What is the difference between a sunroof and a moonroof?

sunroof slides back but cannot tilt up; moonroof tilts up but cannot slide.

i dont know, but my friend have a moon roof, and it was massive compared to any sun roofs id seen… but that’s wrong, because the sun is kinda bigger than the moon… =)

@mirifique I guess I have a sunroof/moonroof combo because mine can tilt up or slide back.

Mine does the same thing, that is partly why I am wondering

sunroofs fully open. moonroofs only vent.

The time of day.

According to Wiktionary a moonroof is a sunroof that has a clear glass panel, rather than being opaque, so that light can enter the vehicle even when the roof is closed.

Wikipedia adds that a sunroof can be manually or electrically powered, but a moonroof is always electric/electronic.

My daughter’s car has both a glass panel that opens and an opaque inner cover, so what does that make it? It also both slides fully open and tilts to vent either to the front or to the back. Volkswagen calls it a sunroof, but it seems to meet the definition of a moonroof.

An interesting bit of trivia: The term moonroof was introduced in 1973 by John Atkinson, a marketing manager at Ford for the Lincoln Continental Mark IV.

These days, there’s apparently no real difference as the best attributes developed over the years are now present on many models (as @Darwin quip’d).

The NationMaster Encyclopedia – (yah, I’ve never heard of it either) – runs it all down. I particularly like the statement where they ironically explain, “The American Sunroof Company is often credited for creating the modern moonroof.”