[FONT=Arial][SIZE=1]I have a severe leakage issue with my Tucson's sunroof. I was hoping some of the contributors to this forum could check their vehicle's sun-roofs the next time they're going through a car-wash or parked near their garden hose at home. You really need to inspect the sun-roof for these leaks as it doesn't actually drip into the interior of the car, but rather silently into the drip channel/tray under the seals.

Incredibly, the dealership's claiming that this is perfectly normal and that all sunroofs leak profusely, stating that the drip channels are designed to accommodate these new style of "leaking sunroofs" ..... I've never had a sunroof leak in any other car, including my Hyundai Elantra.

It's dripping along the entire back seal.... and at quite a rate. I first noticed it while going through a car wash and again when testing it with a garden hose (not high pressured) at home. The same thing happens when it's raining hard.

I took it to the dealership where I purchased it. On the 1st visit they stated that indeed there must be a problem as it was not normal for a sunroof to leak at all. They made some adjustments and claimed they had fixed it. I took it through another car-wash and it still leaked. I called them back and the tech stated that a really high powered carwash might force a small amount of water under the seals, but that if I tested it with a garden hose it should be fine .... So I tested with a garden hose, gently pouring water on the roof - and it still leaked.

So I took it back again ... Unbelievably, the dealership is now claiming that this is actually a perfectly normal behavior for the Tucson's sunroof and that it was actually designed by Hyundai to leak a little bit and that that was what the drip channels were actually for ...... "Normal leakage". They called me over to the side of a building where they had another new Tucson parked and showed me that when they poured water over it with a hose, it too leaked (which it did - and it was literally pouring into the drip channels ....)

Either they staged this demonstration for my benefit by compromising this other sunroof, or, Tucsons in general have a very serious design flaw with their sunroofs.

I would greatly appreciate your comments, observations etc ...

:o With my previous V6 coupe/tib' water would pour thru the rear hatch gasket and on to the rear leather seats. On my new Tucson the car wash broke the rear wiper arm right thru the spindle arm, and Hyundai will replace it f.o.c.Although it was not classed as a "component failure".
But i have to say no water leaks on my sunroof,...........yet.

The only thing that did get my attention was that the plastic trim sheild on the wind deflector flew down the highway yesterday,still the roof works better without it.The dealer said it was probably some plastic "transit cover" that should have been removed on PDI.

I ordered my tucson also with a sun roof, one of te reasons I have to wait that long

I first wanted to order one withoput and have one mounted afterwards this would save me 500 euro

the dealer told me that it would be wise to take the original as it was built in at the factory and that would prevent leakage

But when I called him two weeks ago about when I would get my car he still could not tell and it would depend whether the importer would get a car with sunroof or AND NOW IT COMES Whether it would be built in by the importer after arrival!

Well if I find they built it in here I will claim 500 euro back and if it would leak I promisse you I will bring them to court

lets hope they do it well over here

god luck to you, do not simply accept what they tell you, acar must withstand the most severe rains you can imagine and even driving through it without leakage

:) The only problem I've had with the Sunroof is trying to get the kids to leave it alone. :angry2: Apart from that I've had no problems with it at all.
Peter

This was just a small film of plastic shielding (like what you get on new Stainless Steel items liek ovens and sinks) that covers the wind deflector bar that pops up when the sunroof is opened. I too had to take mine off when I got home from the dealer (I'm 6'5" so I could see it with the sunroof open easier than most would). It's nothing to worry about at all. :)

Oh and no problems with mine either, I hope you can get it fixed.

This post has been edited by grimfish: Mar 14 2005, 03:06 AM

Hi All

I had a bad leak from the sunroof.

My daughter first noticed splashes of water on the rear seat, on closer inspection I noticed wet carpets and a wet patch by the rear window air bag. It got really bad when the car was washed, with a couple of inches of water in the spare wheel well.

Dealer spent a few hours finding it but when they did find it the said it hadn't been fitted at the factory correctly.

Been fixed for about 2 months with no more leaks.

hope this helps

Normbar

Hi I have had my Tuc since last November and haven't noticed any leaks so far with the sunroof. Have used the car wash numerous times and had a fair few down pours of rain but I will have a closer look next time in the area you say. I am assuming the sunroof has to be open to check the drip channels??

Hi Tucson77,

I have had another look and it does get moist on the seal at the rear of the sunroof but it definitly doesn't pour into the car and this is only during some pretty heavy raining.

no probs with the sunroof,maybe we are have received a better batch in Australia. :thumbsup:

My 2005 Tucson has gone through a few car washes and never did I have what happened in the past two rain storms while out driving. The water from this famous "open" style roof with drains - leaked into my vehicle, dripping through the header slide panel - soaking it for over 2 inches across it's entire width. When I took it in - in the middle of the rain storm - they handed it back to me and told me not to put the hand towel in, because the tray would drain itself. OMG. To add insult to injury it was handed back to me with oil and mud all over my seats and door panels. I scheduled a warranty appointment. They took it out and put it back in and could find nothing wrong with it. They handed me the keys back and said they'd "blown" out the lines, just in case. I had to ask for the part to be ordered to have my water stained header panel to be replaced - that was two weeks ago - haven't heard from them. Water was literally RUNNING into my vehicle and hitting the driver/passenger arm rest. This is not normal for any vehicle I've owned. I love my Tucson but I think the people who do service on them in the Twin Cities MN area just do NOT get it. Good luck to everyone else, I can't wait to see it rain again and go out driving and see if it's still overflowing it's boundaries in the rain - again, never did it in a car wash... Strange.

Hi all,

After my Tucson was +/- 6 months old, I also noticed water (not too much) dripping from the rear part of the sunroof. After my first visit to Hyundai, they found that there was a +/- 1mm blue plastic strip over one of the front seals. This, they say, should have been removed with the PDI. Ok, happy with that. Short while later, the water leak started again. During the second visit, I was told that there is actally a technical note released on this, that stated that the sunroof be replaced with a new version that apparently doesn't open a far as the old one. I think the new s'roof will stop about 50mm short. They say that the old s'roof opened to far causing one of the rear seals to 'fold' causing a leak. I can buy into this. The tech note is dated 06 September 2006 so it's fairly recent. I'm now waiting for the new unit to arrive, should be installed in the next month or so together with the 15K service.

Any other South-African members having the same problem ?

Will keep you posted.

06-April-2007:
Ok, the new unit has been fitted, but it's still leaking. The symptoms are exactly as what Tucson77 had. No water (that I know off) is getting into the vehicle. I'm worried about rust accumulating somewhere in the roof. The vehicle is going back again this week, so let's see what happens.



This post has been edited by ZA_Tucson: Apr 6 2007, 08:08 AM

I have a Lexus with sunroof. It is a very bad experience to find that water drip into the car from outside rain or wash. Dealers just gave me the normal stuff, i.e. they are going to investigate and they will charge me each hour of labor.

My wife said to me perhaps it is the sunroof drain hole that has been obstructed or blocked. I got a piece of wire and started to pocket the drain holes and since then no more water into the car.

When I bought my Tucson I ordered it without sunroof because my past experience.

my wife has an accent 1.3i with a sunroof, 2000 model. Every time it rained she got soaked due to water pouring in all round the sunroof. I used some duct tape to seal the sunroof off till l had more time to sort the seal out. Next time it rained she got soaked again. I had a look and removed the rubber strips where the joint line between the roof panel and the body is. The two rubber strips on the roof. I then used a mastic gun and some clear silicone and resealed the joint line and then clipped the rubbers back in place. Touch wood, and we have had plenty of rain, the car has not leaked since. Hope this helps anyone else with the same problem.

Hi Tucson77

Take it from me (I have a sunroof in my current Tucson and also had one in my first Tucson) None of the sunroofs should leak at all- To say that they have manufactured inbuilt leak is utter codswallop and your dealer is treating you as a munchkin. He also showed you another that also leaks so sounds to me that he has had a few back with leaking sunroofs and he doesn't have the faintest idea of how to fix them. (Send an email to technical services at Hyundai USA and I bet they don't tell you they all leak)

Now you have a couple of choices

I suggest you either go back to your dealer and have him look up all the details on the dealers website to find what he has to do to correct the fault
or
Take it to another Hyundai dealer- report the fault and see what they can do then if they fix it you will know which dealers going to get your service business in the future as he probably has better technicians.

If you go to the dealer who has told you porkies speak to the man at the top and ask him if he would put up with a car leaking over the seats and floor- Tell him you are not an idiot who accepts that a manufacturer will make something that is defective and then tell him you expect better from his staff and also you want your vehicles carpets lifted and all the flooring dried out and checked for rust problems then say you expect new carpets as the water ingress has/will cause/d them to rot.
Tell him you will be advising the authorities and may invoke the lemon laws (if thats possible or seek legal redress )if they do not get it done without delay.

Let us know how you get on

Itza :460: :460: :460:

This post has been edited by Itsatusconmatey: Jun 1 2008, 08:24 AM

I am experiencing the same issues on my 07 Tuscon as Tucson77 posted. We are not getting a pouring of water but there is definitely an accumulation of water on the drip tray after a moderate rainfall or through a car wash. We first noticed the problem when only have the car serval weeks, my wife took it through a car wash and water splashed her in the face. I have contacted corporate who has put me in touch with the regional agent who covers our area. We've had our Tucson brough in 3 times to the dealership and we also brought it 1 time to a separte dealership. The issue is not resolved and we are constantly getting the same response that this is the design of the vehicle and it will never be 100% no leakage. We also have an apparent whistling noise coming from the sunroof because the seal is not fully tight. We experience this when the vehicle is at high speeds.

I see no mention of this so called "normal leakage" anywhere in the owners manual nor was this mentioned during the purchasing process. I am at my wits end with this issue. I do not believe there response is in truth. I can tell you that the tray and drain holes are a back-up system only designed for an instance where the sunroof fails, the water will catch on the drip tray and drain into the holes.

I am very concerned about rust and the headliner in the future.

I'm not sure where to take it from here. I see this is an issue with other Tuscon's and I believe this is a design issue and the dealers will not be able to fix it.

Hi rxc and Welcome to the forums

Read all your posting and can tell you that neither my 2004 or my 2007 Tucson sunroofs have ever leaked-made noises or anything close to a noise.

This is not a design issue as they have sold hundreds with the sunroofs but it may be a US Problem- perhaps they have a bad batch most certainly if there is a noise of air rushing then the seals are not either put in correctly or not up to specification

Take it to your dealer and tell him to sort it out- then write to Hyundai USA and tell them of the problem- In fact every everyone in the USA that has a problem with the seals on the sunroof syundai USA will realise what sort of problem they have . When writing in give them your chassis no incase its a problem batch as they will be able to check all their records.

The European supplied Tucsons are made in Korea and they know how to fit sunroofs :57:

Have a nice day :beer:

Itza :460: :460: :460:

Has anyone had any resolution with their leaking sunroof?? They insist that this is the design. With that being the case, the drip tray would take the place of what the seal is designed for (not let water through). That doesn't seem logical. I've talked to mechanics as well who say a sunroof should not leak as a fuctional design.

As I said before take this upline to Hyundai Technical Services- tell them that the dealer says its built into the design then listen quietly whilst they laugh.

As I have said its codswallop and shows the dealer up to be exactly what you think of his garage services- they are totally inept and could not be relied upon to fix a hole in a shower fitting.

Hyundai do need to sort this one out and you must put it in writing to them and ensure that it is sent by a recorded style delivery and send it to the Chairman or CEO personally- you can bet that whoever opens his mail has his authority to get things sorted!
Also send it to them by email and state that a letter has been sent to the CEO and unless things are sorted out promptly you will involve the motoring press and Hyundai Korea.

Get the munchkins working to get satisfaction for you- you know it makes sense.

I have used this route in the UK for a problem and it did work.

Cheers- keep us up to date and keep a written note of all the times you have involved the dealer and his reaction to your complaints- best thing is send your dealer a copy of the letter you send to the Hyundai CEO ( but not until you know that he has received it and has started taking some positive steps- ask the CEO to call you personally to advise what he can do to help- I had the UK CEO call me and he was a really helpful guy- and he and his secretary helped me get my Tucson delivered far quicker than my dealer could manage)

All the best pal

Itza :460: :460: :460:

Thank you for the advise. I have written several letters to corporate and I have had no solution. They insist this is how it is designed. My case manager told me that Hyundai stands behind these statements and my only options are to get a lawyer. I'm not backing down and I thank you for you support. At least I know I'm not crazy!

I will write a letter to the CEO (I'm assuming I can find his name on the website)

Anyone else reading this who is having the same issue can jointly, with me, file a class action lawsuit.

I will you updated.

Here is one last thing that you can try yourselves and if it works tell the garage plebs what they have to do.
On a Renault with a sunroof after owning it for 10 years it suddenly started letting loads of water into the vehicle.

In the corners of the sunroof there are drain off holes and these holes have tubing attached and the tubing goes down towards the road and sometimes mud or road debris blocks the outlets.

What I did was get a small tube and I fed this into the drain offs and then used hight pressure to blow the tube clear (and it worked) I had left some clear water in my tube so that the pressure forced the clean water through and that cleansed the Renault pipes.

Now I haven't seen the Tucson manual but I bet it has something similar so my idea may just work.


Cheers
Itza :460: :460: :460: