I kind of doubt it because my car is my daily driver, and my top only goes *down* while I am driving it in the Summer (i.e., not while I am at work, or home, just when I am actually driving it). And of course, here in the Puget Sound area in the Winter, it rains constantly for 8-9 months and is quite unpleasant without the top up! I park outside in the weather at work. It's been too long since last Summer to remember if these circles diminish any when the sun bakes the canvas, but I don't think that solves the mystery.

 

Mine has them as well

 

Mine also has them... ;-)

 

My 2009 c4S has had the top down and hardtop on for 18 months. Just took car out of storage yesterday. Today I removed hardtop and put up soft top. NO CIRCLES

 

This third photo shows kind of a horizontal burnish in a band that runs all the way across your top near the position where the round hold-downs normally press. My top doesn't have anything like this burnish mark, and never has. It makes me wonder if the hard top, when it is on, pushes down the soft top just past the hold-downs. Also, I don't know if it makes any difference, but mine is a 997.1.

 

Ha. I always assumed prior owner had a habit of leaving a circular wax applicator in those spots.

 

So I finally looked at the underside of my convertible top door on my ‘09 and I don’t have circular pads like the ones pictured earlier in the thread. My car has a pad that spans the entire width of the lid. So, no circles for me.

 

Perhaps there was a design change 997.2 - on. I do not have the circles on my 997.2 (MY11).

I do vividly recall the circle marks on my 996.2 (MY03). Was a great top, worked flawlessly ...in the rainy Pacific Northwest. The 996 was a daily driver for a number of years, and parked outside.

 

They're called "buffers" in the 997.1 PET Katalog. It would be interesting to know if the 997.1 tonneau "Lid" could be retrofit to this long, flat "buffer" from the 997.2. I don't have the 997.2 PET Katalog to look up the part number.

 

Here it is . . .

Still don't know if it's as simple as peeling off the round ones and sticking on the long one.


997.1 Cab Top Buffers (round pads #15 and #26)



997.2 Cab Top Buffer (long bar #15)

 

Mine has them, too. 997.1. It was reported that the 2nd owner left the top down a lot. Does anybody know how to treat the top to remove them? Assuming the two circle bumps are replaced with the bar.

 

[QUOTE=thesandog5;16867091]Mine has them, too. 997.1. If anyone figures a way to remove them or fit the 997.2 pad into a 997.1 pls let us know.

 

Yep. My top is in good shape, doesn't spend a ton of time in the down position (under my ownership), and there's never been a hard top in place. I have a perfect circle in the middle of my brown top which is slightly darker than the surrounding area.