Why does this happen?

The roof panel sealer strip needs to be re-sealed in place.

Loose or missing seal is a likely cause of the leak/drip.

 

It might be the High School Scholar sticker on the back. It's funny, in my day the Scholar Club was for Senior Boys who had nothing else going on and rarely were actually scholars. Their big activity was building a bonfire before the homecoming game.

 

Check also for tree debris clogging the drain channel around the hatch opening. On my spouse's ancient hatchback, this recently caused backed-up water to rise over the top of the drain channel seals (too old to really seal anymore) and into the hatch opening.

 

My daughter's C just started doing the same thing.
It is a sign that your car is getting OLD......and probably sits outside most of the time.
The rubber strip ages and shrinks and becomes loose.
New rubber strips or gluing the old ones in place are options.

 

But I simply can't conceive of any 'c' or 'v' being OLD yet. None are yet more than 6.5 years, that is still fairly young. Wait until it is 10-12 years before labeling it OLD.

The leaking car I referred to back in #4 is 29 years old last month. I purchased it for her brand spankin' new, and had her maintain it better than her previous used & problematic car. Now it still runs well enough that I can't get her to give it up and get something new with decent safety and crash protection.

 

You'd think so ... but ... we bought a NEW 1996 Dodge Grand Caravan that leaked into the cabin through FACTORY NEW roof panel seals. As in "leaked when new."

 

They don't make them like they used to.
If you live in the South and it sits outside ALL of the time, a lot of "stuff" will age prematurely.

P.S. Just because you can't "conceive" something doesn't mean that it's not true.

 

I live in the Pacific Northwest. With only a single car garage, 2/3rds of the household fleet is always outside. Some years ago, my Prius was the only car under age 17, though current average age has dropped to 13. All purchased brand new.

 

ENTIRELY different environment.

 

You can try to re-seal the color matching molding you have, using 3M double-stick ultra high bond adhesive tape, or buy a replacement molding piece from Toyota. I would try the re-seal first, using 3/8" 3M UHB tape. Be sure to clean with alcohol swabs and cleaner cloth the trough into which the seal will be placed. The 3M UHB needs clean surfaces to adhere properly.

 

Sorry about necroing this tread but I just lost one of my strips on a road trip. I was wondering if any of you knew what the part number was for them. So far I'm having no luck on my search. Thank you.

Edit: I think I found it, part 7555547050. Does that seem right? I guess I was using the wrong terms in my search. Thank you all for pointing me in the right direction.

 

Looks like it, however I would always go to the local dealer parts counter with the vehicle vin and ask them for price and part number. In some cases (like this one) there are several versions depending on installed options. Plus there are sometimes part revisions and improvements that only pop up on a dealer's system when he searches by your vin.

 

Or 7555647050 for the left side, yes.

 

For anyone else having this problem Toyota sells the little red holding clips for 5$. I recommend buying a handful and attaching with 3m moulding tape.