Panoramic Sunroof Leaking?

[NunyaBinnez]

 

[Miks7]

I also received this letter, and was going to have them comply to the recall this summer when I don't need the vehicle. My dealer...and this is why I think VW has a lot of it's problems, is the service department. First off - it's an Audi/VW dealership, so I am mixed in with a premium brand. You would think that the customer care in service would be top notch, but it is not.

They look at a VW and sort of put you in as a second class citizen, BUT they charge the premium prices...so it's sort of screwed up! I noted on the recall that it would take an hour to accomplish UNLESS there are other priorities. I figure I will drop the car off for them and tell them to fix it and if I don't get it back in the first day, the second day I will start to squawk and get it back home after a few days.

 

[CPTAMP]

I had this issue but the dealer was able to fix it by unblocking the drain tubes in the sunroof track. All works fine now.

 

[DeeSnutts]

Took mine to the dealer for a leak. Now I'm ripping around in a 2020 Arteon loaner. Great when you put your foot down but the interior is from a mid $20k car and it's desperately lacking body control when you push it through corners.

 

[sqc001]

I’ve had a 2015 gsw and those years were big with the panoramic roof leak problem. I hope VW has solved the issue!? I’ve seen on YouTube a guy with a brand new 2019, 2500 miles getting bought back by vw! He stated they ground and re-welded and it still leaked! Scary

 

[sqc001]

I had this issue but the dealer was able to fix it by unblocking the drain tubes in the sunroof track. All works fine now.

Oh wow... what year was your car? Curious was the lines from the factory plugged with debris or pinched in the build?
a

 

[NorCal Family]

The old 'rear drain tube pinch' rears its ugly head again. This time, my car is out of warranty and the dealership says it will be around $3000 to fix - replace the headliner, rear trunk liner, gaskets..I've already had the headliner replaced once due to a leak. So what now? Stump up for a fault that should have been repaired correctly? Insurance claim? VW recall? The dealership told me the recent recall was only for the FRONT drains on the sunroof.

 

[ns122]

The old 'rear drain tube pinch' rears its ugly head again. This time, my car is out of warranty and the dealership says it will be around $3000 to fix - replace the headliner, rear trunk liner, gaskets..I've already had the headliner replaced once due to a leak. So what now? Stump up for a fault that should have been repaired correctly? Insurance claim? VW recall? The dealership told me the recent recall was only for the FRONT drains on the sunroof.

NorCal...our 2018 leaked due to rear drains which were repaired under warranty prior to any recall. A further front drain check was done much later under a recall (I think) during a normal servicing. All of this was under VW Canada which may or may not have the same policies as VW USA. I would not accept ‘no’ and push hard for the warranty fix. Go public if you have to. This is not quite ‘dieselgate’ but VW should stand behind these sunroof flaws for the life of the car.

 

[Ginnie from the Rock]

I've heard about the blocked drains, but not the others.

My 2017 Alltrack leaks occasionally. Where are the drains i blow out?

 

[Alltrack_is_Wet]

Hi everybody, I guess I'm not the only one. I bought a used 2017 Alltrack SE with only 20k miles two weeks ago and have already had two bad leaks from heavy rain. I bought mine from an independent auto dealer, not a vw dealer. First heavy storm the car sat out in heavy rain for 1.5 hours before I found it. Headliner stained all 360° around the pano sunroof. Both A pillars soaked, water dripping down below the dash/steering column. Dripping off the ceiling console near the lights/sunroof controls.

Took the car back to the dealer, they were very nice and "un-clogged" the drain plugs free of charge. Spent an hour getting the water stains out once they had dried. The fix seemed to work as I made it through another bad rain storm, then a few days later another heavy rainfall and there are two huge water stains in the back on the headliner and the carpet in the spare tire well was completely soaked. Took it back to the dealer and they un clogged the rear 2 drain tubes because apparently they only did the front tubes last time.

After reading all of the issues in this thread I'm sure this will only be a temporary fix and it will leak again. I have no warranty and my VIN returns no available recalls. I have seen some people were able to make this into an insurance claim to cover the bill. I may be too late for a buyout since the car is now 4 years old and I purchased from an independent dealer. Love the car but this is truly awful. Buy the S trim people

 

[IamSpartan]

Hey, I am new here and just read the 1st and last pages of this thread. I have a 2017 Alltrack SE that I bought new. It has roughly 105k miles on it and now the last 2 times we have had heavy rains (multiple tornados last night in Michigan), I have had a puddle on my retractable cargo cover. Am I correct in that I should look into blowing out my rear drains? Anything else to look for?

Thanks,

-Matt

 

[Arm&Hammer]

Hey, I am new here and just read the 1st and last pages of this thread. I have a 2017 Alltrack SE that I bought new. It has roughly 105k miles on it and now the last 2 times we have had heavy rains (multiple tornados last night in Michigan), I have had a puddle on my retractable cargo cover. Am I correct in that I should look into blowing out my rear drains? Anything else to look for?

Thanks,

-Matt

This is only for Alltracks built starting in late 2016 thru early 2018 all have the Pano leak defect, causing interior and electrical damage. No easy way for a dealer to fix it all. Only a body shop (to cut and reweld then paint the sunroof rails) using original VW parts and unlimited time to fix all the issues can properly fix this defect. Most 2018 and 2019 did not leak since VW fixed the defect in the 2018 mid-year refresh. Doing a lot of research for years of my own Alltrack here is what I found:
In summary the panoramic sunroof leak is because of 3 design defects with the car which compounds the issue. Dealers can skirt the issue and blame this or that since it is very difficult to fix. If you read and listen to the dealer excuses they all sound the same, first trying to blame the owner for clogged sunroof drains, then the spider traps, etc..... This is just a tactic to hide the main defect and not fix it under warranty and delay. VW Service mangers have been trained by VW to respond this way to avoid responsibility. In most cases the dealership cannot fix all these defects easily so they are also in a loose-loose situation.
1) the main cause being sunroof rail uneven welding at the factory causing the seal not to seat properly or move over time and not seal, causing the sunroof leak.
2) also, the sunroof drain tubes are sometimes not installed or routed properly at the factory as they are only a push on snug fit, especially the driver side rear
3) also, the check valves at the end of the sunroof drain tubes ( a.k.a. Spider traps) 2 in front and 2 in rear sometimes clog up or freeze up. VW removed these for the 2018 and 2019 model years only in the front.

After thousands of complaints VW finally addressed this issue with a Technical Service Bulletin and a Settlement to reimburse those who had problems. Just before the Class Action Lawsuit came from owners in California and other class action lawsuits followed. I believe this defect affects about 12,000 Alltracks and Sportwagens in the US.

The leaking is actually a big issue not just cosmetic since the leak is usually in the front of the car that leaks down the passenger A pillar and starts shorting out electronics. Causing electrical shorts which leads to early battery failure, window up/down function resetting, radio settings malfunctioning, rear subwoofer malfunctioning, different warning lights on the dash that come and go. The worst is the moisture getting into the overhead-side airbags and moisture freezing on the INSIDE windshield of the car. I had all these issues on my 2017 Alltrack but the 2019 was fine.