Top up or down

[BIGJake111]

With a hard top, you have to keep it down, I make sure it's clean before putting mine down for the long period the hard too may be on, but it's always still in great shape when I go without the hardtop. I haven't owned my car for long, but I am sure other hardtop guys can back this up.

[Porsche9]

The soft top does fine for the extended periods that I have the hard top on. Before putting it down I make sure it's clean and dry. For the vinyl window I have a soft towl that I roll up and put in as the top is going down to avoid any sharp creases in the vinyl window.

[b55er]

I have firsthand experience.

My 1998 986 Base was purchased at a local P Dealer in 2011 with 23k on the clock with a new engine replaced by them in 2006 with 20k. The car came with a hard top and was used like that for many years. When inspecting the car, the convertible appeared that it was never used and still contained plastic factory wrap. The mechanism had problems closing and of course was a condition of sale to repair.

The performed some cable adjustments, but the roof would still not close. The problem was that the cloth had become stiff and taut being tucked away for years. Dealer saturated the fabric with a soapy substance, got it closed, and let it sit in the sun wet for a day. Roof was perfect at delivery. The plastic window was perfect as it was protected for years by a waxy form shaped protector from the factory.

I found Porsche part 98656385501 from Suncoast. I use it every time the top is down and my plastic window is perfect. It's a pain and all with the "Boxster Chop", but if I'm out of the car I don't mind the extra effort to grab it from the trunk. Plexus used often to keep the window supple. Car is a garage queen, so I'd like to keep it nice.

[schnellman]

Accepting the fact that I am anal retentive, I may be going overboard here. I leave the top down for the entire summer. I also clean the top and the window before putting it down. When putting the top down I do the Boxster chop on the plastic window, but then I place a piece of flannel in the fold of the window so the window does not fold too sharply, nor does it rest on itself.

[Giller]

I'm so confused. Originally, left the roof down all the time. If it was going to rain, I took my other car. But noticed when I rolled the roof up to clean the car, the roof looked to be developing creases. A number of google searches later, the overwhelming consensus was to always park the car in the garage with the roof up. Stretches the material back out as well as help keep the inside clean (dust/dirt) and clear of spiders and such. Now it sounds like most people keep the roof down. I do much prefer to keep it down all the time - so much nicer to climb in and do the Magnum slide into the seat as opposed to ducking way down under the roof.