Leaks due to sunroof drainage tube failings & warranty/extended warranty coverage

[MissT]

Hi. I'm interested to hear on others experience with leaks due to the sunroof drains. Here's my story, sorry for the length ....

My Tiguan experienced a leak last February (~30 months old) which presented itself as a stain on the passenger side ceiling and water on the front floor mats. The Service Centre investigated & discovered that the drainage tubes (front) had collapsed on themselves & stuck shut. These tubes (front only I learned today) & the ceiling was replaced under warranty. The carpet was left in & dried itself over the weeks, with the smell fading as it dried.

To "protect" myself from future issues I decided that it would be a good idea to purchase the Allianz 3 year extended warranty when the initial 3 year warranty ended.

Last week the inside of the windows were covered in condensation. Then I discovered water on the back passenger side floor mat & wetness inside the driver side compartment in the boot. So the Tiguan went into the Service Centre Monday morning. By Tuesday morning they could confirm that I had a leak, because they had poured more water over my car & it ended up inside. I was asked to authorise up to 3 hours of diagnostic time for them to pull apart the car & find the leak. I was advised that depending on what they found to be the source this cost may not be covered by the insurance.
This afternoon I get the call advising that the main leak has resulted from the back drain tubes being warped or expanded & not sitting properly in the rails. I've been advised that the replacement of the tubes should be covered by the insurance .... but the water damage to the carpet, carpet underlay, ceiling is not!

This I do not understand. Damage that has occurred as a result of a failing that I could not have prevented ends up being my problem to fix.

Does anyone have any sunroof experiences to share?

Thanks for reading

[team_v]

This is the reason i didn't get a sunroof and will never get one in any car I ever own.

I would say that your insides should be covered as well considering the drainage tubes casues the problem.
Having said that, it would depend on if the car was serviced in the required intervals and the tubes cleaned etc.

[MissT]

Well, it has been serviced at the required intervals & apparently the checklist includes cleaning the tubes. But then today I was told that all it takes to block the tubes is a wayward gumnut. I've been told to open the sunroof weekly now to remove any leaves caught at the top. All of this week's happenings have turned me off the Tiguan sunroof. Once was enough, twice shows poor design and/parts.

[domanski]

it can be a panorama drains but also you can have a plenum chamber drains blocked. When they blocked, the water will rise over the cabine air entry and through the pollen filter straight to passanger floor. The best way will be a front and rear seats removal with centre console, then whole carpet. After this, one person inside with torch and second pour the wather over the roof, windscreen. In my long expierence with volkswagen, I never seen a blocked drains.

[MissT]

.... I never seen a blocked drains.

Guess my Tiguan is special, although I got the impression from my Service Centre last year that there were other cases that had been seen before mine. I'm not sure if they had been seen by my Service Centre or by VWA.

[hippyhippy]

I had the same thing happen to my sunroof... the dealer replaced the whole roof interior because of the staining.

im a little worried that the same thing will happen again even though they said the replaced parts have been updated and should not happen again, i highly doubt thats true... and i no longer have warranty and was very reluctant to buy further warranty.... plus the bad experience with this dealer, it was a very bad experience for me.

How are you supposed to check if your drainage is blocked? other than to pour water through it?

I have to say, i will probably never buy another VW again, they are designed well, but German Engineering does not live up to its reputation for this company.

[Umai Naa!!]

Guess my Tiguan is special, although I got the impression from my Service Centre last year that there were other cases that had been seen before mine. I'm not sure if they had been seen by my Service Centre or by VWA.

Late '90s/early'00s Passats were known for it. VW had the wisdom of hiding control modules under the carpet. So naturally, when the drains blocked and flooded the carpet, the modules would fry.

[Transporter]

Well, it has been serviced at the required intervals & apparently the checklist includes cleaning the tubes. But then today I was told that all it takes to block the tubes is a wayward gumnut. I've been told to open the sunroof weekly now to remove any leaves caught at the top. All of this week's happenings have turned me off the Tiguan sunroof. Once was enough, twice shows poor design and/parts.

Just contact VWA, if you already haven't. They should've replace all affected parts.

[pologti18t]

My friend had the exact thing happen on his Toyota RAV4. It's a problem with sunroofs in general, not VW per say.

[maximau]

Just wanted to add to this. I had the same problem with my 09 Tiguan TDI. The service centre didn't service it properly and when I questioned the moisture in the car and the fact the lining was sagging (in 2015) I was told to "glue the lining back up before it gets worse".
Word of warning on this problem:
Well it did get worse and in my 2016 service I demanded they find out the issue... they came back saying the drains had perished and gave me a quote for $2600 to fix. I obviously did not want to pay this much for something that is obviously a fault. The service centre rejected that they were at fault so I went to VW assist. They rejected themselves being at fault and said it was a service centre issue. So, I covered the car and cleaned the interior.
The service centre was owned by the same company that owns all the VW service centres within 200km and as we have only one car I had to ensure we could get a car while it was being fixed. For the 2017 service we asked them to fix the problem. The service centre came back saying the car was a write off due to the moisture rusting the airbag ignitors and electrics and the amount of mould that had formed. I was quoted $44,000 to fix it. Comprehensive insurance wouldn't cover it... in fact when I questioned Allianz about this they promptly cancelled my insurance.
So, due to VW not making drains that can handle water, the service centre not servicing the car properly and the insurance company wiping their hands of it, I have a good looking art piece that used to be my car sitting in my front yard and worth about $1000 now.

[Ceres_mining_co]

Just wanted to add to this. I had the same problem with my 09 Tiguan TDI. The service centre didn't service it properly and when I questioned the moisture in the car and the fact the lining was sagging (in 2015) I was told to "glue the lining back up before it gets worse".
Word of warning on this problem:
Well it did get worse and in my 2016 service I demanded they find out the issue... they came back saying the drains had perished and gave me a quote for $2600 to fix. I obviously did not want to pay this much for something that is obviously a fault. The service centre rejected that they were at fault so I went to VW assist. They rejected themselves being at fault and said it was a service centre issue. So, I covered the car and cleaned the interior.
The service centre was owned by the same company that owns all the VW service centres within 200km and as we have only one car I had to ensure we could get a car while it was being fixed. For the 2017 service we asked them to fix the problem. The service centre came back saying the car was a write off due to the moisture rusting the airbag ignitors and electrics and the amount of mould that had formed. I was quoted $44,000 to fix it. Comprehensive insurance wouldn't cover it... in fact when I questioned Allianz about this they promptly cancelled my insurance.
So, due to VW not making drains that can handle water, the service centre not servicing the car properly and the insurance company wiping their hands of it, I have a good looking art piece that used to be my car sitting in my front yard and worth about $1000 now.

Go the ACCC and file a complaint. It will take some time and a fair bit of back and forth however you will find the ACCC will most likely decide in your favour.

[Sunny43.5]

Okay all you Tiguan and other VW owners you have not been saddled with a faulty leaking sunroof , what you are is victims of is STUPID German design once again . All sunroofs have drain points at each corner to drain water to the road which has been in sunroofs for nearly 70 years plus , what VW have done is that what has worked for everyone else in the sunroof industry they dont believe in . All other car makers connect the drain tubes usually a heavy plastic or similar tubing to a round 12mm diameter fitting at each corner , they then fit a self closing clamp to hold it onto the tube . Not your friendly scheming germans no they decide that they have a better system than anyone else and it DOES NOT WORK !! Okay waffling has now finished , VW have moulded the drain connector on each corner of the housing in a sort of knuckle shape so it starts at 12mm and then grows to around 16mm and back down to 12mm again . Next they then make a similar hollow fitting made of a silicone which mirrors the shape of the housing it in turn is attched to the rest of the tube going to the road . Now NO clamps just a slip on fitting and over time it expands and becomes loose , THIS is where it leaks and trust me on this after dozens and dozens of tiggies and Beetles etc I have seen and repaired it,s a STUPID idea . Now there are two ways to fix it one is to get a wide cable tie and wrap it around the thickest point and tighten the sucker up as hard as you can making sure its dead centre of the knuckle part . The second way is to buy some worm hose clamps big enough to fit around the same place tighten and again ensure its centred or it will slide off . In some rare cases I have seen leaks from the join of the silicone part and the actual hose going to the road just seal with some silicone sealant as it does not move or has any strain on it . Good luck guys because I sure have with this repair as part of my sunroof business . PS I also do replacements of crappy roller sunshades as well but thats another story . Regards Howard

[DannyBoy]

It's an absolute piece of **** design. I'm pretty sure VW was recently taken to court for a Class Action Lawsuit in the US about this exact same problem from cars made in 2001 onward. Volkswagen Settles $69 Million Lawsuit Over Leaking Sunroofs | CarComplaints.com

I had some water leaking into the boot/spare wheel well of my Tig (2012) and went under the car and pulled out the valve/rubber grommet (whatever you call them) from behind the rear wheel wells and cleaned them out. They were clogged so bad. I'm still not sure the location of the front ones, but thankfully the sunroof has yet to leak again (even after VW service centre claimed they cleaned it out when I took it in for a warranty job).

Whoever in their right mind decided it'd be acceptable to have the sunroof always drain water from the top of the car even when the sunroof is fully closed is a ****ing moron. Nothing like filling that area full of dust, dirt and other **** that lands on your car when it sits parked.


The #1 solution to this problem is to: pull headliner down, and silicone the fittings to your sunroof or use another way to completely seal it up and ensure your drain valve/exit valve? is clear at all times.

[Umai Naa!!]

I cleared them out on one not too long ago. Took me about an hour and a half all up to find and unblock them.

If I had to do it again, I could do it in half the time. The design is fine. It's the lack of maintenance that's the problem.

[DannyBoy]

I cleared them out on one not too long ago. Took me about an hour and a half all up to find and unblock them.

If I had to do it again, I could do it in half the time. The design is fine. It's the lack of maintenance that's the problem.

Also the lack of telling customers that this may be a problem. I couldn't find any detailed instructions or anything in my service logbook about this issue or taking care of it. Only about lubing up the actual sunroof.