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Top up or down?

4K views 33 replies 14 participants last post by  BlueRL 
#1 ·
So when you go for a quick run to the grocery store or to a local park for a walk, do you leave your top down, or do you put it back up? Seeing that it's not the most graceful convertible top to work with, is it worth the trouble putting it up in a parking lot?

I've seen other convertibles in lots and some are down and some are up.
 
#3 ·
Top stays down at all times, unless there's a possibility of rain while I'm in the store(s). If it's hot out, I'll pivot the seat backs forward to avoid burning my bum when I get back in.

Never leave anything of value in the car, and I prefer that any would-be thieves see that, rather than slit the top trying to get in for nothing.
 
#11 · (Edited)
Top stays down at all times, unless there's a possibility of rain while I'm in the store(s). If it's hot out, I'll pivot the seat backs forward to avoid burning my bum when I get back in.
Ditto here... in fact, mine is sitting in my garage right now, top down, under its Noah... it was a great weekend, in fact ALL of last week was great and a top down week.. in garage today because our friend Dallas Raines (ABC7 LA) lied and said it was going to drizzle today... no drizzle, just nice and semi-sunny.
 
#4 · (Edited)
It only takes a minute. It stays attached at the front of the trunk and lays over the top. There are snaps on the windshield and under both mirrors. Open the trunk, pull it over the windshield, and snap six snaps. It blocks all sun from the interior.
 
#5 ·
Unless what you have in the car to steal is worth more that $1000, "top up and locked" is a bad idea. A pocket knife will cost you $1200 for a new top.
 
#7 ·
For the quick run, 20 minutes or less, nah I leave it up. Longer run why yes it is a vert. When parked, that's for every owner to decided. Am I worried? Yes but I never leave anything of value in my car in sight top up or down. Lock your glove box! Windows up too. If a thief wants something bad enough, he will get it. Cut the top and the insurance company groans, your premium just went up, you get to wait while a new one is installed. Nothing better than $1200. dent to the ole c/c to make your day, from a $1.89 pocket knife from Dollar General. Ye Ha

Parking it for a while, ( hour or more ) rain is always a concern. The ole says goes, Don't like the weather now, wait 20 minutes. Nothing like a good thunderstorm on the horizon, to cause more gray hairs and loss, with a few more wrinkles and lines to add on the ole face. Most of the time, I am in sight of the car, and get to it quickly enough. IF I leave it for longer, and it's out of my line of sight, well that's a whole different thing. Most of the time I would put the top up, yeah it's pain, but not that much when you consider the alternative of having the option to not have the top at all when driving. Let my daughter drive my car last summer. She said it took her while to get use to it, with no top over her head. The smile on her face after the drive... priceless.

April is just around the corner, and it's time for a return to Summit Point Motorsports Park for me. 2 events that require my attendance, time to see some old friends, watching a little racing action from Turn 5, enjoy the spring like weather, a few adult beverages and if it rains, time put the old top back up once again.

LAC
 
#8 ·
My 2007 has 100k miles and negligible interior sun fading, as it has always been parked with the cover if it is sunny.
My 2008 had 68k miles when I got it, and a lot of fading.

When I drive the Sky to work it will spend 8-10 hours in the parking lot with that cover on.
All of the interior upholstery and plastic is protected along with the top-to-WS seal.
A side benefit is that it protects the top while I am driving with the top down.
 
#13 ·
Well, when my Sky was 6 days old my wife just had to take it to work one Sunday. I protested but finally had to give in. It was a Sunday morning in downtown Scum City (Houston, TX). Fairly deserted area and for only 3 hours in sight of her office window. So she took it and came home to discover some slug had keyed the entire left side of my car, up and down the door and rear fender from headlight bezel to tail light bezel.

SO the top can be up or down whenever it goes out and may change during the excursion. It doesn't matter as I'll either be sitting in it or standing next to it. The ONLY time it gets left alone is in the locked garage.

I don't understand why there is such a negative "thing" about working the top. It only takes a brief minute to go up or down. I just see so much chatter about it. You would think it weighed 2 tons and had 50 pieces you had to assemble.

Dark Sky
 
#14 ·
I don't understand why there is such a negative "thing" about working the top. It only takes a brief minute to go up or down. I just see so much chatter about it. You would think it weighed 2 tons and had 50 pieces you had to assemble.

Dark Sky
It's a comparative thing. Compared to a car you don't have to get out of to put the top up or down (and even worse if it's power), it's a negative. Sure, there are times when I'm in the car I'd love to put the top up or down without having to get out but I'd much rather have the clean lines we have when the top is down than the convenience of raising or lowering it from inside the car.

Dark Sky, please feel free to stop in more often!
 
#15 ·
Definitely comparative.

Judy's Saab has one button that makes the whole operation automatic.

My 1963 MGB had a top that unsnapped to fold into the trunk, after which you removed the frame from the car, separated it into two pieces, slid it into a bag and put it into the trunk. After thaThen you took the tonneau rail out of its bag, assembled the two pieces and attached it to the car. Finally you unfolded the tonneau, snapped it to the rear deck, draped it over the rail, and snapped it to the back of the cockpit floor. Simple.

My thought is that a mechanical system only has a finite number of cycles before it wears out. Putting the top up a couple of times a day will eventually wear it out. I also like the idea of total sun protection for the interior.
 
#17 ·
One "negative" thing about top down: I just noticed a wear spot where the rubber bumper touches the top when folded. Is there a simple product that will repair it before it goes all the way thru? I am thinking that a black silicone rubber sealant might work???:willy:
 
#18 ·
Did you lose the foam bumpers on the posts?

In any case, get a top cover to protect your top right away. You can just use a towel, or do as I did and get a cheap yoga mat (e.g. a $5 one from 5-Below) and cut a piece to fit (works wonders). Or you can spend much more and get a custom-made/embroidered one from somewhere like Rob the Elders friend.
 
#23 ·
I had to read those posts three times to find out why you thought I called you stupid. Finally got it. I guess that makes me stupid....LOL

But no, I was calling me stupid so suggested that it be kept simple for ME.
 
#24 ·
If I'm out driving with the top down and I stop somewhere to shop or whatever I'll generally leave the top down. I never leave anything in the car, anyway.
The only concern I have when I leave it down is that someone is going to walk past it and throw whatever trash they may have into it but it hasn't happened yet.
 
#27 ·
Top down... two words. Here is another two words you might consider when your top is down. Bird poop! Nothing better than coming out of store after 20 minutes spend $$$, and then have to clean up a plopper on the console. Thank god is was only once for that. Bird and ducks are one thing, but a goose... oh nasty stuff.

My top fabric is in pretty good shape considering it's current age. No real wear and tear. No real noticeable fade. Would I like a new one? Sure I would, and the cost and wait that goes with it. The stitching is coming apart on a few spots. I have repaired them somewhat, but I am not a tailor or sewing guru, so just wing it when I have to. Another round this spring, as I noticed a new area I need to repair yet again. It is what it is, so the says goes.


The bumpers thing in the trunk, was always a concern of mine. Two days after I got mine, I noticed the rub against the fabric, when the top is down and stowed away. If the bumpers need to be repaired, then new foam can be applied without to much trouble or costs. I now put a bath towel over the top, when stored away. Even extra micro fiber towels is quick, easy and cheap fix for this. The designers must have thought our top mech. would move around in the trunk some, to have added those bumpers in the first place. You would have to be thrashing it pretty good for that top mech. to bend it however. IF the top mech. to does get out of alignment, then there are some adjustment you can make. Once it is twisted or bent, oh there is hell to pay for a new one as a replacement. I priced one last year, IIRC $3300. bills oh my! That is 1/3 cost of our cars imo. New fabric and mech., is BiG $$$ plus say a newer motor, another $3k dent, then some serious body shop repairs, $3k-4k and your in the deep end of the pool, treading water as fast as your legs will go. Not something I want to think about.

LAC
 
#29 ·
My Saab had one-button-up/down operation, but I don't mind messing around with the top on this too much. When it gets warm enough to have to decide, I will probably leave it down. I used to leave the top off my Del Sol for weeks at a time, and I didn't live in the nicest of neighborhoods. I lived in a "bad" 'hood when I had my Saab, and I never left it down for very long. I'd leave it down when I went to the store down the street though.

Time and experience will probably guide my decision once the warm and dry weather decides to stick around.
 
#30 ·
My Sky doesent live in a garage so top down overnight is out of the question. racoons in the late evening and Sea Gulls in the early morning. Not sure which would be worse, but probably the Gulls that my neighbor feeds every morning.
 
#31 ·
Raccoons would climb into your car if it isn't closed? Sounds like they'd be easy to trap and remove from the area. Surely there is a service around there that would do it. The neighbor that feeds gulls should be asked to not do that, or should stop feeding gulls. Why would he/she even do that? You have multiple reasons to keep the top up when you have the car at home.
 
#32 ·
Yeah...really? Several years ago in another house we had an indoor swimming pool The racoons would get in through the roof and as fast as one hole was patched they would make a new one. I Hired a local to trap them and remove them to a release point 15 miles away. After 5 removals at $25 each I asked him when he thought they would all be gone. He said,"They wont. They will just keep coming back unless you kill them. That would be against the law." He was immediately fired.

There is no way in hell I can make a liberal bleeding heart naturalist quit feeding her beloved gulls. Unless I have her trapped and moved 15 miles away. And I suspect, just like the racoons, she would find her way back within days. :willy:
 
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#33 ·
Man! Why does everyone pick on you? I can't believe they can't lawfully killed. I'd think the HOA (if there is one where you live) would be interested in getting rid of raccoons for many reasons. I wouldn't harm them because I simply wanted to leave my top down, but if they were scratching their way into any of my structures, laws be damned.

It wouldn't be difficult to call me the same you call the nutty lady, but I have sense enough to not feed gulls. Have you asked her to not feed the gulls?

Maybe you could build a small Thunderdome and make the gulls fight the raccoons?
 
#34 ·
It was a different neighborhood than I live in now. A snotty, high falutin, place. Yes, they had an HOA, one of the reasons I left. The HOA told me how high my grass should be, what color my house should be, and much, much more. But they would sue you if you so much as harmed a single hair on ANY wildlife, even skunks, deer and possums. Where I live now they also have a height rule for my grass,enforced by the city. The first time I ran afoul of it (two weeks after I moved in) they sent me a letter declaring me "a public nuisance". In the letter they informed me that my grass could not be higher than 18". I went straight to city hall and demanded to speak to the 18" Nazi. I then suggested that if they wanted my cooperation, it might me smart for them to NOT start out calling me a "public nuisance" but instead to suggest that I might be willing to support the city by mowing my lawn. They have since rewritten that boilerplate notice letter. I dug my heels in and resisted for several months when I discovered that the city had NO enforcement power. Since then they have re written the ordinance to make the height 17", seemingly for no other reason than to be A**H****s. I later got the state to declare my lawn a wildlife refuge which makes it illegal to mow it. Dont screw with a nasty old man!!! The older I get, the nastier I get. I ran for and served as the Chairman of Planning and Zoning Commision. (It was fun to tell the Mayor to sit down and be quiet after she tried to interrupt the proceedings outside of the public comment session.) >:)
 
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