that's funny cuz I just noticed the same thing few hours ago while driving.... and I did the same thing

-Emo

 

Funny, the latest 15 recalls on that site all start with "General Motors"

 

Sciontc_Mich

Thank you very much for posting this information. I have just had this exact thing happen to me last thursday and it cost me $832.87 to get replaced and the dealer basically told me its my fault and to go screw myself.

I just got off of the phone with the NHTSA @ 1-888-327-4236 and filed a complaint and request for investigation.

Yay!

Colin

 

a while ago a post asked what you did and didn't like about your tC..i said i don't like the sunroof deflector since it looks ugly when raised and is likely to be a problem down the road...i was thinking maybe four or five years down the road...not 11 months into production....

 

this is soo not good for toyota , now when will they take the correct actions and fix said problems, man thats a scary though , imagine the service writers , man if anyone told me it was my fault i'd probably get kicked out of that dealership for good. screw them , it's toyota's fault not your's.

 

well I just replaced one this week at work. My boss did cover it for the guy and"this time I will cover it" he told him. But after I showed him NHTSA report he said "he would cover for now". As for the CAI I have a buddy that doing some testing on it for AIM and he said that toyota is not sharing some numbers to make it carb approved. So I offered to donate my car for testing if he needs some numbers.

 

hey colin you're welcome.. I know there are people on here that may complain just for the sake of complaining but this was something that people needed to know about. I am amazed how quickly NHTSA launched an investigation but the thing is.. they have to have a pattern of complaints to do that, so there are more people having this out there than just people on this forum.

If NHTSA finds there is a defect they will order a recall and you'll get your money back you paid. This happened with some honda civic parts I had before and there was a recall..

To the other person about the sunroof moving and flexing.. I saw the same thing a month after getting the car and wondered "that's not right".. so to be safe i closed the sunroof a little but at higher speeds it was still flexing so I said skip the sunroof at highway speeds. I know it's an inconvenience and I wish it wasn't like that, but I guess this is the price i pay for having a unique design.

 

You should show this to your dealer and ask for a refund. That is BS. I would be furious if I were you. $832.87? Thats not for just the deflector is it?

 

The deflector sounds like a glass issue.. so I am betting if they replace it, they will replace the whole roof, as it is the same type of thin glass.

 

The only car with similar designed sunroof is MB C230 coupe. I am pretty sure if you drive the benz 80mph with sunroof fully open it *will* shatter sooner than later. Everybody saw how our sunroof works, and everybody who did not flunk physics should understand the amount of airpressure at 50+ mph. Of course it's going to shatter. Just like your cat will die if you try do dry it in the microwave. Common friggin sense.

 

Guess what -- the fact that NHTSA has started an investigation doesn't mean anything other than that a lot of people have filed claims regarding the same alleged "issue." To all of you who have shattered a portion of your roof by driving at highway speeds with the sunroof open, congratulations! You have successfully sullied Toyota's reputation and cost them money because you are too lazy or stupid to read or follow the instructions in your owner's manual.

 

I've noticed there seems to be an abundance of stupidity on these forums, and flocking to the Scion scene in general.

*Sigh* I guess we get all the Hondaboys that can't afford a Civic Si.

 

It is actually poor design if it is not poor glass. I have had other cars with moonroofs, and you can literally stand on that glass. My saturns sunroof glass is almost twice as thick as the tC. A bird (yes a bird) hit the back edge of my saturns moonroof glass when I was running 60 + mph. Hit it hard enough to destroy the mechanism that closes the sunroof. The glass sustained NO damage. Good engineering practice is to design for all scenarios. Driving 80 mph with the roof open is something they know people will do. It will come back on toyota as a safety issue even if it shatters while running 100 mph. It is their responsibility to provide a safe design. Would it be "friggin sense" to think that at 100 mph the windsheild would shatter? Or the hood fly off? In anything I have ever designed, I have taken into consideration ANY combination of circumstances that may occur in the system. Any engineer that did not flunk college should know that. Now, I am not saying that one engineer caused this, or even that all tCs have the problem. It is just as likely that there was a bad production run at the glass factory that caused brittle glass to be sold to Scion. But if it turns out that they simply did not take into consideration someone leaving it open at high speeds, then it is very very poor design practice. Take this example, you are running 50 mph with it open.. considered a safe speed. It is a windy day (or any day in the midwest for example) and you experience headwind gusts up to 30 mph (very common on windy days).. the effective windspeed on the glass is 80mph... so if they designed to only withstand 50 mph... they would be idiots! I seriously doubt they designed it that way. I am more prone to believe it is a defect in the glass itself.

 

I have failed to find the portion that states you cannot drive at those speeds with it open. It does reccomend closing it half way to reduce wind throb in the passenger compartment, but that is all I have found. As I mentioned in the other post. if they designed it so that you can have it open at 120 mph, THEY are responsible if it breaks due to wind pressure. It may not be smart to leave it open at those speeds.. but they are still liable. And just so you know, the wind deflector lays down when a certain amount of wind pressure is applied to it (around 80 mph it is completely laid down on mine) So they designed it to work that way, and it still breaks at lower speeds, so either way you look at it, they will have to fix the problem, whether it is poor glass or just poor design.

 

Was the Saturn's sunroof same design as tC? As in sticking out above the rest of the roof like a spinnaker?

Except for possibly reducing the resale value of our cars and/or increasing the price for future tC generation I don't really see how they can fix the problem if they stick with the same "panoramic" design. If they go conventional single sunroof, hides under the roof liner then nobody will complain. But tC will lose a part of it's charm.

 

Yep, it is not as big but sticks up in the back like the tC, thats why the bird hit it. Put so much force on the back of the glass it destroyed the mechanism that the front of the glass is attaced to. They most likely will just have to replace the glass with a more expensive type that can handle the strain. There are plenty of glass designs that could handle it the way it is.

 

No doubt Toyota has a great reputation. But dont be so quick to blindly defend them against all complaints. The fact is the tC was designed in just 1 year then released for production. I am not an automotive engineer but isnt that considered a short time period? And being a brand new model, it is not entirely unreasonable to suspect poor design. I havent had any problems with my sunroof at all, but I am still very interested in hearing about frequently reported problems and investigations.

The car is suppose to be designed to perform under normal operating conditions and accomodate the average everyday driver who does not read the car manual in detail. A person who is more than likely to drive on the highway with the sunroof fully open. If the sunroof is suppose to be as fragile as you claim (which I dont believe its meant to be) , then there should be huge warning labels on it.

 

You might want to try re-reading the manual. I am not saying it's in there because someone told me it was; I remember seeing it myself when I read the manual. Toyota should not be held liable for other people's stupidity, nor should they be expected to.
Just because the average car buyer is stupid and lazy doesn't make it okay, and it certainly doesn't mean that Toyota should be held responsible for other people's laziness. It's a sad commentary of how stupid, lazy, and greedy so many people have become in our society that we HAVE to have the ridiculous warning labels of which you speak.

 

Since I stayed at a Holiday Inn last night, I can comment on this one. Logic would say to not drive about 45-50 mph with moon roof completely open. But at the same time, I would like to be ensured that there is NO problem with it open under normal (under 45-50 mph) speeds. Don't think it has happened much but enough to get the NHTSA to get involved.

Kevin

 

BTW, I think CyberGypsy turned it in to the NHTSA!!!!! Where has our good friend been doing these days?