VW Tiguan Sunroof Leak

The owner of this VW Tiguan found both front footwells wet. She had not noticed steaming windows or a smell -- one of the kids dropped something and that was how she found it. There had been some odd electrical behaviour in the past: the car alarm going off randomly, a seat belt warning light on one occasion. Both consistent with water near the electrics.

Tom ran the 28-point check. The Tiguan is a model we know well; sunroof pipe shrinkage is a known issue on this range. When the back section came apart to access the rear sunroof pipes, Tom could show the customer immediately: the pipes had shrunk over time and pulled off their grommets. They were no longer connected to anything -- just floating free inside the trim. Every drop of water that collected in the sunroof trough was pouring straight into the box sections on both sides of the rear, running along the sill, and accumulating in the front footwells. The sunroof had not been used for some time; the roll mechanism was broken. That made no difference -- a closed sunroof with a perished drain pipe leaks just as reliably as an open one.

The recommendation was to replace all four pipes, not just the two that were visibly disconnected. If the rear two had shrunk enough to pull free, the front two were the same age and would follow. We also modify the new grommets before fitting: the standard x-shaped design blocks quickly when debris washes off the sunroof. Opening them slightly keeps water flowing freely while still preventing anything larger from going up.

The screws behind the rear trim had already been disturbed at some point -- somebody had been in there before, although nothing had been done. The scuttle area had visible green growth along the channels, so that was cleared out at the same time.

Interior dried, all four sunroof pipes replaced and modified, scuttle cleaned, car tested watertight on handover.