I want one. It sucks that I would have to drive a long way to get one installed.

 

Re: Sunroof installed! - 2007 Prius, Minneapolis

I ran this mod by my wife, she did not agree that it was a good idea. (Money) I think I am going to start saving my pennys

 

Re: Sunroof installed! - 2007 Prius, Minneapolis

Thanks for the video! Now I want a sunroof more than ever.

 

Re: Sunroof installed! - 2007 Prius, New York City

I've joined the crowd.

Picked up my Prius today from my sunroof installer who put in the Webasto SolAire 4300 Power Inbuilt Sunroof. Here are some pics:

Exterior - Roof Closed: Note the trim is generally flush with the roof. Although my installer bent the trim to follow the overall front to back and side to side curves of the roof, he didn't bend it near the two rear corners to follow those three hills and two channels in the roof like craigk and others' installers did. I hope this won't present a problem.



Exterior - Roof Open:



Interior - Roof Closed: Love the Blue Sky!



Interior - Roof Open: Burger King! (I was hungry.)



Interior - Switch: I told my installer to make sure the black sunroof switch is installed in that empty panel in the overhead map light assembly -- just like craigk's.



Interior - Headliner: They did a nice job with the headliner.





Based on the recommendation of Bobbyb, I used his sunroof installer on Long Island. Here are the installer's coordinates:

Sun Line Sunroofs (ask for Bud or Jeff)
112 Bangor Street
Lindenhurst, NY 11757
(631) 956-1910

The Webasto 4300 that I got is the exact same as the Webasto 5300 that several PriusChatters have installed, except that it doesn't have the auto-close feature which automatically closes the roof when you power off.

The total cost for my 4300, including 8.675% sales tax, was $1195 cash.

The total cost for the 5300, including 8.675% sales tax, would have been $1295 cash.

In terms of loss of headroom, I don't think there's any loss in the front seats, but there's about a half inch loss in the rear seats. I'm 5'6" and if I sit straight up in the back, the few remaining hairs on the top of my head will touch the headliner. But above the headliner there seems to be about 1" dead space.

Maybe next week I'll post some exterior glamour shots. (But they're going to look a lot like craigk's because we both have 2007 Prius Package #2 Magnetic Gray.)

My preliminary verdict: I love it. I should have gotten it when I first bought my Prius in 2007.

* * * * * * * * * *

Many thanks to craigk.

 

Re: Sunroof installed! - 2007 Prius, Minneapolis

Wow! Fantastic installation.

Looks great, Tom! Enjoy -- and thanks for sharing the entire process with us. I know you'll keep us updated.

 

These look great, and I already miss my sunroof (traded in a Dodge Ram for my Prius). The post about the safety concerns makes me pause though - does anyone know where to find data about a wrecked Prius that has a sunroof? I know, that is a long shot, but if the data is out there I'd like to read it.

 

fyi, I just wanted to mention (being that I read through this thread before) that if you're in Minnesota, a dealer recommended Sunroofs Etc for getting a sunroof installed in a Gen 2 Prius.

Sunroofs Etc

I've called them twice and talked to 2 different people, and both people have said they've done a number of sunroof installations in the Gen 2 Prius. They said it required a smaller sunroof, though, that got installed kinda at the peak of the roof.

Just wanted to let anyone who was reading through this thread and didn't see any mention of other installers that would do it.

 

Really nice touch!