Top replacement brand - advice
 

I have been looking at replacing my top. It is a 2003 base.
The glass does not heat anymore, the tops is worn with holes here and there. Does not leak yet, but it does not present nicely.

I have been looking around and came across those sellers.
Does anyone have any experience or heard of their product quality?

https://robbinsautotop.com/convertible-tops-416/porsche-446/porsche-boxster-2003-04-top-canvas#additional

https://www.autotopsdirect.com/product/porsche-convertible-top-2003-2004-boxster-german-a5-canvas-black/

https://gahh.com/porsche-boxster-2003-2004-convertible-top-glass-window?srsltid=AfmBOooi2pO5uw3VZOtdnmvuYOTcAdOafYb ZIx_MPzWxAy6t1eKQCO8D


I have a feeling all of them are the same, but maybe there are other sources I am not aware of.

I am located in MI. More exactly Lansing area (48864 zip).

Thanks in advance.

Are you planning on replacing it yourself or are you using a professional installer?

IF you're using a professional to install your new top, (as I did) then I suggest you let the installer suggest which top to buy from their experience. In my case, my installer suggested the brand he had installed many times with great results. He suggested the GAHH brand and that's what I bought (w/glass+defrost wires).

I know many replace their tops as a DIY project, but I decided that I didn't want to "learn on the job" and pay a professional to just get it done and very glad I did. Dropped the car off in the morning and a few hours later they called me to say it was ready....easy-peezy....lol.

My suggestion.....IF you decide to use a professional. Make sure they have experience with Boxster's top replacements (pictures or recent customer reviews of their Boxster work).

I like Rob's posting.

All three brands have been around for a long time and they wouldn't have lasted if people had bad experiences. The Boxster community is pretty quick to share bad experiences.

If you are thinking of doing it yourself, enlist someone who has done it before.

I was planning on DIY.

Thanks for the responses.

FYI....My top was professionally replaced 6 years ago and the labor charge was $425....well worth it to have it finished in 1/2 a day.

Not sure what an experienced shop's labor would be today for the same work, but food for thought.

Where was it?

$425 was a bargain and well worth the money. I did my own with auto tops direct off of ebay at a discounted price. It was not a perfect fit but if I'm driving the top is down. You hands will be sore. GAHH is well respected.

I went with gahh. I used a pro shop because I didn’t have a lot of time. You can tell that the shop knows what they are doing if they ask to see the condition of your b pillars. They can break during the replacement so buying new ones is relatively cheap and makes the install go faster. I’m very happy with my top. I went with the German acoustic although it’s stiffer than the twilfast that most shops prefer to install. My previous top was twilfast but it didn’t age well. You should go with whatever brand your shop recommends.

If it was $500 to replace, probably I would go for it... but I am certain it will not be that cheap.

Thanks everyone for chiming in.

No it was not $500. Maybe in some labor markets but the top alone was $1500. My labor costs were about that much. I was told the book time is 10 hours.

Consider that I replaced my top about 7 yrs. ago. Perhaps that could be the reason the shop only charged me $500 for the labor. (it didn't take them 10 hours....more like 5-6 since I picked it up the same day in the mid afternoon)

I think 7 years ago $500 was probably a fair price. I also encountered that shops aren’t doing as many of these kinds of tops anymore. So while experiences my shop could have been out of practice.

I have installed three tops from Autotopsdirect. They were well made, fitted perfectly, look factory quality. The Boxster top is not a simple top as convertibles go. The first time it took me three weeks, the next two weeks, the third one week, so there is definitely a ‘practice effect’. This project is well within the scope of a person generally proficient with auto maintenance, but if you’re the kind of guy who takes his Boxster to someone else to change the oil, then this project is not for you.
Some years back I fitted a Robbins top to one of my Miatas. It was beautiful, looked great, but I had one hitch. I was installing it in November,just as winter weather was setting in. The top was so tight I had to leave it in the sun several hours to get the top to engage the latches. It was tight as a drum, a great top.

Local quote was 1500 to install.

It seems like the price of any automotive-related repair work has been increasing more quickly than the general rate of inflation. I think the pandemic was the trigger. The general public began keeping cars longer and this increased the demand for skilled repair work. Since the supply of skilled workers didn't increase proportionally, the prices increased. There used to be quite a few (mostly older) guys in my area who had one-person auto upholstery shops. These seem to be closing faster than new ones open.

During the pandemic (2021) the headliner in my Mercedes C230 started to sag. A shop quoted me $1245 to replace it and they couldn't start the work for about 60 days due to a backlog of work. I decided to replace the headliner myself with the help of YouTube videos and the Mercedes forums. Because of the pandemic restrictions, I couldn't engage in my usual social activities and I had some time. I did a good, but not perfect job.

Based on that experience, I believe I could replace the top on my Boxster myself. However, if I could find someone who had experience replacing Boxster tops, I would seriously consider that option if the price was reasonable. Upholstery work requires some artistic skill and experience to do well. Misaligned seams and wrinkles are difficult to avoid.

PLP.....PM sent

Thanks for the advice, Rob.

It was local Porsche shop that cooperates with our local club. And I spoke with the club members as well.

I have not reached out any further... and I do not think I will. Even if it is $1000 to get it done - I will use the money elsewhere. I can still inquire in the dealer. Just to know.

It is just a Boxster with 120k miles. I do not want to invest much more that it needs. This car is driven, not stored.

Just couple weeks ago I took it for a spin on snow. Heck, the summer tires are no fun on snow. It will go sideways at any speed and it is FUN, but that is not fun if I had to get to places.

PLP, the other budget option is just to sit and wait for Boxster part outs and swap in a better looking top and frame combo yourself- that’s easy. Then you can sell yours and recuperate most of the cost despite your worn top since most of the value is in the frame for people with earlier year Boxsters who want to do OEM glass top upgrades. I bought a replacement top and frame that I found locally on eBay for $400. It doesn’t look new but it doesn’t have any holes either. I haven’t seen any come up that cheap again but if you spot something around 1k you could probably pretty easily make back half of that by selling yours after.

Mine was $1400 to install. I know these and other repairs are becoming a significant fraction of the cars residual value these days. All cars have maintenance required at some point.

That was my plan - it is still a decent top with some wrinkles and small holes, but works just fine.
It is way better than nothing :) for some. If I was in a pinch, I would go for a used for half money.