Open Mon–Fri 9–6 · Open Saturdays 9–4 54/58 Princes Hwy, Arncliffe, Sydney NSW · minutes from Sydney Airport Call 0418 200 289
Roof stuck open? Don't force it. Call 0418 200 289 before you touch anything. What to do →

Home / Makes / Toyota & Lexus sunroof repair

Toyota & Lexus · sunroof specialists

Toyota & Lexus sunroof repair, Sydney

Toyota and Lexus sunroofs are among the most reliable made, which is exactly why a fault on one feels like a surprise. They also last long enough that the car is often 15 to 25 years old when it happens. A Land Cruiser or LX that stops partway, a Kluger that leaks after the drains block, a Camry with a grinding motor. Parts are still available for most, and the faults are predictable once the roof is opened up. We do them in Arncliffe, one part at a time and never a whole roof for a worn guide, along with the panoramic roofs on the newer Kluger, RAV4 and Lexus RX. Fixed, the sunroof works on the switch and the headlining stays dry, on a car you had no plans to replace. Call or text us the model, year and symptom; you'll usually hear back the same business day.

20+ yrs in automotive repair 1000+ roofs serviced 4.9★ Google rating
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Known faults: Toyota & Lexus sunroofs

What goes wrong up there,
and what we do about it

A Toyota sunroof is a motor, two drive cables, a set of guides, a sliding shade and four drain tubes. It is a simple, well-made system, and when it fails after twenty years it fails in predictable places. The symptom still rarely points at the part, so we find the part first.

Fault 01

Stops partway, grinds, rattles or won't close

Drive motor · cables · guides

How it shows up

The glass opens a little and stops, tilts but won't slide, closes crooked and leaves a gap, grinds its way along the rails, or rattles over bumps with the glass shut. Sometimes the motor clicks and nothing moves. On a Land Cruiser or LX it is often the first fault the roof has ever had.

Why it gets misread

The motor gets replaced for what is a worn guide or a stretched drive cable, and the new motor grinds on the same jam a month later. On the older 4WDs the other trap is being told the sunroof is obsolete and unrepairable, which is rarely true.

How we fix it

Headlining down, the motor tested, the guides cleaned or renewed, the cables checked for stretch, the panel aligned and the roof taught its open and closed positions again. If the motor has genuinely failed it is replaced on its own. Cycled a dozen times and water-tested before it goes home. If it has stopped partway, don't force the glass by hand; call first. Covered by our parts & labour warranty, and if the roof ever misbehaves after, you call us first.

Call about a stuck sunroof Submit an enquiry Grinding and clicking roofs →
Fault 02

Water on the headlining, a wet footwell, a musty smell

Blocked drains

How it shows up

A damp patch on the headlining near a pillar after rain, water down the inside of a pillar trim, a wet front footwell or a soggy boot. Fog on the inside of the glass on cold mornings. The sunroof is closed and looks sealed from outside. On the big 4WDs the rear drains block first.

Why it gets misread

Windscreen and door seals get resealed first because the water shows up nowhere near the roof. The cause is nearly always the sunroof drain tubes at the corners, blocked with leaf litter and dust, overflowing into the pillars. On a car that has been up north or parked under trees for twenty years, they are almost always blocked.

How we fix it

Controlled water testing until we see the entry point, and so do you, before anything is quoted. On the big 4WDs we start at the rear drains, which block first, then flush all four end to end, check the tray and seals, and test again. Covered by our parts & labour warranty. We don't run silicone around the glass; it seals the roof's drainage shut and moves the leak somewhere worse.

Call about a leak Submit an enquiry How we trace roof leaks →
Fault 03

Shade stuck, sagging or off its rails

Sliding sunshade · guides

How it shows up

The shade won't slide, runs crooked, droops in the middle, or comes off its rail at one side. On the newer panoramic roofs the electric blind stops partway or won't move while the glass still works. In summer, that turns the cabin into an oven.

Why it gets misread

A complete shade or blind assembly gets quoted for a jumped guide, a stripped clip or a broken slider. The other thing that goes wrong is forcing it by hand, which tears the fabric or breaks the frame and turns a small fix into a replacement.

How we fix it

We find the failed guide, clip or slider and lay out the options side by side: repair the hardware, replace the shade, or remove it cleanly if you would rather live without it. Where the shade is sound, which is often, we fix the small parts rather than replacing the lot.

Call about a stuck shade Submit an enquiry Sunshade repair in detail →
Fault 04

Cracked or shattered sunroof glass

Stone strike · glass panel

How it shows up

A chip that grows into a crack over a hot week, or a panel that lets go with a bang and drops glass onto the shade. On the panoramic roofs the rear panel looks like part of the roof. It isn't.

Why it gets misread

Owners get sent to a body shop, told the sunroof is unavailable for an older car, or quoted a complete cassette. The glass is a separate panel and can be replaced on its own, provided every fragment is cleaned out of the guides, the shade and the drains afterwards, which a glass-only job often skips.

How we fix it

Headlining down, every fragment out, the new panel fitted and aligned, the roof re-initialised and water-tested. On an older Land Cruiser or LX the panel is sometimes easier to find second-hand than new, so genuine and a good second-hand panel go side by side on the quote. Insurance claims are quoted with the photo set the insurer asks for.

Call about broken glass Submit an enquiry Glass replacement in detail →

Models we cover

Every Toyota and Lexus
with a sunroof

From a twenty-year-old Land Cruiser to a new RAV4 with a panoramic roof. Text us the model and year if you're not sure; the fixes above apply either way.

Land Cruiser 100 & 200 Series, Lexus LX470 & LX570
The Toyotas that come in most often are the big ones. Big, simple sunroofs that finally stop after twenty years: motors, cables and guides, and rear drains full of red dust and leaf litter.
Land Cruiser 300 & Lexus LX600
Newer, quieter, the same layout. Too new for patterns yet.
Prado & Kluger
Conventional sunroofs on the older cars, a panoramic moonroof on the newer Kluger Grande. Drains, guides and shades are the pattern.
RAV4, Corolla Cross & C-HR
A tilt-and-slide moonroof on the higher grades, and the larger panoramic version of it on the RAV4 Cruiser and Edge, with a powered blind. Blinds and glass are the arrivals so far, drains as they age.
Camry, Aurion, Corolla & Avalon
Sliding sunroofs that grind and stop when the guides wear. Predictable repairs, and parts are still easy to get.
Lexus RX, NX, IS, ES, GS & LS
Same Toyota engineering with more trim to remove. Motors, drains and blinds; the RX panoramic roof adds glass and blind work.

Not sure which roof yours has? Text us the model and year or call 0418 200 289 and we'll tell you straight away.

How a visit works

Four steps. No surprises.

  1. 1

    Tell us the symptom

    Call 0418 200 289, or text a short video of the roof moving to the same number. '2008 Land Cruiser 200, sunroof opens a bit then stops' is enough for us to say whether it's one for us and what we'd check first, usually the same business day. The number comes after we have the car in the workshop, not before; a price guessed over the phone is a guess with your money. Then we book a time to look at it.

  2. 2

    We diagnose, you see it

    Headlining down where the motor, cables or shade are the problem, water testing where it's a leak, the motor tested on the bench. We show you the failed part, photographed for you, before anything is quoted.

  3. 3

    We fix it properly

    Guides cleaned or renewed, cables and motors replaced individually, shades repaired, drains flushed end to end, glass fitted and aligned: OEM or premium aftermarket parts, fitted by factory-trained technicians, with your go-ahead on the quote first. Covered by our parts & labour warranty.

  4. 4

    We rain on it before Sydney does

    No roof leaves on a promise. Re-initialised, cycled a dozen times, drains flow-tested, seals soaked, cabin checked dry. The water test is why our repairs stay repaired.

What owners say

Repair first, replace last.
Owners notice the difference

★★★★★

“Michael exceeded all my expectations in his recent repair of my leaking and rust-affected RAV4 sunroof. I believed it would need to be permanently sealed due to longstanding leak issues.”

Toyota RAV4 · Sunroof leak & rust
★★★★★

“Michael saved me and my leaking sunroof. He fixed an issue in less than 8 hours that 3 mechanics didn't know what to do with throughout an entire year. Highly recommend.”

Sunroof leak · Three shops couldn't fix
★★★★★

“Awesome service. I brought my car in as the sunroof was stuck open and the gear broke so it wouldn't close. Mr Kuang repaired it on the same day. Drive home with a working sunroof.”

Sunroof stuck open · Same-day repair

More on the reviews page, or read them on Google.

Straight answers

Toyota & Lexus sunroof questions
we hear most

If yours isn't here, call. You'll get the same straight answer.

Ask us directly Submit an enquiry
My Land Cruiser is 20 years old. Can the sunroof still be repaired?

Almost always. Toyota kept the same sunroof layout for a long time and parts are still available for the 100 and 200 Series and the Lexus LX. Most of what fails is a motor, a drive cable or a set of guides, and none of it needs a whole roof. How long you plan to keep the car shapes what we recommend, so we'll ask. In twenty-plus years and more than a thousand roofs, the Land Cruiser sunroof is one we know well; if we ever find one that genuinely isn't worth repairing, we'll say so before you spend the money. Worst case, that is what you find out. Best case, it is a motor or a cable, covered by our parts & labour warranty, on a sunroof that then outlasts the rest of the car.

Water is dripping from the headlining but the sunroof is shut. Where is it coming from?

The drains. A sunroof has drain tubes at its corners and when they silt up with leaf litter and dust the water overflows into the pillars and shows up on the headlining, down the pillar trim or in the footwell, nowhere near the roof. We water-test to find the entry point, clear and flush the drains, and test again. On a 4WD that has spent years under trees or up north, they are almost always blocked. More on how we trace roof leaks.

The dealer said the sunroof motor is no longer available. Is that the end of it?

Usually not. Motors for the common Toyota and Lexus sunroofs are still obtainable, new or good second-hand, and the motor is often not the failed part anyway. We test it on the bench first; if the guides or cables are the problem, the motor stays. If it has failed, we source one and fit it. Bring what you were told; it helps us know where to look first, and you'll see the test result either way. Either way the roof is re-initialised and water-tested before it goes home.

Do you do the panoramic roofs on the new Kluger, RAV4 and the Lexus NX and RX?

Yes. The panoramic roofs on the newer Kluger Grande, RAV4 Cruiser and Edge, and the Lexus NX and RX have an electric blind, larger glass and longer drains, and the faults are the ones we see on every panoramic roof: a blind that stops, a stone through the glass, drains that block. Glass is replaced with the fragments cleaned out and the roof re-initialised, and insurance claims are quoted with the photo set the insurer asks for.

Toyota quoted the whole sunroof assembly. Is that the only way?

Rarely. The assembly is how the parts catalogue sells it, and it is a big job on a Land Cruiser. What actually fails is a motor, a drive cable, a set of guides or a shade slider, and each can be replaced on its own once the headlining is down. We test the motor on the bench first; if it is fine, it stays. You see the failed part before anything is quoted, and the repair is covered by our parts & labour warranty.

Visit the workshop

Bring it in, or start
with a text

Address
54/58 Princes Hwy, Arncliffe, Sydney NSW 2205, minutes from Sydney Airport
Hours
Mon–Fri 9am–6pm · Sat 9am–4pm · Sun closed

Start an enquiry

A few details so we can tell you whether it's a job for us and how we'd approach it. By appointment; for most faults, we diagnose before quoting. For urgent enquiries or if we missed you, call 0418 200 289.

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