Sunroof Repair

A sunroof is a terrific luxury to have in your car. However, when it becomes damaged or worn down due to the passage of time, it can be very inconvenient. A damaged sunroof can send an annoying whistling sound through your car while on the highway or it can lead to leaking during a rainstorm. If you have a damaged sunroof, you have the choice of replacing it or trying to repair it. Sunroof repair tends to be less expensive, especially if you consider some of these facts.

How to Tell if your Sunroof is Damaged

Some cases of damage are obvious, such as after a traffic accident. However, sunroofs can get damaged in subtle ways that don’t make it immediately apparent that something is wrong. If you hear a rushing of wind or a whistling noise while the car is in motion, you might have a leak in the sunroof seal. If the glass of the roof constantly fogs up, your sunroof probably isn’t quite as secure as it should be. Unchecked damage over long periods of time can lead to rust or control failures, so it is important to keep an eye out for minor damage before it becomes something more significant.

Assessing the Extent of the Damage

The most important thing to check when evaluating a sunroof repair job is the extent of the damage that has been done. If your car has taken a major amount of damage such as getting into an accident or having a large tree branch fall on it, the sunroof may be too damaged to properly repair. If you have had a collision, you need to check two things. First, you should examine the frame around the sunroof to see if it has been bent or distorted. Second, you should check the glass on the sunroof itself. Minor cracks are just superficial, but a major break means that replacement is your best option. Assuming your car is not catastrophically damaged, though, you can save money by repairing your sunroof yourself.

Repair Kits

One of the more useful things you can have on hand for a sunroof repair job is a repair kit. These kits are typically customized to the make or model of your car and come in many varieties. For more common, everyday vehicles, they tend to cost between $25 and $50. For luxury vehicles such as BMWs, the can cost $200 or more. Regardless of the cost, it is usually less expensive to buy a repair kit than to replace the sunroof or hire somebody else to fix it. Repair kits come with hinges, joints, and screws to repair a damaged frame, and some come with roll-on patches that can smooth over scratches and minor glass damage. These kits can typically be purchased through your dealer or an automotive store.

There are many resources available for do it yourself sunroof repair, so as long as the damage is minor, it shouldn’t cost you all that much. A repair kit is a good start, although it is possible to handle some jobs without a kit. After you have fixed the damage, you should be sure to maintain the sunroof regularly to prevent it from occurring again.