To sunroof or not to sunroof

I plan on buying a 2005 Accord, if they ever hit the market!
My main question is whether to spend the extra amount for the sunroof, that
is, LX vs EX.
What kinds of maintenance issues can I expect with the sunroof? Are they
prone to break down? Leak?
Like all my cars, I intend to keep it 10-12 years.
By the way, on paper I don't see a great deal of difference between the '04
and '05. Comments anyone?
TIA

 

Norm

Sunroof is the only way to go. I have a 99 Camry and the roof works as the
day it was new. No sign of leaks and no maintenace required as yet.
Fantastic for in town driving yet I find them just too noisy at highway
speeds. I will never have a car without one from now on. The car smells
fresher and cleaner albeit requires greater interior wiping down due to dust
settling. I would love to have a screen topped roof just to cut the UV rays
as on bright hot days it does get a bit warm. I don't believe even on
current Hondas or Toyotas they are available with the screen but I would
sure have one if available.

Good luck

Mike

 

"Norm Dion" wrote

I think you may be asking the wrong question. I chose the EX because I
*wanted* the sunroof. First decide whether or not you want the feature. If
you find you want the EX but not the sunroof, then do as a friend of mine
did: buy a Camry. (He would have bought the EX if he could have gotten
it without a sunroof.)

 

I have a 13 year old Civic Si in my family, with the factory sunroof.

It's been exemplary. I have to say, that's something that Honda does
very well.

 

The sunroof on my 91 Accord EX-R still works fine and doesn't produce much
wind noise. I can still listen to the radio while it is fully open.

 

I bought a 01 Accord EX because of the 4 wheel disk brakes and the 6
CD sound system.
This is my third car/truck with a Sun/Moon roof. In hot weather, I
keep the sunroof up when I park and that keeps the car a lot cooler.
Never had a problem with the sunroof, never had a leak.

 

Only consideration is your stature. If you're 6'- 3", it might not be
for you. Otherwise, they're fantastic.

Rolling the seat back is not the right way to compensate for too little
headroom. It can lead to bad fatigue on long trips because of incorrect
posture. (we had a VW like that. Unloaded it when we discovered that the
error)

'Curly'

 

Thanks all. Looks like I'll be springing for the sunroof.
Norm

 

Norm (!)
I've had sunroofs (including 1 self-installed, yikes, and aftermarket
ones that sometimes leaked) and moonroofs (electric) all my life in
cars until I just got a toyota prius, and discovered I longer care
about sunroofs (sunrooves?).

But I will say that I don't believe you will have any leakage problems
with a factory moonroof. If you like 'em, go for it. My wife's EX
has one and it's pretty nice. If you live in a rust area, consider
this: my wife's '90 corolla started rusting along the front edge of
her moonroof, which caused us to decide to trade it in in late 1995.

Rob

 

Rob

I would love to here your impressions of your new Prius. This car has me
very intrigued.

Mike

 

I have a 1986 Prelude with 235,000 miles and the sunroof still work great.
the wind deflector is a great dealer add on.

 

What does the wind deflector get ya? Less wind? What about noise?

I havent had any problems with my 97 sunroof - however I find it rare
that I use it. It is to loud on the highway! To hot in the summer.

 

Mike,
I think the Prius is a fantastic car. I have almost 12,000 miles on
it (it's a 2004 model) with no problems other than the dealership
blowing up the ECU during a software recall/upgrade...they had to keep
it from Friday to Monday p.m. to get the part to fix it.

I'm averaging close to 50 mpg. in fairly short-trip (6 miles at a
clip) suburban driving; about 52-53 on the last 3 tanks, when I've
been trying harder. Quiet, well-built, lots of features and cool
gizmoes. My car was the cheapest trim line available ($19,995) but
has power windows & mirrors, climate control, single CD stereo, ABS,
traction control, lit steering wheel controls of stereo, climate, and
both defrosters. It is very cool to have the gas engine shut off at
stoplights or while cruising. The transition off/on is pretty
seamless, other than an occasional slightly rough shutoff.

I have been on a waiting list since January for another new Prius,
which I now expect in a month or so, a 2005 model (unchanged from
2004) but with a $3000 option package ("package 7") that will give me
side airbags, smart key, HID lights, Stability Control, and a few
other things. (I also wanted a Prius with gray interior instead of
the light tan I have now.) I found a new 2004 Prius locally in August
that had the top ("package 9" $6000) option package, which includes
NAV and a 6-disk stereo, and planned to buy that, but my dad was
intrigued by the NAV in my wife's Accord, so I let him buy that Prius
and I bought his to drive while awaiting my package 7. (This might
read somewhat confusingly; of the 12,000 miles on my Prius, my dad put
on the first 8-9 thousand -- he bought it new-- and I've put on the
rest since the beginning of August.)

I don't need the NAV on two cars. I highly prefer the ease of use of
Honda NAV over Toyota NAV. I love my wife's EX 4-cyl. Accord; she
considers leather & heated seats a must-have; neither is available on
Prius except aftermarket. I'm so happy to have a Toyota again (have
owned many in my life, from Celicas to Land Cruisers), and my first
Honda (automobile, anyway), after driving Ford Explorers for last 10
years (not sure why...they were pretty good vehicles, I must admit,
though). I wish you didn't have to hide the odometer setting on the
Accord to see the outside temp.; and wish it had memory seats and lit
steering wheel buttons...pretty minor complaints. For the Prius, my
wish list would be power seats.

As we're on a Honda NG here, please email me at if
you have any more questions you'd like to ask me about the Prius.

Rob

 

Thanks Rob for a most informative reply

The Prius is on my list for the next car and hopefully by then they may
offer leather and a moon roof.

Mike

 

they might have to change the roofline before a moonroof can be put
into the Prius...I've heard that aftermarket companies can't install
them.

As far as leather, Katzkin (katzkin.com) makes a leather kit for the
Prius that many aftermarket installers use...I've read good reviews of
it on Prius groups. I stopped in a local place yesterday and they
quoted me $1200 to install leather, including on all 5 headrests, the
center console lid cover, and the door armrests. $300 more to add
seat heaters to both front seats. I'm contemplating it...however, the
Alcantara (fake suede) upholstery that comes in the Prius (I believe
it is also used on certain BMW's) is growing on me.

A guy who works for me who is 6'2" or so recently bought an '04
accord; he had to pass on the moonroof because it took away too much
headroom.

rob