Jill, I respect your opinion but sunroofs are a fundamentally bad idea.

Cutting a hole in the roof and inserting a sliding glass mechanism that inevitably leaks is a bad idea. Especially on an economy car like a Corolla.

 

The draw of an economy car is that it's less expensive. Sunroofs make cars more expensive. Why would Toyota want to price their economy car out of reach for their target market? Making the sunroof optional for those better able to afford it makes total sense, regardless of whether a particular buyer prefers a sunroof. Honda Civic does the same thing...as to virtually all makers of economy cars.

I saw this first hand in '21. My MIL needed a new car, and ended up with a Corolla LE. Moving up to a trim with a sunroof would have been out of her target price range.

It's really that simple.

 

I respect your opinion as well.

 

I have 2 cars with this. I love it, and passengers we have had in the car thought it was pretty cool to. If people didn't like sunroofs, manufacturers would offer them less.

 

Sort of like skylights in a house roof. "Oh lets cut holes in the roof and be surprised by how they leak".

With that said, only issues I have ever had with sunroofs leaking:

My dad's 1990 Lincoln Continental, which had an AFTERMARKET sunroof would notoriously leak in the carwash.
My old 2003 ES300 had clogged sunroof drains a couple years ago and leaked.
My cousin's 2015 Nissan Rogue sunroof leaks and he has been unable to get the drains unstuck to make it stop

I have had many cars with regular sunroofs and panoramic sunroofs and the vast majority of them have never leaked. Even though I keep the shade closed most of the time, I do like having the option to open it.

 

I love having the S/R open in spring and fall, and even summer days where it's not to hot. I only close the sunshade in the summer; during the winter, the sun warms up the cabin. I actually saw a car 2 weeks ago in a parking lot with one of those foldable sunshades in the front window.... I guess trying to keep the cabin cooler in the winter?

 

Yes, we’ve had panoramic sunroofs in both of our Highlanders and love them.

It’s been a long time since I’ve owned a car without a sunroof. I’ve never had any leaking or mechanical issues with any of them.

 

I've always thought that hybrids were a good intermediate step in the energy transition - removing that range anxiety associated with EV's whilst taking advantage of some of the energy efficiency improvements that come with having batteries on board. Regenerative braking was a great technological advancement. You throw in attention to detail on the aerodynamics and lighter weight materials, then you have substantial product in a hybrid.

 

Hybrid battery pack is too small doesn't recover much energy from braking. Go up and back down a mountain pass and you'll get back almost no energy used during the ascent.

 

I hate sunroofs, they are nothing more than a giant leak point waiting to happen. Heck the pano roof on my 15 leaked at some point and killed over 6k worth of cameras and ECUs.....I have a fear of both Audis leaking and constantly check the drains. I'm actually temped to drop the headliners and make totally sure the drain lines are in good shape.

I wouldn't have the stress if they just had plain roofs.

 

Sorry to hear that. My pano roofs have been fantastic.

 

Yeah, never had any issue whatsoever.

 

Never knew Highlander had it then. I didn’t know. I’ve always wondered if they were worth it, I’ve never had one.

this makes sense

Japanese brands are far more reliable than the Germans

 

This is a pic of our 16 Highlander. The pano roof really brightens up the interior.

 

That looks really nice. Brightens up the interior quite a bit. Very classy. Impressive Toyota was able to keep those roof HVAC vents on there as well