‘I thought for sure the decimal was in the wrong place’: Ontario man shocked by $22,520 car sunroof repair

A Newmarket man says he and his wife were shocked to be told the cost to repair and replace their car's sunroof was more than $20,000. Pat Foran reports.

A Newmarket, Ont. man says his wife was driving the family car in October when she opened the panoramic sunroof, only to not be able to close it after.

“My wife was out with the vehicle and it was a nice day, so she opened the sunroof, but when she got home and tried to close it, and it wouldn’t close,” Mark Hilts told CTV News.

Hilts said he took the car, a 2020 Toyota Camry XLE, to a Toyota dealership and the sunroof was inspected.

He said a Toyota employee explained in an inspection video that the sunroof looked like it had an issue binding up on the driver’s side and there was twisting to the frame of the glass. The employee went on to explain that basically the whole roof had to be replaced.

Hilts was shocked when he was told the repair would cost him $22,520.

“I thought for sure that the decimal place was in the wrong spot,” he said. “It was disbelief, like if a sunroof is $22,000, how much is the motor or transmission? It must be double that.”

Instead of paying the massive bill, Hilts said the dealer told them they could seal the sunroof shut at a cost of $576. They chose that option.

“They disconnected the power to it, and it’s sealed shut and now we can’t use it.”

The panoramic glass on the 2020 Camry does take up most of the roof and a spokesperson for Toyota Canada told CTV News in a statement, “Upon inspection of this vehicle, it was determined that it suffered a deformation of the frame of the panoramic sunroof assembly caused by an external factor. This resulted in the need to replace the full sunroof assembly.”

“The cost of the replacement reflects the size of the unit and the complexity of the replacement procedure. We encourage the customer to get in touch with their dealership to further discuss this matter.”

Hilts said he was just left in disbelief that the cost to repair the sunroof was so high.

“I mean this is just a piece of glass that opens. How can it cost that much for a sunroof,” said Hilts.

Sunroofs are generally reliable, but they can have leaks, motor failures, and broken or cracked glass, or, in this case, bent parts.

When buying a car, you may want to decide if you want to pay extra for a sunroof or if you can live without one and the issues they may have.