Hi all! Prior to picking up my RAV4 this week, I am having a moonroof installed. Since the base model RAV4 doesn’t come from the factory with a moonroof, one will be installed. They don’t do it at the dealership but at a 3rd party. How do I know (or what can I ask for) that will ensure that the moon roof installed is a toyota factory/branded/warrantied moon roof? Do they have some sort of invoice for things like this? Just nervous about getting a second rate lookalike put in (it’s happened to me before with headlight covers. After 3 months they turned yellow).
Thank you all for any advice!!!
In all probability it won’t be a toyota factory/branded/warrantied moon roof.
At least your yellow headlight covers didn’t leak when it rained.
Good luck.
Get it in writing Before they cut the roof or do not do it, or you will be SORRY!!!
Moonroofs are a real crapshoot. In my opinion, only the very best of shops do a good enough installation that won’t give you problems later.
If Toyota does not make one for your car, the aftermarket model will defintely not be of Toyota’s make.
If you want no hassle, skip the moon roof. If you want to minimize future hassle, deal only with the most reputable shop using the best kits. You do not ever want to go CHEAP on a moon roof.
You will never get a Toyota moon roof. The warranty is only as good as company/installer. You basically are taking a jig saw to the the STRUCTURAL component of your vehicle and compromising it. Get the factory one or none.
Aftermarket is for the short term owners. Long term owners put silicon around it (ugly) and seal it shut or learn to wear a rain hat. I am not kidding.
I don’t see how it could be the perfect match to a factory installed moonroof. I’d advise to buy a new car with the moonroof installed by the factory. This involves a whole new and different headliner for the interior, wiring, lots of cutting, etc.
You need to get it in writing that this “moonroof” is a Toyota factory supplied unit, that means you can order one from the Toyota Parts department at the dealer. See the paperwork showing the dealer is supplying the parts to the installer. Go to the installer’s shop and check it out. Does it look like a going establishment or a cut rate bare bones set up. Ask the installation shop to show you a finished job similar to yours. Ask to see all the parts at the installer’s before ANY cutting is done on your car. Do this parts come in Toyota packaging? Is it really a moonroof that slides back? Or, simply a glass panel that flips up?
If you must have a moonroof and it must be a Toyota factory equivalent, then I think the only safe way you can get it is to buy it already on the car from the factory. If you go ahead make sure you can refuse the car after the installation is completed for any reason. If it is really a factory equivalent then the dealer should have no problem allowing you the right to refuse the car. In other words don’t sign any sale documents or titling documents or give them any money until you see how the job turns out.
I wouldn’t do it. If it will not be installed at the dealership, then it is not a simple bolt-in. This means cutting the roof, installing a mounting system, running wiring, and hopefully sealing the hole properly. I doubt that this will be a ‘factory’ install, but more like an aftermarket effort. It will not look factory in any way.
I’ve worked on factory moonroofs. They include mounting tabs, structural reinforcing, and a machine formed hole in the roof. The moonroof unit is bolted in place with a large pan designed to capture water that leaks through the seals and pipes them through hoses that travel through the window pillars and underneath the car. If this was not done at the factory as the car was built, it is way expensive to do this after the fact. The unit they are going to put in is more than likely nothing like this.
You are going to let the guys down the road cut into the roof (and God only knows what else) of a brand new car in order to install an aftermarket moonroof?
You are certainly a much more trusting man than I am.
As was said, this WILL NOT be a Toyota product, and as a result cannot be warrantied by Toyota.
Any way you look at this concept, I think that it is a very bad idea.
Either buy a RAV-4 that has a moonroof, or forget the idea of the aftermarket hatchet job.