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Has anyone had any success getting convertible top wear replaced under warranty? Mine is almost completely frayed through and the dealer refuses to replace under warranty. I called Porsche Customer Service for assistance and all they did was call the dealer and ask the dealer for the basis for their denial. Customer service said there is nothing they can do when the dealer says it's not covered under warranty and is just normal wear and tear. I am utterly shocked at how Porsche North America approached an issue in their customer service department. Does anyone have any other thoughts?
The next nearest dealer is about 80 miles away.
It would be helpful to know:
Year?
Mileage?
Your maintenance routine?
wash with soap?
do you use a sticky roller every week or so?
Have you protected the top with RaggTopp or 303?
Bob Z gave you excellent advice. Schedule a pow-wow with your Service Advisor and the Local Porsche Rep in the coming weeks.
My 2014 top, after +61,000 miles looks good as new. And I use RaggTopp cleaner and protectant every other year.
The top is just as complex, if not more, but the actual soft top is much smaller, so less to fold. But the back edge definitely folds pretty severely.
Let me try a second pass at my question: There is less area of the Targa's top that is folding as compared to the Cabrio's top, which even though the folding is severe (close to a complete fold-over), the area affected is less (plus, there is also a shell underneath, right?), which should reduce the appearance of the folding.
However, wear is wear, so I wonder if anyone with a Targa who frequently drives in top-down mode, can provide insight into how long the tops last?
I have never heard of anyone complaining about their Targa's top and not that long ago I was reading a thread here where someone asked if there were any problem with the mechanism and no one reported any problems...some had over 40k miles on their cars and I am sure they would have mentioned problems with the fabric if they had any.
I have the same issue -- i cant believe that a four year old car with ~38k miles can be this bad.
I can understand the creasing -- but if you look close the material is wearing out.
Also - im glad i read this post -- since this is my first convertible -- I've been washing it with soap and water when I was the car.
And I've stored it down a few times. - I will stop doing both of these things now.
I had a 997 S Cab with the same issue. They called it burn marks but the cause was from driving with the top down and the shift and flex and movement of the top while driving. The reason some experience more or less issue is how they drive and how often with the top down. I drove mine like I stole it all the time so there was a lot of friction happening. If you drive aggressive and on roads with lets say not the smoothest you will get more damage.
I hope this helps
Also - im glad i read this post -- since this is my first convertible -- I've been washing it with soap and water when I was the car.
And I've stored it down a few times. - I will stop doing both of these things now.
Yes. Stop using soap & water. Here is an excellent link:
Having now looked at that red top, (the black one was harder to see the detail) I would have to say this is normal when compared to my (blue) top. That area of the top is the primary folding point and it inevitably shows a crease and some wear. I think that is indeed just the way it is. Perhaps I am just a bit desensitized since my 997 top was much worse at an earlier age. The 991 tops holds up much better.
I don't think you are on the verge of wearing through the top at all. It is quite thick and there's a very thick layer rubberized layer on the inside that will prevent water intrusion.
So has anyone had their tops repaired or replaced yet? I just cannot stomach a $6,000-$10,000 dealer hit on a 5 year old car. I’m gonna have a have an indie upholstery-top shop take a look. Thanks for any tips or info.
Had mine replaced under warranty. Did you get the extended warranty? Same exact problem with my roof. Roof itself costs about $5k, not including installation.
Sorry to see that happen, but with any convertible top, particularly if you put it down (of course you have to put it up and down to enjoy!), it becomes a wear item. An expensive one.
If the car is in good shape and you plan to keep it, I would replace the top, as replacing the car would be more money.
I had a convertible years back and it was blast but the tops do discolor and wear. I ordered my 991.2 as a hardtop, not even a sunroof, because I am driving it every day and here in Florida, as in California, the sun just eats stuff up. Less stuff to wear and tear.
I had some issues with the seam - about a pen-sized opening. Car is a 2013 with CPO (just expired in April). Brought it to dealer - top changed, no problem. They said all in is like $8k - supposedly time intensive to remove old one & align new one. More detail (and photos) of mine at https://rennlist.com/forums/991/1141...cing-this.html
09-25-2018, 08:27 AM
