Sagging Car Roof Lining – What's Wrong and How to Fix This?

That's quite unpleasant to see the sagging car roof lining in your vehicle. Very often, you will want to pay all the money in the world to get rid of this annoying problem. But hold your horses and put the wallet back into your pocket. I have some guidelines and things to consider here for you.

In short, the sagging roof lining may be the consequence of high temperature, mechanical or water damage, poor quality materials, or improper installations. In most cases, you will not be able to apply any DIY repair methods successfully, but sometimes it's possible.

You will want to know that reinstalling the headliner in your vehicle is pretty complicated, so make everything to save the original liner and maybe repair it somehow to avoid all that hustle with installing the new part.

Let's get started!

Why is your headliner in the car sagging?

I need to focus on two possible ways of damaging the liner in your car. The first one is when it just hangs a little from the floor because of bad mounting. This is an easy-to-solve problem. The second issue is when the fabric is sagging and going bad.

The first issue is simple and I won't pay a lot of attention to it. But the second problem is much more serious.

Typically, headliners consist of polyurethane, fiber, or other foam materials that are quite hard and solid. The fabric that covers the hard material is just glued to it with special glue types that last for 20 years and longer.

Here are the reasons why the fabric may sag:

• the glue was not really good - this may happen when the headliner is not OEM and was installed when the car was rebuilt after the collision;
• the airbag deployed from under the headliner and broke it, after some time the fabric started sagging at this point;
• there was mechanical damage to the liner material and after that, the fabric started going off more and more;
• water damage is also a possible reason for the headliner material sagging - the water may be there because of different reasons including leaks or bad ventilation;
• high-temperature damage is one of the most common things to consider - your car may have been standing under the frying sun for several days;
• simply the age of the material - any glue will be able to live happily for more than 20 years, especially in a vehicle that is vibrating and shaking all the time.

The list is not finished and I can come up with another dozen of ideas why the headliner may be sagging. It's important to know these reasons because they will help you prevent this problem from happening.

For example, now you know that when your car is standing under the hot sun for too long, the headliner may go bad. Also, if you somehow cause water damage to the liner, you should find a way to wipe it dry and make sure the fabric is not damaged. If you see water on the liner constantly, check if there can be a leak somewhere (for example, in the sunroof), or if the ventilation is not working properly.

Now let's move on and talk about the ways how you can deal with this problem.

Repairing the sagging liner in your car

I basically see at least four common ways of repairing your liner. And you will have to choose between them according to the type of damage and also your budget. Of course, the best thing is to replace the entire liner with a new one. But II understand that this is the last thing you want to do. So let's see what your alternatives are.

1. Attaching a piece of liner material - the cheapest method

While it may seem like a bad idea at first, you should think about how many times a day you actually look at that headliner. If your car is a 20-year-old sedan vehicle that is not a valuable model anymore, you aren't likely to invest thousands of dollars in it - this basically doesn't make sense now.

So, you can get a piece of headliner material and stick it to the damaged spot. This method will work in that case only if your area of damage is not larger than 20% of the liner.

Here's what you should do:

• buy a headliner fabric that is 100% matching the color of your original liner;
• get a good and health-safe glue for headliners - this should be a special material like the one from Permatex or 3M;
• cut off all the material that is sagging and is going to disturb you from good results of your work.
• cut a certain size patch of that fabric to cover all the damages and some more area to make sure this won't happen again;
• use your glue according to the guidelines written on the can or bottle and attach the prepared patch.

Then you will have to wait for some minutes and check if everything looks fine. Well, this method is very cheap and 100% DIY. But it will not restore the refined look of your car's interior. This is just the way to get rid of sagging fabric and solve the practical problem. But the appearance of this patch is not going to be something you will be proud of.

2. Changing the entire liner fabric

This is not something you are going to be able to make on your own. More than that, I don't recommend this method because eventually, it will be more or less the same price as the replacement of the headliner.

But if you decide to do that, just know about the challenges. First of all, you will need to take the headliner off the vehicle. This will require taking the rear window or the windshield out. So, a lot of labor and a lot of side costs. Also, the fabric is going to cost you a lot as well as the labor for attaching this fabric to your old liner.

In the end, this method is costly and doesn't provide you with a new and fresh liner. Also, the quality of the results depends much on the skills of all people involved in the process.

3. Using glue to attach the sagging fabric back to the liner

While this method is also pretty inexpensive, I don't recommend it because of potentially bad results. To glue the sagging material back to the liner, you will need to cut the material and use some special glue on it. Then, the material will be pretty dirty and also the cuts will be visible. The sagging fabric is most likely thin and damaged, so the glue will obviously form some stains that will be visible.

So, it may be the option if you just need to glue those nasty sagging bags of fabric back to the liner and don't care about how this will look. But if you want more or less good-looking results, just use some other technique. Even attaching a patch of new material will be easier, not much more expensive, and will ensure better results.

4. Replacing the headliner

If your original headliner is damaged, broken, or just looks impossibly bad, you may want to replace it. Yes, for this you will have to pay for the window out, headliner itself, and also labor for installing the new liner. It's not going to cost you a little, but there are some possible ways.

First of all, you may buy the used headliner on eBay or in a scrapyard. This will obviously help you save some money. But be careful and always check the quality of the part you are buying. Any small problems can quickly grow into fatal issues.

Secondly, you can find a cheap repair shop that will gladly do the job. The only thing we recommend doing in a good shop is putting the glass back. One bad mistake in this process may lead to leaking and this is not the desired result of the procedure.

Buying the new liner will cost you about $200 for a used part. The new OEM part will cost three to six times more than that depending on the brand, model, and year of your vehicle. Also, the new liners may just not be available.

Here's one more tip: don't buy aftermarket liners made in Taiwan or China. Most likely, these liners will not fit perfectly and will go bad very soon - you will just throw away some money if you buy them.

Final thoughts

I tried to view the problem of the sagging headliner in your car from different angles and give tips on how you can do a budget-friendly repair or a good restoration of the car interior. So, I've come to the idea that you basically have two good choices: using a cheap patch of fabric that will look bad but better than now or replacing the headliner with a new (or used) one.

Other methods, although possible, seem to me useless because you spend a lot of time and money and still don't get good results.

I also know that there are companies and repair shops that offer liner repair. You may go to several of them and ask about the price. Don't forget to ask them to show you some pictures of their previously completed projects.