PPI says the top's "tension straps" not tight, how much to ask to knock off price?
 

Have no idea what repair cost would be and the upholstery shops are closed for the weekend.

He says it affects how snug/tight the top closes on the car.

My estimate would be 4-6 hrs to repair.

Porsche uses strings to keep the top taught and sliding inside the bow and uses a wimpy cloth band to hold the strings in place. The band loses its shape and lets the string loosen the taughtness of the top, which allows it to slip over the outside of the bow. Pretty rinky-dinky system. If you raise the top around 10", you'll find a velcro strap inside the interior in the area of the bow. You can undo the strap and see the string / band setup. According to the Service Mgr I talked to, you can loosen the string with a screw further back on the top and tighten the string. That area looked a bit to cramped for me to deal with, so I tried tightening the band. My attempt lasted about a week and then it went back to slipping over the bow.

I didn't ask him how much it would cost since I thought I could conquer it myself.

Be sure to look at the seams of the top. Leaving it with the top over the bow can really stretch the top and stress the seams.


http://986forum.com/forums/uploads01...1424532022.jpg

That's a 5 min fix, I did mine.
 

Email me for info if you wish.

There is a great write up on the boxster register ( PCA forum)

If the top has the cable's falling outside of the trim piece
 

like in the photo posted, there is a chance that the tension springs at the base of the top above the door are flipped especially if the top has been replaced and someone put them on backwards. I put a new top on my car a few years ago and could not figure why the straps kept falling outside the window frame when I was raising the top. I tried everything possible with the straps before someone told me that the (leaf) springs could be backwards. They took about 5 minutes to turn around and low and behold it worked like a champ from there on out. If the top has been raised with the cable's outside the frame there is certainly the chance that the cables could be stretched.

Probably not, this is a well-known 987 issue of weak, poorly designed elastic straps.

Just wondering if that was the only thing found on the PPI?

This is what it looks like. Very similar to Husker's pic. You can see how the top is going over the window seal thingy (partially) rather than under it.

http://i.imgur.com/ybNCYSI.png

I would at least verify the leaf/tension springs are correctly oriented
 

before I spent a lot of cash having the top troubleshooted and/or repaired. Mine did the same thing when I had the parts on backwards...it's common issue if the top has been replaced or worked on at one time...5 min repair and all was well. I am assuming this is a 986 and that is an 03/04 factory top so maybe it is different. I am not saying the cables are not stretched but it might be something simpler and cheaper and is worth looking at.

I had the exact same situation, and I don't think the spring is reversed, basically it looses its tension in that position after so many years and can be turned around.
The following link has a great explanation and step by step. It worked great for me.

https://sites.google.com/site/mikefocke2/convertibletopedgedoesnotfallintoguidech