Leaky Moonroof, Broken Front Air Dam Send Our Long-Term 2025 Toyota 4Runner in for Service
We’ve owned a 2025 Toyota 4Runner TRD Off-Road Premium — our newest long-term test vehicle — for two months, and it’s already had its first service visit for two issues: a leaky moonroof and a broken front air dam.
Related: We Bought a 2025 Toyota 4Runner Hybrid, And It Wasn’t That Hard
Touchless Car Wash Conquers Moonroof Seal
Taking the 4Runner through a local touchless car wash revealed the moonroof leak; a bit of water from the high-pressure stream lightly spritzed the side of my face a few times during the wash sequence. Upon closer inspection of the housing, I could see that water was getting in from the rear passenger side of the moonroof. Once the car wash was finished, I took a look at the moonroof from the outside of the vehicle. Nothing was obviously amiss, but when the moonroof was closed, it looked like the glass was slightly lower on the passenger side.
While this particular touchless car wash’s high-pressure water streams do seem more intense than normal, I’ve taken other cars through it with no issue. Fortunately, the leak seemed to be isolated to the wash bay; we’ve driven our 4Runner in the rain since we bought it and haven’t noticed any water in the cabin afterward.
Front Air Dam Bites the Dust
The day before we were going to bring our 4Runner to a local Toyota dealer so they could look at the moonroof, we discovered another problem: The driver’s side edge of the lower front air dam had broken off, and the air dam was hanging slightly lower as a result. One of our editors had recently completed a road trip to Iowa in the 4Runner but couldn’t recall anything that might have caused the edge of the air dam to shear off. No one else on staff could identify what might have caused the damage, either, but since we had a service appointment on the books already, we figured we’d get a price quote for a replacement air dam when we visited the dealership.
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Service Surprises
We set up our service visit using the Toyota app, and the app-based scheduling experience was good overall, something that hasn’t always been the case for us with previous long-term test cars. We found a local dealer in the app and described the moonroof issue, and we received a text message confirmation for our appointment. The service advisor was expecting us when we showed up, and our description of the problem was incorporated into the paperwork we received at the end of the visit. All in all, using the app to schedule the service visit was seamless and effective.
We were, however, a little surprised by the dealer’s response after assessing the 4Runner. Our service advisor said they didn’t find anything wrong with the moonroof and said it’s normal for some water to get through in high-pressure car washes. They noted that the moonroof housing has drains for that and that if the headliner isn’t getting wet (it isn’t, at least with the moonroof shade open), it shouldn’t be a concern.
As for the front air dam, the dealership said it wasn’t in stock but that they could order one for us. Including taxes, the estimated cost of the part alone was roughly $750, which seems like a lot to us for a piece of molded plastic. Since we’re tracking long-term average fuel economy of our 4Runner’s gas-electric hybrid powertrain — and this air dam likely benefits gas mileage — we decided to cough up the cash for a replacement.
What’s Next?
Our first course of action is to use a different car wash when we need to clean the 4Runner’s black paint. As for the front air dam, removing and replacing it appears to be a fairly straightforward process, so we’re going to attempt it ourselves when we receive the replacement part. We’ve decided, however, that if it breaks again we’ll go without it rather than shell out another $750. Just like a regular owner, we have to draw the line somewhere.
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