Lasting between the original XJ Jeep Cherokee and the crossover KL Jeep Cherokee for two generations, the Jeep Liberty was a compact SUV in which generally more bad than good could be said about it, and I’ll leave it at that. Yet among its second generation’s more interesting and notable features, was an available power-retractable acrylic cloth roof. Dubbed “Sky Slider” this panoramic moonroof offered an expansive 60″ by 30″ opening reminiscent of the open-air feel of the Wrangler, yet with added sense of safety and security. Unfortunately, it was also prone to leaking, and to simply stop working.
This past week, a spokesperson from Fiat-Chrysler Automobiles confirmed that there is no longer availability of either the parts for the sliding roof or for its frame, citing that the original supplier is no longer in business. To make matters worse, FCA does not have any alternative fixes or aftermarket solutions for owners who are experiencing faulty Sky Slider roofs.
So, in the words of Edie McClurg’s delightfully annoying rental car clerk from Planes, Trains, and Automobiles, “You’re F**ked!”.
says the supplier is out of business. Wonder if it was Karmann; they did the wonderful convertible roof mechanism for the ’07+ Sebring. I think that’s what helped put them out of business.
“That’s Daimler’s mess” is what they may be saying behind the scenes.
Regarding the rental car scene, now, rental agreements are electronic/online.
Can they really just do this though? I remember when Saab went out of business a clause of sorts were mentioned that parts were legally mandated to be produced for another ten years.
Maybe that was wrong but it seems a little too wild west that they can just stop supplying parts for no goddam good reason.
The supplier is out of business, not much FCA can do about it unless they purchased the tooling to produce the needed replacement components in house. There are likely far too few examples to bother with.
Typically the mfg would own the tooling for a vehicle specific application even though it is in the possession of the supplier.
yes, but you still need someone to make the parts. not too many would sign up to make a handful here and there.
In Eugene, there would be many creative solutions. The upper half of a VW Beetle welded on comes to mind.
A sliding cloth sunroof Beetle, of course!
Of course! And the replacements for them will be available forever.
Well, in my Beetle owning days there was a British company who would create a soft top to fit whatever size rectangular hole you wanted to cut in your roof. Of course they were manually operated.
But anyway, there’s always Saran wrap.
Coffee snort right there!
Finding parts for a ’66 Bug with the crank lever metal sunroof was difficult but not impossible as of 10 years ago when I last owned mine. Figuring out how to fix them or finding someone who knew the tricks and tips of doing so…not so easy. It sure was nice opening that roof on a hot summer day tho.
So a motorized rupe goldberg version of the most rudimentary sunroof design is unreliable and now impossible to get repaired? I. Am. Shocked!
Caveat emptor applies to run of the mill conventional sunroofs, which at least have some parts interchange between brands to amortize production cost and create a supply of replacement components. The sky roof is something I would enjoy on a rental car on a sunny vacation, but I wouldn’t ever consider buying it on a car I own for this very predictable outcome.
“So a motorized rupe goldberg version of the most rudimentary sunroof design is unreliable and now impossible to get repaired? I. Am. Shocked!”
Yes, this was my first thought too. Something that should be stupid-simple has been made both complex and unrepairable. Nice job, guys. Of course, something could be said to the customers who are not willing to deal with a simple manual mechanism. Raspberries all around, I’d say.
I have never heard of this option before and while it does sound neat the added complications scare me away. So I guess the chances of seeing a Liberty with this cloth roof at a car car show in the 2040s is going to be slim to none.
Usually the aftermarket will provide eventually, but that can take time. I have seen Chrysler discontinue parts for relatively new cars before. GM and Toyota seem to be better at having parts for older vehicles.
Reminds me of how Iacocca, shortly after coming to Chrysler, unceremoniously dumped virtually all of Chrysler’s entire inventory of NOS parts.
Just threw them all away…
Mmmm…{{citation needed}} on that, rudiger. My understanding differs, of what Iacocca did with the obsolete parts. It’s true that when Chrysler Australia became Mitsubishi Australia they dumped all the obsolete parts, literature, archives, etc right into the sea, but I’m fairly sure that’s not what happened in America. At least, I was—whatchya got?
I thought it was the AMC parts that got dumped after the acquisition by Chrysler.
Conversely, I understand that NOS Studebaker parts are still relatively common due to Altman and Newman acquiring the entire inventory in conjunction with the Avanti II deal.
AMC parts and office items were “dumped”, including the actual Motor Trend COTY trophy for the ’83 Alliance. Someone in my car club snagged it.
I sure hope my stepson’s Fiat 500 Abarth isn’t in a similar situation.
It has a convertible roof that slides along tracks very similar to that.
Neighbor had one with the option. Traded it for a Commander when they were expecting a baby. From one discontinued rig to another. Gone now with the second and third child and replaced with an mini van
Ha! Had a well-used Renault Fuego with this type of electrically operated sunroof, and it still worked decades after Renault withdrew from North America.
But did the rest of the Fuego work after all those decades? Amazing.
Bought it from original owner, who couldn’t find a heater blower fan. Found one through Renault owner’s club. Only other problem was flaky taillights, cured by better grounding. 2.2 l Bosch injected engine very smooth running and fuel efficient. Nicely weighted, precise steering, very comfortable ride and seats. Might still be driving it if I hadn’t bent front end out of alignment in a moment of inattention.
I thought Webasto took over the sliding roof operations from Karmann.
I saw a Studebaker Wagonaire in traffic the other day. Just take it out when it’s not raining.
And I think the 62 Lark Skytops that are still around are operational.
Last Liberty was produced in 2012, so right at the usual 7 year replacement parts requirements. Bullshit customer service for sure. This is the cheap and dirty fix. And now seems to be the only “fix”.
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.youtube.com/watch%3Fv%3DGXnVhwpxgww&ved=2ahUKEwjb98rslt_gAhVEip4KHUepAUM4ChCOODABegQIBRAB&usg=AOvVaw3a6Tweeo-aKizXwM2iW4Qp
Wow. That’s, ah, quite the New Jersey accent on the dude in the video. Extra credit for the “BadaBING!” at the end.
Sounds like a job for Red Green.
If the women don’t find ya handsome, they should at least find ya handy!
Indeed. Nothing a little duct tape can’t take care of.
I think this calls for an enormous piece of sheet steel, a welder, and an upholstery shop to put in the headliner from a solid roof model.
Or maybe a gigantic piece of laminated glass and a huge tube of silicone?
😉
Bingo. I’d even submit a piece of sheet metal, a few rivets, and a caulk gun would do the trick.
Or if you wanted to make it Jeep-ier a big piece of color matched canvas that snaps down.
Did not know this option existed, but then I was also surprised this week to see a Crown Victoria LX SPORT on Craigslist that also had a moonroof.
As a P71 owner, I was not aware that the Crown Victoria ever had an optional moonroof.
My 2006 Crown Vic LX Sport had a moonroof. It was a $1,095 stand-alone option, so understandably it’s quite rare to see one.
From what I recall, Crown Vic bodies were removed from assembly plant and taken to a nearby ASC Sunroof facility where the hole was cut in the roof, and then the bodies were returned to the Ford plant. As a memento of this journey, Crown Vic’s with moonroofs have an “X” in the VIN, indicating that it left the assembly plant at some point as an incomplete vehicle. (I remember reading this at some point… not 100% certain that it’s valid, but my car did have an X in the VIN).
Doesn’t mean anything, “X” was the plant code for St. Thomas Assy so all Vic’s and Grand Marquis would have had an X in the VIN. Maybe two if the check digit also was X.
As jz stated, the X doesn’t mean anything like you said. Both my Interceptors, 2006 and 2007, have an X in the VIN.
I have no way to confirm it was a legit LX Sport, but I happened to see a Crown Vic that was labeled as one for sale near K-Mart on Hwy 378 in Lexington, SC roughly a year ago in April. NO moonroof as far as I could see, but it DID have dual exhaust, what looked like wheels off of a Mustang, and even a rear spoiler!
Side profile–notice the Mustang rims! My Ranger is in the background as well, still with the tool box in the bed.
Rear view to confirm the rear spoiler & dual exhaust. Also has a hitch receiver, despite models of this vintage having nowhere near the tow rating of the pre-’98 versions (or OLDER). And apparently it came from an Audi dealership in Hilton Head.
FOR SALE sign: 2003 Crown Vic LX Sport, $3,800. No mention of the mileage though, and it’s long gone now.
They were ahead of the game, offering a panoramic roof before they had the glass to fill it!
The text needs to be fixed. The “neither…nor…are no longer available” seems to imply there is no problem here.
Imagine paying the bucks for a cool option like this and then later being hung out to dry, or wet, when it all goes wrong.
Imagine being the second or third owner of this car and being told they can’t find parts – while you still have 30 months of payments to go.
Since the newest cars are 7 years old, FCA could improve it’s bottom rung customer service ratings by offering a trade in bonus on what are by now rather old and worn cars, to anyone with an unrepairable sunroof.
In my area, the priciest Liberty on Autotrader is a 2012 with 21K on it for $16,500. It doesn’t have the sunroof.
Non-grand Cherokee demand has been soft, Belvidere just announced they are cutting the 3rd shift.
How about offering Liberty owners an extra $2000 to trade their unrepairable car in on a new Cherokee? That’s more than GM is doing for Saturn Astra owners who are seeing parts and service support evaporate.
“Non-grand Cherokee demand has been soft…”
I think the new Compass and Wrangler are taking sales away from now “old” Cherokee. So much for the idea of “they can’t have too many Jeep models to sell”!
The workers at IL plant will have to move to MI or OH plants that need the help. Sure, they may still have a job, but then they’ll have a house to sell in ‘soft’ market.
I think the new Compass and Wrangler are taking sales away from now “old” Cherokee. So much for the idea of “they can’t have too many Jeep models to sell”!
It occurred to me that, if FCA built a 3 row non-grand Cherokee, like the Chinese market Grand Commander, here, and got the Wagoneer into production, the Grand Commander and Wagoneer would cannibalize the Grand Cherokee enough that they wouldn’t need to build the new Grand Cherokee plant they announced a few days ago.
I didn’t look to see how much money Jeep put on the Cherokee’s hood last month, but it must have been significant. Looking at the sales report this morning, Cherokee sales were up 4,000 y/y while Compass sales were down 4,000 y/y. Renegade sales have been down a lot as the refreshed 2019s are very late getting to dealers and remaining inventory of 18s is very thin.
I have a 2010 Jeep Limited w/Skyslider. Loved the feature for 3 weeks and then the left read drive cable malfunctioned. I would settle for a custom top that could be manually removed, but really am upset I can’t purchase a left read drive cable!! HELP!
Chritian,
I own a 2012 and my roof took a crapper two moths. ago. I live in NJ and am having it fixed as I type this! Global Auto Mall, North Plainfield,NJ service writer: Russell Kizima mechanic: Kevin Foley
They have access to parts. Mine needs new cables. Give them a call 888-400-6311
good luck
The parts are now in stock again, but people are charging a pretty penny to install the rear drive cables!! How much did you have to pay to have the drive cables installed and how is it working since the repair?
Christian
Are the parts in stock at random locations? or at dealerships?
michael- hows your sky slider still doing? mine broke on tuesday and dealership told me theres nothing that can be done b/c they no longer make the part. im so upset. i cant believe jeep hasnt issued a recall on this issue.
+1 on Global Auto Mall in NJ. See my below post from today, 10-11-20.
+1 on the post from Michael Vena December 31, 2019 at 10:20 AM about Jeep Liberty sky slider repairs. Global Auto Mall in North Plainfield, NJ will fix the dreaded sky slider that no Jeep dealer or shop ANYWHERE is willing to touch. All other Jeep dealers ran the other way on my problem and claimed parts cannot be found. I drove from VA to have my daughterś Liberty repaired at Global. I worked with svc mgr Russ Kizima and the tech that did the work is Kevin Foley. Over the phone I was told the fix is normally to replace anywhere from 1-4 of the rails. I suspected going in that it needed all 4, which it did. It is a labor intensive repair, at least a full day and maybe into a second day. Total part and labor was $2100. Russ was straight forward in both telephone conversations and in person, and I never got any run-around.