# Why do you want a sunroof in your car? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 9, 2026, 9:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-you-want-a-sunroof-in-your-car/1032928 "2026-09-09T09:56:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2026, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-you-want-a-sunroof-in-your-car/1032928/21 "2026-09-09T14:34:15Z")
> [@Pork\_Rind](#): > > I have almost exclusively purchased convertibles throughout my car ownership career, but in those times when I haven’t had a soft top, I’ve made sure to have a sunroof. I just love the open air experience. Yep. I’m concerned now that convertibles are a rapidly disappearing breed. I’m going to need a new car in a couple years, and I really hate the idea I might not even be able to find one in model year 2028 or 2029 almost regardless of make or model. ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2026, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-you-want-a-sunroof-in-your-car/1032928/22 "2026-09-09T14:40:48Z")
> [@steronz](#): > > It’s a status symbol more than anything. ?? How is a sunroof in any way a _status symbol_? What decade are you living in? They are such a basic feature, there is nothing fancy at all about a sunroof. I like that they let more light into the car and can cool it off without the wind whipping around from an open side window. ---
**Author:** ![ThisOneGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c0e974/32.png) [@ThisOneGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThisOneGuy)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2026, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-you-want-a-sunroof-in-your-car/1032928/23 "2026-09-09T14:58:29Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > My car has one. I don’t really like it, but the only benefits are the fact taht I’m tall, and it gives me some extra headroom. However I’ve heard cars w/o sunroofs have more headspace anyway, so thats probably not a benefit. My experience in test driving cars is that the same model without the sunroof has 1-1.5 inches more headroom. So sunroofs are a no-go for me for that reason. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2026, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-you-want-a-sunroof-in-your-car/1032928/24 "2026-09-09T15:00:59Z")
Hate them don’t use them and a waste of money. Are you driving up? ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2026, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-you-want-a-sunroof-in-your-car/1032928/25 "2026-09-09T15:06:15Z")
I don’t really get it either. My wife likes opening up the sunshade, but leaving it closed, so that there’s light coming in. Which for me, just causes glare on my sunglasses and heats me up. In my own vehicle, I occasionally open it up during the spring and fall, when the temperatures are actually nice, and I also open up the windows and rear windshield- it’s full ventilation. But that’s not super common- it’s loud, lots of dust and crap flies in, and the temperatures are only cooperative for a couple months a year. It is nice to crack open when parking on hot days, so that any heat induced by sunlight can rise out of the car, rather than being trapped. It seems more secure and slightly more effective than cracking the side windows a little bit. Combine that with a windshield sunshade, and the inside of the vehicle isn’t much above ambient, if at all. Certainly not 140 or whatever ridiculous temperature it can get to if I don’t open the sunroof or use a sunshade. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2026, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-you-want-a-sunroof-in-your-car/1032928/26 "2026-09-09T15:08:19Z")
NM… I accidentally doubleposted. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2026, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-you-want-a-sunroof-in-your-car/1032928/27 "2026-09-09T15:12:44Z")
> [@bump](#): > > and the temperatures are only cooperative for a couple months a year There’s your problem right there. Life is too short to live in a crap climate. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2026, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-you-want-a-sunroof-in-your-car/1032928/28 "2026-09-09T15:17:53Z")
Well, it’s only really good for driving around with the whole thing open for a couple of months a year - usually March, part of April, and most of October. But that doesn’t mean that the rest of the year is a frozen wasteland or blasted hellscape. Well… it doesn’t mean the winter is a frozen wasteland anyway. The summers _SUCK_ around here; we’re on our 42nd day this year of 100+ high temperatures, and that’s been something like 42 out of the last 45 days, with a few days in there of sub-100 degree temps. Anyway, if I’d been given the choice, even at the same price, I’d have happily foregone the sunroof. But it’s standard on all models of the Honda Ridgeline except the base model, so I was getting a sunroof whether I wanted one or not. ---
**Author:** ![We\_re\_wolves\_not\_werewolves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/838e76/32.png) [@We\_re\_wolves\_not\_werewolves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/We_re_wolves_not_werewolves)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2026, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-you-want-a-sunroof-in-your-car/1032928/29 "2026-09-09T15:41:00Z")
> [@P-man](#): > > Our second car has one, and it’s a pain to unplug the drain when it gets clogged and causes the car to be filled with water. this right here. In the abstract, they can be fun and kinda cool to have on nice summer days. In fact, they introduce another point of failure and a potential for water leakage into the car interior. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2026, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-you-want-a-sunroof-in-your-car/1032928/30 "2026-09-09T15:44:06Z")
My '89 4Runner had a manually-operated “moonroof”. The tinted glass bit was hinged in the front with a locking latch release in back. Just pop the latch and extend it and you got some nice ventilation. There was a cover piece that fitted underneath it if you didn’t want the sun beating down on your head. The glass piece was removable entirely if you wanted the full windblown effect in the cab. That feature came in handy one time when I locked my keys in the car at the beach one time. I got a lot of strange looks unhooking it and clambering in, but nobody reported me. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2026, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-you-want-a-sunroof-in-your-car/1032928/31 "2026-09-09T16:06:10Z")
> [@robby](#): > > I love my sunroof (actually a moonroof with clear glass and a shade). I usually open the shade and leave the moonroof shut. I like the extra natural light. Vehicles without this feature feel claustrophobic to me. Our new car came with this, and I think we’ve opened the moonroof maybe once, but the shade is always open. We like the additional sunlight. ---
**Author:** ![scabpicker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scabpicker/32/8268_2.png) [@scabpicker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scabpicker)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2026, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-you-want-a-sunroof-in-your-car/1032928/32 "2026-09-09T16:11:13Z")
Another sunroof hater here. If I can get a car without a sunroof, that’s the one I get. I don’t want 50lbs of weight I’m never going to use hanging out in the worst spot for that weight to be. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2026, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-you-want-a-sunroof-in-your-car/1032928/33 "2026-09-09T16:15:10Z")
Poll added, link below the OP in the usual spot. > [@Saffer](#): > > I don’t understand the appeal. I don’t particularly want to look up at the sky and opening it does not seem to offer any benefits over a normal window. It adds to cost and reduces rigidity and handling. So why are they so popular? What am I missing? I don’t understand posts like this, because the OP is indicating that they cannot even _imagine_ a legitimate reason why someone would want one. 🤨 Me I LOVE it: fresh brisk air (in the right atmospheric conditions of course), bright sunshine, noise doesn’t matter to me as I will have my stereo at maximum (safe) volume. Going in the other direction, without even reading any responses, I can fully grok the lack of appeal: wind, noise, mussed-up hair (mine looks to be a total mess afterwards, but I DON’T CARE), extreme brightness, sure. But how would I be _utterly unable_ to conceive of or just understand such attitudes? ---
**Author:** ![robby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robby/32/11048_2.png) [@robby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robby)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2026, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-you-want-a-sunroof-in-your-car/1032928/34 "2026-09-09T16:25:37Z")
> [@John\_DiFool](#): > > Poll added, link below the OP in the usual spot. > [@Polls only: No discussion](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/polls-only-no-discussion/953642/6990): > > [\*A Sunroof is opaque or transparent, but can’t be opened; a Moonroof can be opened.] I disagree with your definitions here in the poll. A sunroof is opaque; a moonroof is transparent glass (typically with a moveable shade underneath as well). That is the difference. They can both typically be opened (which is the whole point of an opaque sunroof). (I call a “sunroof” that is opaque and can’t be opened a “roof”. 😉) After all, what is the point of an opaque sunroof that can’t be opened? P.S. Also, all of your options refer to “opening it” or not. I love my moonroof mainly for the large piece of clear glass over my head that lets in lots of natural light. But I hardly ever open it to the outside air. In other words, you have no option for: “I love my moonroof and open the shade all the time, but hardly ever open it to the outside.” ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2026, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-you-want-a-sunroof-in-your-car/1032928/35 "2026-09-09T16:31:38Z")
I have never bought a car (except a convertible) w/o one; it’s one of three absolute requirements in a car for me. I use it all the time. I’ve ruled out cars because I can’t get one or at least not for a reasonable price. One car it was a $15,000 option - okay it was only a $2500 option _but_ one had to go up three trim levels to even have it as an available option; getting one w/ a sunroof was $15,000 more than the base & probably $20,000 over the life of the car due to a different engine in the higher model. Tilt it open a bit in the summer when it’s sitting in the parking lot & the hottest air goes right out making it not so hot when I go to get in it. Except for the defroster I hardly ever use the air conditioner, windows & sunroof are open so I get glorious fresh air most months; even a decent winter day it gets opened On rainy days I’ll use the tilt function so that I get air flow w/o getting wet. The shade is almost always open letting in additional light on all but a few of the hottest days & the opening begins behind my face so it doesn’t typically cause any glare. Yes, there was a time when with aftermarket sunroofs it wasn’t if they’d leak but when; however, I believe they are better now but didn’t get much of a response when I [asked about them](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aftermarket-sunroof/953637) a few years ago ---
**Author:** ![ricepad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b38774/32.png) [@ricepad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ricepad)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2026, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-you-want-a-sunroof-in-your-car/1032928/36 "2026-09-09T16:35:38Z")
We have had sun/moon roofs in a number of our cars, and I like them. Two of our current cars have solid panels that can slide open. Another has a glass panel that can be slid open or popped open at the rear, along with an opaque panel that can be slid open (manually if the glass panel is popped, or automatically if the panel is retracted). And yet another car has no sunroof at all. I like the superior ventilation that they provide, especially with the roof popped. Much quieter than having a window open but with good air movement. On temperate days, I’ll open them fully, although my wife tends not to like that much sun exposure. We make sure to close the roofs when we’re parked anywhere, although we leave them popped if we’re parking the car outside during warmer months. In the garage, though, everything is closed - windows and roofs - to keep spiders out. I enjoy the fresh air. ---
**Author:** ![Pork\_Rind](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pork_rind/32/111_2.png) [@Pork\_Rind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pork_Rind)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2026, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-you-want-a-sunroof-in-your-car/1032928/37 "2026-09-09T17:27:29Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > There’s your problem right there. Life is too short to live in a crap climate. 😉 Amen! I don’t think there’s been a week this past year, excluding travel times, where I did not have the top down more than 50% of the time. When I lived in Seattle that figure was lower but certainly still up there. Dry and above 50? Top down! Of course, unless I was motorcycling. My heated jacket and gloves covered me into the 30s. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2026, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-you-want-a-sunroof-in-your-car/1032928/38 "2026-09-09T17:49:58Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > > [@Pork\_Rind](#): > > > > I have almost exclusively purchased convertibles throughout my car ownership career, but in those times when I haven’t had a soft top, I’ve made sure to have a sunroof. I just love the open air experience. > > Yep. > > I’m concerned now that convertibles are a rapidly disappearing breed. I’m going to need a new car in a couple years, and I really hate the idea I might not even be able to find one in model year 2028 or 2029 almost regardless of make or model. As a former motorcyclist, I loved the open-air experience, which on a bike is extreme and sublime. As I’ve mentioned before, going up and down hills on country roads near sunset allowed one to experience the distinct temperature changes with elevation, with cool air settling down into the lower elevations and warmer air at the higher ones, an effect that was remarkably like flying! Back in my youth, I loved to tool around in my friend’s MG convertible when she was out of town, but having taken a convertible out recently, I no longer feel the same way about them. Maybe it’s just age, but I find the wind buffeting and noise annoying, and this was a BMW with one of those screen thingies at the back that are supposed to reduce wind turbulence. For me, a tinted sunroof with a sliding shade panel is a good compromise, although I admit I don’t use it very often. I worry that of all the opening things on a car, a sunroof is most likely to be a source of leaks. I generally prefer to have all the windows closed and hear only the soothing sounds of the A/C and CBC Radio. Not very adventurous, I know, but I don’t go on African safaris or rock-climbing, either! ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2026, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-you-want-a-sunroof-in-your-car/1032928/39 "2026-09-09T23:18:48Z")
The last time I had a sunroof was in 1965; a VW bug. I allowed myself only two “luxuries” with that car; the sunroof, and a radio. There was an AC option, but it would have increased the cost of the car about 20% and decreased the engine power too much. I was very glad to have it. No leaks, no problems. Hand-cranked, but easy to open. Years later, I had a sports car with a detachable, hard, T-Top, which was similar, also a true convertible, but long-haired girls would complain it blew their hair too much; a sunroof was the better choice. ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2026, 10:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-you-want-a-sunroof-in-your-car/1032928/40 "2026-09-10T10:45:20Z")
> [@robby](#): > > I love my sunroof (actually a moonroof I’ve always wondered, what is the difference? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-you-want-a-sunroof-in-your-car/1032928.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-you-want-a-sunroof-in-your-car/1032928.md?page=3)