Moonroof Drama

Can one ever go on a trip and not have a little drama?

Halfway through our Thanksgiving getaway my moonroof got stuck.

Ugh! It just wouldn't come down.

Luckily, it was sunny and beautiful all across the Mid-Atlantic for three or four days and so it wasn't an issue...until this morning.

It started to rain and should be doing so the next few days.

My first stop was Google. Wow. I had no idea that dealerships charge $1,500 - $2,500 to fix these things! What a racket! For some, that may even be more than the value of their car. Heck, for me it might even be more than the value of my car now that I've had it for over seven years.

It is amazing how one little inch of unprotected air space is such a dramatic issue.

I got my car emissions test completed this morning and had wrapped a big tarp through one set of windows, over the top and through another set of windows. Let's just say that tarps work really well when the car isn't moving. Once you get up to 30 miles per hour...there is a bit of trouble.

At first I was going to use saran wrap to cover it and then some Eddie Bauer bags from past catalog orders. However, clearly this was a bigger job.

So, a trip to Home Depot (with the bright blue tarp flapping in the wind) and $22.60 later, I do have a temporary solution for this dilemma. Lots of thick plastic used often by painters and lots of thick window weather tape and this really tough Gorilla tape...it looks to be pretty sturdy.

Of course, I had to wait until it stopped raining for an hour to do all this since a wet car isn't one you want to start taping up.

So, this is being documented on 11/29/2011. Let's see how long this can last. I could sure use $1,500 on something besides a moonroof right now.