2004 Toyota Highlander. Yes I am a woman. So lie to me if you want to I can take it. LOL.
Sunroof broken 2 years ago. I took it to my local Toyota dealership. They took it apart said the “gears” were stripped. They told me they shut the “motor” off so I couldn’t open it. It opened fine just wouldn’t close without he-man strength. They gave me the white plastic gear and told me if I went to another dealership just to show them what I needed. I’m a travel nurse so I wasn’t “home” long enough for them to fix it. I’ve put it off, as you can see, for 2 years. Today I go to another dealership and they say the motor is “broke”. I tell them the power has been shut off to motor. Then the guy goes back into the shop and comes back to tell me yes they “connected” the motor and it opens the sunroof but it won’t close it. I said yes I know that. You have to take it apart and see that it needs that gear and the corresponding cable. He says NO the motor is broke. That was $414 and the gear and cables are $600+ and then he tells me I will need a new frame at $1800. But they aren’t sure until they take it apart. And for this I paid $85. So my question is? Did they see me as a legit customer or a woman? BTW I asked for Mobil 1 motor oil, for the oil change and the guy at the desk asked me do you want synthetic. Should that have been my first clue? Should I take it to a sunroof dealer I just keep the SOB closed for the life of the truck. 40K on it so it’s out of warrantee…eeeeeeeeeeeeee
Take it to another repair shop, as obviously those toyota dealers are qualified. Yes! the tip-off was the oil question.
The repair price at an independent shop may or may not be less. I doubt there are generic parts for the sunroof, so they will have to get genuine Toyota parts, which will keep the cost high.
I ALWAYS try to avoid dealers for any type of work on vehicles, and I recommend this to everyone.
Personally, I would forget the sunroof rather than spend that much repairing it, but then I don’t really care for them. If you must have a working sunroof you’ll have to pay for it.
My point is the fact that if I had been a man; I bet they would have told me, “Sure we’ll order the gears and it’ll cost you $600.” They said they don’t know if I need a new frame or not. So are they gonna order that and then decide to send it back when they “realize” I don’t need it. Yeah right. It just FMA when they treat me like a woman. My ex was a mechanic. LOL I know what the sunroof needs. I would just like to get an honest answer and repair. I’m not buying a boat for the service manager.
I would try an independent shop. The savings may not be there due to the part cost, but it is worth asking.
I help a friend of mine by posing as her husband when she takes her car for repair. It has helped on several occasions. Just a phone call from a male voice can make a difference in how a repair is handled.
If you think they are treating you different because of your gender you should DEFINITELY go elsewhere. An honest mechanic will treat men and women equally well.
There are just as many men who know ABSOLUTELY NOTHING about automobiles as there are women, and most service writers/mechanics know this.
A person who will take advantage of ignorance, or perceived ignorance, will, in my opinion, do so regardless of the customer’s gender.
If you don’t like the way they treat you, don’t go back.
First, the simple answer. The guy at the desk that gave you that answer to your question about Mobile 1 knows nothing. Absolutely nothing.
Now, the sunroof. As best I can interpret your post, it is possible that the motor is bad. The motor is DC, and it reverses by reversing the voltage polarity to the motor. It is possible that the motor has failed in such a manner that it will only turn in one direction. A good tech that can read a schematic could check this by applying a reverse polarity 12VDC to the motor input pins from a remote source and seeing if the motor runs. The schematic would tell him whether it was different pins (which it probably is) or not. Without seeing the white gear, I can’t speculate, as I’ve never torn that one apart.
HOWEVER…this is all assuming that the motor in the assembly is accessible. It may not be. You could request an “exploded view” drawing from the service department and perhaps get a good idea.
Well, whether they treated you differently or not, the answer is the same. They are idiots so take it somewhere else. I think they probably did treat you differently but then again it happens to guys too. You go into a place and after talking to them a little about a problem, it becomes clear that they either don’t know what they are doing or intend to replace every part they possibly can. That’s when you say I’ll have to think about it and run out never to return.
I would try to find a shop that would install the parts that you can buy. I would start with a body shop and not a dealer or independent mechanic. Do you have any freinds that are mechanical incline? If so you might ask them to install your parts.
Then go here: http://car-part.com/
Put in your year, make, model, and what part you are needing. Leave the search location for the USA and it will show you several sunroof motors at salvage yards.
This is the cheapest I could find:
2004
Sun Roof Motor
Toyota Highlander Stock # DC264 $50.00 General Auto Recycling USA-RI(Tiverton) Request_Quote 1-800-556-7316
I would call them and see if they have the other parts for your sunroof that you were told you are needing.
You neglected the item under warranty that was covered a few years bacl. I don’t see why now you want to fix this? This repair whether independent or dealership is going to cost many hundred of dollars and not worth it.
If you can dig up the receipt stating the “patch” while it was under warranty you may be able to get Toyota to pay for this past warranty.
Do you find it as interesting as I do that when Toyota had to pay for it it was only the gears at app $600 and now that I have to pay for it it’s app $2900? Can you explain to me how the motor “broke” when it’s been discontented for 2 years. Do you suppose it’s rusty?
I never said I wanted it fixed necessarily. I wanted to know how much it would cost. I still do.
If I could dig up the receipt I’d probably find the gears too. And then the dealership would know what’s wrong with it but then again they’d have to admit that I was right. Somehow I don’t see them doing that. I’ll be outta “Dodge” in 11 weeks and go home to my own dealership.
Thanks. Somewhat different than the $600 I was quoted. Did someone say dealership repairs were worth the $$$ you pay for them? Silly poster.
I did. I told them I’d take it back to Maine where I bought it. If I’m gonna give anyone $2900 it’ll be my neighbors.
The motor runs, after I told the “laision” guy that it was disconnected. He said it’s broke. It won’t open the sunroof. I told him it’s disconnected. He went back into the shop and came out and said. Oh yeah they connected it. It opened the sunroof but wouldn’t close it. I said yeah that’s what’s wrong with it. It needs the new gears to close it. So first he told me the motor was “broke” and then he tells me it will open the sunroof but it won’t close it. Then he proceeds to tell me that I “Might” need a new frame. They won’t know until the take it apart. So evidently they never “took it apart” to begin with. I betcha dollars to donuts they pressed the button, nothing happened, and so they ass u me(d) the motor was broke. When I told the rep that it was disconnected he ran back in the shop and came out with his lame excuse. All it needs is the gears.
The unexploded view cost $85 and that’s all I’m paying at the moment. I’ll get my 15 y.o. son to fix it.