[RandallNeighbour]

It sure is nice to have a mechanic you trust! I just get the chills when I think about repairing a non-engine issue for $800! It's like the tops on our cars are another engine altogether when it comes to repairs and worries.

Just to increase anyone's knowledge base reading this thread, there's a central motor in the back, just ahead of your third brake light. It twists two cables left and right that go to the sides of the top just above the exterior vents (driver's side intake and passenger side fan grills, but on the inside of the top area). These cables go into a transmission on both sides that both raises and lowers the top and moves the clamshell up and out of the way. It's really ingenious.

The loud POP could easily be that twisting cable coming out of the motor or one side of the transmission. The key is not to do a lot more damage by continuing to press the button after you hear a loud noise like this.

Or, the pop could be a part near the transmission with a ball joint on the end of it that is known to break due to it being made out of plastic and usually under a lot of stress.

Or, a third possibility is that the transmission fell apart inside and needs replacing.

Replacing the parts isn't that hard from the repair manual. The hardest part (which requires some saavy or experience) is timing the top again so the left and right go up and down at the same time and there's no twisting of the top or clamshell.

I sure wish our cars had simple top components or they were designed in such a way as to be far more reliable over the course of a boxster's useful lifetime.