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Chronic Car Buyers Anonymous

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    ateixeiraateixeira Member Posts: 72,587
    Upholstery shops can install aftermarket moonroofs. I had it done on two of my cars and never had issues. Owned each of them for 7 years, too.

    Imagine a roll back canvas roof (a la 500C or 2CV) a 3 wagon. :shades:
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    isellhondasisellhondas Member Posts: 20,342
    edited May 2012
    Oh man...be careful who does your install. These run the gambit.

    I like sunroofs but I think I would live without one than having some shop cut a hole in my roof.
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    kyfdxkyfdx Moderator Posts: 237,422
    Ditto..

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    ateixeiraateixeira Member Posts: 72,587
    Local shop does a good job on the smaller moonroofs. I'm sure the bigger ones that remove cross beams would be a bigger concern, though.
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    steverstever Guest Posts: 52,454
    With all the complaints I read around here about leaking factory sunroofs clogging up and flooding the floorboards, you might be better off with an aftermarket one. :P
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    ateixeiraateixeira Member Posts: 72,587
    I wonder if people ever clean the water path on those...

    I get tons of pollen and even the drain hole where I fuel up got clogged up. Rain tends to wash the pollen down the same path all the time.

    Luckily our Forester is under a car port.
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    tjc78tjc78 Member Posts: 15,935
    about leaking factory sunroofs clogging up and flooding the floorboards

    I'm surprised with my last 6 cars having factory moonroofs I've never had this happen. It's probably because I don't keep them long enough.

    I had a car with a dealer installed Webasto brand moonroof. Very nicely done and never leaked.

    2023 Mercedes EQE 350 4Matic / 2022 Ram 1500 Bighorn, Built to Serve

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    fintailfintail Member Posts: 57,176
    I've never had a sunroof/moonroof issue either, but my cars tend to be garaged.
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    isellhondasisellhondas Member Posts: 20,342
    I've never had my sunroof drains plug up either but this can happen on an aftermarket one just as quickly as a factory installed one. If you park under trees and leave your roof open, it can happen in a hurry.

    A rubber tipped blow gun hooked up to a compressor will solve this little problem in about ten seconds.

    The Webasto roofs are considered to be the best. Our store used to have these put in cars and I can't remember any real problems.

    They are, however inferior to the factory ones. They just seem more cheaply made. The switches aren't the same quaility etc.

    On a inexpensive car, I might consider one although they are pretty expensive. No way would I have a hole cut in the top of a BMW.

    I was once in a Lincoln-Mercury Dealer and a crowd of techs were clustered around a new Lincoln Mark VI. I had to go see what was up and it seems one of their installers had somehow cut a large sunroof hole cockeyed.

    I'm not sure how this happened or how it was fixed but it was a MAJOR event!
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    andre1969andre1969 Member Posts: 25,690
    On a inexpensive car, I might consider one although they are pretty expensive. No way would I have a hole cut in the top of a BMW.

    The dealership I bought my 2000 Park Ave from also had a couple of Pontiac G8's at the time. I had mentioned to the salesman that while I liked them, I really wanted a sunroof, which their G8's didn't have. He said no problem, we can just have an aftermarket one put in.

    The idea of that left me with a bit of a bad vibe. So, instead of buying a $20K+ used car and having a sunroof put in, I just bought a $7500 one that was better equipped, and had one from the factory!
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    roadburnerroadburner Member Posts: 17,366
    I wish there was a company that replaced sunroofs with a solid metal roof...

    Mine: 1995 318ti Club Sport; 2020 C43; 2021 Sahara 4xe 1996 Speed Triple Challenge Cup Replica Wife's: 2015 X1 xDrive28i Son's: 2009 328i; 2018 330i xDrive

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    stickguystickguy Member Posts: 50,558
    I have never had an issue either, but I also don't park under trees, or let crap accumulate on the car.

    There is no way that I am buying a car and having a hole cut into it. I just couldn't bring myself to do it, and would never trust. I highly doubt i would do it from a dealer either on a new one.

    so if it didn't come that way, I don't want it!

    2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.

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    stickguystickguy Member Posts: 50,558
    well, that is easy. All you need is some sheet steel, and a welder, some rattle can paint, a case of beer, and a free weekend.

    2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.

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    fintailfintail Member Posts: 57,176
    Get an old German car with a metal sliding roof, easy patch job.
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    stickguystickguy Member Posts: 50,558
    I've seen that done. usually only requires a small roll of duct tape too!

    2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.

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    andre1969andre1969 Member Posts: 25,690
    My '68 Dart had a flip-up, aftermarket sunroof on it when I bought it in 1992, and I think the previous owner said it was about 7-8 years old at the time. It didn't leak at first, but after a few years it started to a little bit.

    The guy I sold it to, back in late 2009, said he was planning to find a junkyard Dart, and use a piece of roof metal and weld it in place, getting rid of the sunroof.

    Sometimes I wonder what happened to that car. It was looking pretty bad when I sold it...heck, it was looking pretty bad in 2001 when the fuel pump went out and I quit driving it! :blush: It had about 338,000 miles on it. I wonder if the guy I sold it to ever fixed it up, or gave up and junked it?
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    anonymouspostsanonymousposts Member Posts: 3,802
    We drove a few cars back to back and the Prius won. I drove it and asked myself would I still like it if it only got 30 mpg. It's a nice car. The new ones feel "almost" like a real car, especially in power mode. We had to go to SC to find the pearl white with solar roof. So far we are getting 47 MPG. Hard to beat that.
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    steverstever Guest Posts: 52,454
    Congrats. Which one? Solar roof - is that the Three?
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    mark156mark156 Member Posts: 1,915
    My niece just bought a Pearl White Prius with the sun roof and solar. And, I think it's called the 'Three'.....she has the tan clothe interior, nav and bluetooth, etc.

    Cute car and she loves the gas mileage as she traded in her '05 Jeep GC. She was spending $400 a month on gas as she makes sales calls and take her daughter to school. The savings in fuel alone will almost cover her new car payment.

    Mark156
    2010 Land Rover LR4, 2013 Honda CR-V, 2009 Bentley GTC, 1990 MB 500SL, 2001 MB S500, 2007 Lincoln TC, 1964 RR Silver Cloud III, 1995 MB E320 Cab., 2015 Prevost Liberty Coach
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    jayriderjayrider Member Posts: 3,602
    edited May 2012
    The prius is pretty much bulletproof --- 20k on mine and on the highway at 65 mph can easily average 55 mpg with a/c on. Around town, 48-50. I don't hyper drive and I'm not trying to save the planet by driving a hybrid. If there was such a thing as a Civic/Corolla/Altima wagon, I'd have bought one. The Venza/Crosstour are too big and ugly. The prius was just the right size. Folks don't realize how roomy they are. Good luck. Didn't like the hubcaps so I took them off and popped in an fuse box knockout plug in the wheel hole. Primed and painted it. The alloys look better to me and I'm all about looking better.
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    anonymouspostsanonymousposts Member Posts: 3,802
    That is the same combo we bought. Pearl white with bisque (beige) and the solar moonroof. It's a 3 model.

    We traded our RAV4, we paid $9300 3 months ago, they gave us $9500. We paid $300 over invoice for the Prius. Happy with the deal. Dealers in Atlanta could not seem to get a 3 with the solar package and when they did, they wanted close to MSRP.

    It's a novelty to be doing 70-75 MPH and see the car getting 100MPG.
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    lemmerlemmer Member Posts: 2,689
    Well, how about that. I bought a Prius over the weekend too. I bought a loaded '05 model for my wife. She couldn't commit to buying a new one, so with the used one we decided to keep her Pilot for Home Depot, big luggage trips, hauling extended family, etc.
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    lemmerlemmer Member Posts: 2,689
    One other thing - I talked to the Toyota dealer in Gwinnett. They were not willing to give a penny off of MSRP on new ones.
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    lemmerlemmer Member Posts: 2,689
    I am in Birmingham. I'd be happy to look at a car.
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    nyccarguynyccarguy Member Posts: 16,439
    What is going on here? 2 Prius purchases? + Jayrider makes 3 on the board total.

    Lemmer - some more details on the '05 Purchase please? Miles? Color? Condition? Did you buy it from a Toyota Dealer, Used Car Lot, or Private Party? How much did you pay or if you don't want to tell us, we're you able to negotiate a decent amount from their asking price?

    2001 Prelude Type SH, 2022 Highlander XLE AWD, 2022 Wrangler Sahara 4Xe, 2023 Toyota Tacoma SR 4WD

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    ateixeiraateixeira Member Posts: 72,587
    Didn't like the hubcaps so I took them off and popped in an fuse box knockout plug in the wheel hole

    I'm trying to imagine what that looks like. Got any pics?
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    ateixeiraateixeira Member Posts: 72,587
    2 Prius purchases? + Jayrider makes 3 on the board total

    Demand dropped so much, the local gas station lowered their price from $3.99 to $3.92.

    Thanks guys!

    (just kidding, of course!)
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    jayriderjayrider Member Posts: 3,602
    edited May 2012
    I've never posted a pic here but would happy to do it. Someone give me a tutorial sequence Please !!
    Take off the hubcap and you will see a hole in the center. go to a big box hardware store and get 4 1.5 inch fuse box knockout plugs. You bend the prongs to fit the hole. Spray them any color you like and clearcoat. Install and see if you like. If not, slap the caps back on.
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    tjc78tjc78 Member Posts: 15,935
    Do you have a Photobucket, Flickr, or Snapfish account? If so, upload it to that and then right click the image to get the URL for it and copy it to the clipboard.

    In the Edmund's posting editor click on the IMG button, paste the address and then click the IMG button again.

    2023 Mercedes EQE 350 4Matic / 2022 Ram 1500 Bighorn, Built to Serve

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    steverstever Guest Posts: 52,454
    Tinypic.com is another alternative. Then you can do the IMG deal or just paste the link from there.

    Pretty clever mod Jayrider.
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    ateixeiraateixeira Member Posts: 72,587
    Clever.

    Try flat black so you have the world's only murdered-out Prius. :D
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    tjc78tjc78 Member Posts: 15,935
    Tinypic.com is another alternative

    An alternative would be to have Edmunds allow an attachment or two per post like every other forum in the world. Storage is cheap guys........ :shades:

    end rant, sorry.

    2023 Mercedes EQE 350 4Matic / 2022 Ram 1500 Bighorn, Built to Serve

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    ateixeiraateixeira Member Posts: 72,587
    Car Space used to have it.
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    tjc78tjc78 Member Posts: 15,935
    Yep you could upload there and link it to any post. I also used to hotlink from it in other forums (shh don't tell anyone) and now all those old posts have red "x's"

    2023 Mercedes EQE 350 4Matic / 2022 Ram 1500 Bighorn, Built to Serve

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    ateixeiraateixeira Member Posts: 72,587
    That's why they killed it.

    Kidding. ;)
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    jayriderjayrider Member Posts: 3,602
    edited May 2012
    I am one clever dude for sure but unfortunately the credit belongs to someone over at a priuschat forum that was looking for a way to expose the alloy wheels under the covers. Lots of talk as to why Toyota would put a set of alloy wheels under plastic hubcaps. The word is that the engineers at Toyota work in tenths of a percent to increase mpg so the caps must be more aerodynamic than the wheels naked. You can spend $60 for a set of wheel caps from the dealer or make your own with the electrical box plugs[$8 plus paint]. You do have to fiddle with the prongs. Painting can be left to your imagination. My car is silver so I used a metallic blue hammered spray which looks fine. Just the right amount of flash to attract all the hot chicks when I'm out and about without my wife. Once they spy the wheels plugs, the Prius itself seals the deal. Use discretion in sharing this factoid --- it might be dangerous for posers and wannabees.

    I downloaded the pic to tinypic but have no idea how to get to a post on the forum. Where do I start on edmunds or tinypic ? If you don't want to walk a tech moron through the process -- no problem.
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    ateixeiraateixeira Member Posts: 72,587
    You got me curious so I searched. Here's the Gen II Prius:

    http://www.evnut.com/prius_wheel_trim.htm

    Looks much better without the covers. How strange. I'm sure it adds 0.000001 mpg though! :D

    How odd to cover an alloy with plastic!
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    lemmerlemmer Member Posts: 2,689
    My car has those "alloys" but with the center caps. I thought I was special...
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    steverstever Guest Posts: 52,454
    edited May 2012
    When you uploaded, you wound up with 4 boxes on the screen with URLs in them. You may have to click "Share" to see the boxes. Just grab the one that says direct link and paste it in a message. It should wind up being a clickable link similar to the one Juice just posted.

    Keep forgetting that tinypic is a frontend for Photobucket, so Tjc78 may know another trick or two.

    I've corresponded with the owner of the EVNUT web site once or twice. Nice guy. Love his permanent roof racks on his Prius.
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    lemmerlemmer Member Posts: 2,689
    image
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    corvettecorvette Member Posts: 10,268
    Weird, I remember noticing the trim rings on the Gen II Prius but didn't realize the entire wheel (even the part under them) was painted. I don't think they're that ugly but I'd probably remove them as well. It may be the flash in the pictures, but it looks like there's some color variation between the trim ring and the wheel.
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    jayriderjayrider Member Posts: 3,602
    I have it posted on my facebook page. Will that work?
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    steverstever Guest Posts: 52,454
    Yeah, but you'll have to tell us your Facebook name. Not sure, the rest of us may have to log-in to see the pic.

    If you want, just email the pic to me and I'll post it here. :D (stever@edmunds.com).
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    jayriderjayrider Member Posts: 3,602
    Sent to you.
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    steverstever Guest Posts: 52,454
    edited May 2012
    And here we go - the tinypic/Photobucket link:

    http://tinypic.com/r/2yy8h3n/6

    And the pic:

    image
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    jayriderjayrider Member Posts: 3,602
    Success !!! Thanks steve.
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    ateixeiraateixeira Member Posts: 72,587
    How odd that they hide the alloys like that. Looks much better uncovered.

    It also reduces unsprung weight, so the suspension has less mass to fight with. In fact gas mileage will improve and you've just shaved 3 seconds off your 0-60 time, plus it handles like a Porsche now.

    ;)
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    jayriderjayrider Member Posts: 3,602
    Never thought about the reduction in spring weight by removing the hubcaps. I should probably take off the wheel balance weights as well. Thanks for starting me on a new compulsive mission toward squeezing out every last ounce of excessive weight toward the goal of maximum energy efficiency.
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    steverstever Guest Posts: 52,454
    Looks much better uncovered.

    I'm thinking some commercial grade Saran Wrap will keep the look while shaving the mpg another hundredth or two.

    Plus hotter brakes will regenerate more electricity, right?
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    ateixeiraateixeira Member Posts: 72,587
    LOL

    Must be a trade-off. At high speeds I bet the aerodynamics with the cover are better. At low speeds you carry more weight with them on.

    They look so much better off that I think I'd burn them in a bonfire, causing emissions that offset the whole reason for the Prius in the first place. :surprise:
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