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-   -   Sunroof in area with Monkey menace? (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/technical-stuff/199593-sunroof-area-monkey-menace.html)

I am in the market for a new car and since I will be in Shimla for quite a long time I made it a point to keep an eye out for what the locals drive. Among the hundreds of Maruti Altos I saw a Honda City with the sun roof but with a huge dimple in the center of the roof.

After inquiring got to know it was the result of a monkey jumping on the car from about a floors height which according to him is common in hilly towns. The result of this whole ordeal was sunroof malfuntions/leaks and some seating issues.

According to him the dimple does not stay popped out and eventually goes back to a concave shape.

Aren't cars with sunroof suppose to have a much stronger roof?
Does the concept of sunroofs not work in hilly towns?
Are more expensive cars "Octavia/ BMW 3 GT" better equipped to handle a monkeys bum/feet than this Honda City?

No vehicle is equipped to face a 10 kilo weight falling on it from a height of a few metres.

OK, maybe if the Indian Army is selling off old tanks you might get one pre worshipped and that wouldn’t be hurt by a monkey falling on it.

Sunroofs, when given by the OEM are generally manufactured to high standards because they need to keep the structure of the vehicle as strong as it was initially intended to be, during a rollover/accident with a rigid roof.

The City's sunroof hence, should ideally be equally strong.

If you live in a city which has the monkey menace, it is best to avoid a vehicle with a sunroof unless you have a covered parking for your vehicle which keeps the vehicle safe.

Wrong. Vehicle roofs are engineered to handle much larger weights and stresses during a crash/rollover etc but the impact will show.

Er I should have added "without being dented" but other than that .. yeah.

The roof of a car is not a rock solid slab of unyielding metal. It has load bearing members/bars covered by soft sheet metal. So a monkey or a coconut will make its mark if it drops on the roof, but will still protect you against rollovers.

On the topic of wildlife, this is what a deer did when it jumped off a ledge (hilly terrain) on to this moving car's roof.

In Shimla or any hilly town, monkeys are not the only issue. You also need to be beware of falling stones in some areas. Would suggest you avoid sunroofs.

:OT The size/maneuverability of the car is a huge consideration in hill towns. Given the way traffic is in Shimla, you would end up getting stuck all over the place and maneuvering a sedan out of the mess is a nightmare. Would suggest you have a small car (Alto?) for local running and a bigger car for getting out of Shimla.

One of the Team BHP posts talks about leakage in sunroofs, service center having no clue on repairs related to sunroof etc.

Members with cars out there with sunroof, what has been your experience 2-3 years into ownership? Had you to take any specific care to maintain the sunroof in good condition?

I have a 2012 Honda City with the factory fitted sunroof and even after so many years there have been zero instances of water leaking into the cabin. For the first 3 years of ownership it used to be parked in the open and even during heavy rains it never let the water seep inside.

From my side there are zero efforts to maintain the sunroof mechanism but the service center does their part of routine maintanance during the services. Every 3 months when the car goes for service, they clean the rails and then coat them in some sort of grease, it's the same type of grease that they apply on the door hinges. They must be cleaning the water drains also but I haven't seen this personally.

BTW, just as a precautionary measure I will be changing the glass' rubber seal before the monsoons of 2019 even though there is not the slightest sign of water leakage. That rubber seal is anyways not very expensive.

Got a chance to eat the brain of someone at Volvo R&D and specifically asked about the XC40's sunroof and there are some interesting things to report. First the normal sunroof which pops on top of the roof has some issues with guide lane/hinge in respect to strength of said lanes but these can be overcome "According to Volvo guy" when the guide lanes are placed at an angle or on top of car frame "Above the doors".

I think he means Panoramic Sunroof but I am not 100%.

So my house is located near the Aravalis so forest all around. I usually park in the basement and since the onset of winter, there are hordes of monkeys which come to sleep in the basement at night, probably because it's warmer due to the cars. They sit on the cars, jump on the bonnet and the roof, scratch the paint etc. Even after the guy cleans the car in the morning, i find monkey feet marks all over my car.

The roof has to be flexed outwards every time i get ready to take my Civic for a spin. I'll soon have a hector with a panoramic sunroof and I'm a bit worried about the damage they might cause.

Has anyone found a foolproof way to keep monkeys away from their car? The ultrasonic sound emitters sound good but the reviews on Amazon aren't too encouraging.

While it is brittle in case of an impact with force with a hard object, glass is actually way more rigid & strong compared to a metal sheet of same (or less) thickness. Nor malleable nor tensile when not red hot, a well made good composition glass is one of the strongest substances after diamonds in fact. A panoramic sunroof would fare way better than a full steel sheet roof when it comes to monkeys. Steel / aluminium sheets will bend/deform. Glass roof will have no such damage. Go for it without any doubts.

Hello Reinhard,

I had finalized Nexon XZ+ which has all the nice features except Cruise Control. Now that one feature - i really want. I can go for a higher version XZ+ (S) that has CruiseControl and also the sun roof :sadface which i can't avoid.

Where i live - we've battalions of 30-40 monkey visiting us 2-3 times a week. Yesterday my Swift's centre cabin light came off when a big one jumped on it. You think the Nexon's sunroof and the frame around it might get disfigured by monkeys jumping on it. If the risk is high - i'll have to go for XUV 300 W8. But am more inclined towards Nexon.

I'm no expert on this matter (nor on the monkeys :D) but since you asked - the frame & the glass, IMO there will be hardly any damage. What will always suffer (and even without the sun-roof) is the sheet metal that forms the roof. They are known to deform especially in lightly built cars - even when a dog sits on them. The Nexon's is stronger than the Swift of course, but no guarantee that the roof will not bend inwards if a large ancestor jumps from a height on it. So the risk stays with or without the glass IMO.