2004 Toyota Highlander Sunroof - questions

hows that for Toyota quality? Its going to be expensive to fix, but $3500 seems very high.

Michael, I have the same problem and I haven't resolved it yet, but I have done a little research. There is a DIY video on youtube which shows most of the mechanisms in sunroofs are not cables, but tracks which tend to get blocked with debris over time and fowl up the operation of the roof. Another video on a Subaru basically had the same problem. The hardest part of fixing the problem will probably be getting to the roofs mechanisms after it is stuck in place. I either case it is not worth $3,500. You could buy a cheap car for that price. Man some guys really want to take you to the cleaners and have no shame about it. Hope this is helpful.

Michael...I have the problem as well, 2004 Highlander. What did you end up doing?

Same problem here...was able to get it closed with a great deal of effort and it is closed forever now.

I was just quoted $5,300 to fixed my 04 Highlander sunroof. Looking for a repair shop in or around CT if anyone knows someone.

Any less expensive services that will fix a 2006 Toyota highlander sunroof? The Toyota dealership (after I paid them $329 to diagnose it) told me that they would probably have to replace the whole assembly and that it will cost $8,400. Crazy!

Gentleman, first and foremost, your sunroof is repairable. It's gonna take you about 2 full days, but you will have a working roof yet again. What has happened is the slide housing has become rusty, hence freezing your slide cables inside the tubes. Chances are your motor is still in good condition and operable. Now this is not on all models, but I believe 2004 and under are medal cables with a coating of fuzz on it. Even though that coating is their, they still rust out causing the roof to bind up. If you can free up the cables from the tube housing, just buy the housing and insert the cables into it. All this can be done while the sunroof is still in place. Yes its easiest with the headliner out, but can be done with only half of it down. Their is basically only 4 moving parts in a sunroof. The slides, the glass, the sunshade, and the motor. The rest of it is all stationary parts. The tracks and such. Think of it as a box. You will understand it more when your hands on with it. Hope this helps guys!