Bought my first Porsche an hour ago and the roof's stuck!
 

Hi guys,

I'm very excited as I've just bought the car I dreamed about when I was a little kid, a 2001 2.7 Porsche Boxster. Do have an issue though and hoping it's not a biggy!

When I went to view the car the roof was closed fully, the owner opened it to show it working then didn't fully close it and it's basically stopped almost closed but slightly ofset, as in if you stand behind the car the panel is slightly raised to the right - so wonky! The windows won't shut now as it hasn't completed the cycle.

I made him an offer based on the car having this issue but now need to get it fixed or I'll get very wet! Any thoughts on this? Haven't tried forcing it at all as don't want to damage it further.

Thanks in advance and look forward to being a regular here now I FINALLY own a blooming PORSCHE!! Whoooop!

Insure the "park" light is on. If it is, hold the close roof button while engaging and disengaging the handbrake. Sometimes I have to do this. Fault is probably a faulty handbrake sensor (if this works).

There are lots of post on this topic. Try searching the forum and you'll find info on diagnosing and fixing it, plus a few work-arounds.

If the park brake light on the dash doesn't light up when you engage the brake, you may have to pop out the ashtray housing from the centre console and jiggle the switch a few times - you'll see it in there. Just raising and lowering the lever didn't always work for me.

If that's it, then the good news is that a new switch only costs about $5. The bad news is that it's a bit of a PIA to change out. I did mine when I changed the lever.

There are lots of posts on this topic. Try searching the forum and you'll find info on diagnosing and fixing it, plus a few work-arounds.

If the park brake light on the dash doesn't light up when you engage the brake, you may have to pop out the ashtray housing from the centre console and jiggle the switch a few times - you'll see it in there. Just raising and lowering the lever didn't always work for me.

If that's it, then the good news is that a new switch only costs about $5. The bad news is that it's a bit of a PIA to change out. I did mine when I changed the lever.

Thanks for your replies guys. Just to add, it's not that it's not trying to move the lid, it appears now that the left side isn't moving so only the right raises and the left is stuck in with the mechanism not rotating. Already worrying this could be a costly job :-( Anymore thoughts? Thanks.

Sounds like to either have a borken cable on the left side or the left side top transmission went out.

If it is either one of these it could be somewhat costly. Keep in mind when replacing the top cables/transmissions that the drives need to be calibrated.

Thanks, just to update, took to porsche specialist, few cables gone and other problems including a pretty significant bend in the metal, left side, that runs across behind the screen. £400 damage, hopefully getting it back on Tuesday so I can finally ride the damned thing. Like waiting for christmas day!

What people don't usually do as preventative maintenance and may create a problem like this is to grease the slide rail attached to the quarter panel.