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So while waiting for my allocation to come up, I have been poking around, seeing what may be out there either as a pre-owned but more specifically current dealer stock across the USA. I have some "must haves" for my build, and one of them was the panoramic roof. But as I am getting anxious and may be loosing patience for the wait, I am considering dropping that as a "must have". I guess the question I have for the group is for those of whom that do not have it....what are your thoughts? Does it feel dark inside? Does it feel claustrophobic? Do you regret not ticking that box on your build sheet?
And if you do have it (other than the wind noise, wind buffering, "came with my package/build", etc.) would you have gone a different direction.
If it's something you want I don't believe you should compromise on it. Many of us on this forum have waited for great periods before our trucks arrived and perhaps some would have given up something to get it a few months earlier but that's giving in to short term desires. I assume you don't need a Defender, meaning your way of life is not dependent on it, so I would wait for what will make you happy. After the initial feeling of getting one wears off, and it will, you may resent it for not being quite what you wanted.
No one needs a panoramic roof but they're cool and, for me, they make me happy so I wouldnt compromise on it. Don't give in, wait it out. The one you want will come up soon.
Last edited by EasternShoreDefender; 11-16-2022 at 10:46 AM.
When I was ordering my '23 back in February i was working through whether I wanted the sunroof or not. Some of the opinions on this forum, and they make sense, were that if you intended to add a roof rack / use the roof then the utilization of the sunroof is diminished. When I ordered my truck I originally ordered it without the sunroof. My build was Tasman with black interior. Once I drove a Defender with a black interior I realised not having the sunroof would make for me a fairly claustrophobic feeling interior. Even with the oyster headlining without the sunroof it felt small. So I modified my build to incude the sunroof.
I have zero regrets. In fact it was the right choice for me. I like how it brings so much light into the cabin. It's also not terrible when fully open or cracked open noise wise.
I love the panoramic sunroof. I have essentially no noise with mine when it's all the way open, which is amazing with a two door. (I do drive mostly in the city or offroad, at no more than 45 mph usually.) My Defender 90 is Tasman blue with a black interior and having the sunroof is great for making it feel open and roomy. In fact, I have the shade back all the time and even with the glass closed there is so much light coming through it feels like the truck is topless. It's nice. I wouldn't trade it for a solid top, although I might consider the cloth top simply because it opens more than the glass roof does. But all in all I love the panoramic sunroof and wouldn't want to pass that up just to get one sooner.
I bought my Defender pre-owned (as you are considering doing). I did it mostly because I found a great deal in a barely used car, owned by an older couple that had a RR as primary vehicle and used the Defender as "her" car and as grocery getter. Also, I configured an equivalent build and it was $10k to$12k more than I paid (and I was already hitting the ceiling on my budget). Seems prices for the new ones increased substantially when compared to 2020s and 2021s. Conversely the chip shortage-stuff killed several things that I have on mine (soft close rear door, sunglass holder, usb ports, digital display and so on).
My must haves were: P400, rear "locker" and adaptive cruise. I got extended Windsor leather as a plus. The sunroof was not a must have - my wife hates it because of sun/light in her face-need-to-protect-skin-stuff. So, in our previous car we had it and never used. The upside is that many many pre-owned Defenders I test-drove had terrible glitches with the sunroof - open and never close, the shade would only close halfway, etc. I also heard a lot of horror stories about the noises and rattles with the sunroof. In the future I do not have to worry about a leaking sunroof as well. More space for off-road patches too. FWIW mine is black interior with oyster headlining and I do not feel claustrophobic at all. The alpine lights/windows help a lot in my opinion.
All that said however, if it is a must have, I would not give in to the anxiety to have it right away. I would never ever do that with the ACC for example. I would hate myself in stop and go traffic every time.
I have one and like the light it brings but am always fearful I'll break it when I'm on the roof moving bars, attaching stuff to the rack, taking stuff off the rack. I'm prone to dropping stuff. So far so good. I've not broken it.
Just something to consider.
I never open it as there is too much noise with the rack and contents.
If it's something you want I don't believe you should compromise on it. Many of us on this forum have waited for great periods before our trucks arrived and perhaps some would have given up something to get it a few months earlier but that's giving in to short term desires. I assume you don't need a Defender, meaning your way of life is not dependent on it, so I would wait for what will make you happy. After the initial feeling of getting one wears off, and it will, you may resent it for not being quite what you wanted.
No one needs a panoramic roof but they're cool and, for me, they make me happy so I wouldnt compromise on it. Don't give in, wait it out. The one you want will come up soon.
I think this pretty much sums it up...don't compromise!!! I have one in my Disco Sport now....and love it!!! Thanks for the input
I bought my Defender pre-owned (as you are considering doing). I did it mostly because I found a great deal in a barely used car, owned by an older couple that had a RR as primary vehicle and used the Defender as "her" car and as grocery getter. Also, I configured an equivalent build and it was $10k to$12k more than I paid (and I was already hitting the ceiling on my budget). Seems prices for the new ones increased substantially when compared to 2020s and 2021s. Conversely the chip shortage-stuff killed several things that I have on mine (soft close rear door, sunglass holder, usb ports, digital display and so on).
My must haves were: P400, rear "locker" and adaptive cruise. I got extended Windsor leather as a plus. The sunroof was not a must have - my wife hates it because of sun/light in her face-need-to-protect-skin-stuff. So, in our previous car we had it and never used. The upside is that many many pre-owned Defenders I test-drove had terrible glitches with the sunroof - open and never close, the shade would only close halfway, etc. I also heard a lot of horror stories about the noises and rattles with the sunroof. In the future I do not have to worry about a leaking sunroof as well. More space for off-road patches too. FWIW mine is black interior with oyster headlining and I do not feel claustrophobic at all. The alpine lights/windows help a lot in my opinion.
All that said however, if it is a must have, I would not give in to the anxiety to have it right away. I would never ever do that with the ACC for example. I would hate myself in stop and go traffic every time.
Your 2 cents are worth it!!! Trying to find the closest to "my build" and my budget without the wait. Great opinion and thank you
Totally Agree....and for what its worth, that glass up there on my Disco Sport is like steel.....or at least I have not dropped anything to substantial on it yet
I'm not generally a fan of sunroofs as I just never use them. I had at least one convertible at all times between 1994 and 2021, but a sunroof just does very little for me. In fact, I special order 911s or search for a long time to find them without sunroofs specifically because I don't particularly like them (see photo; for the 2015 GTS I just ordered without adding the costly SR option, but I had to search far and wide back in the day to find the 2002 Turbo without a SR because they are standard (free) on Turbos and have to be special ordered with the optional Sunroof Delete to get one without it. But I digress...
So why did I order my Defender with the roof? I was afraid it would be dark and cavernous in there and didn't want to chance it. Turns out, after 18 months I hardly ever open even the fabric sunshade -- it gets too hot inside with it open for much of the year in Atlanta. And I open the actual sunroof even less. I'll occasionally tilt it and open the front windows an inch on a very nice day, but once I get above 40mph everything gets closed back down.
11-16-2022, 10:29 AM
Panoramic Roof - Yes or No
