Soft Tops

Firblog

Are they ok to use daily during the winter (our summer) or should they be garaged for the rainy seasons?

User1998

Older cars are likely to leak. They are also quite a bit noisier than a hardtop.

hoodie6029

You can put a rain repellent coating on them. Autoglym do a kit. Get it in Halfords etc.

MarkN

I wouldn’t let them sit in constant damp and if you can get a hardtop it will be a lot more comfortable in winter.

goochy

Is cabin colder too with hood up ?

antodeco

So I've been driving a few years with a soft top. Things to really note:

• As suggested, try and not let them sit out in the rain and cold. Water will expand and the rubbers can perish. Even get a car cover for the soft top does a huge amount (or in a garage).
• Driving it around. Totally fine. Have driving on a Christmas morning, 2 degrees before. The heater in mine is excellent. You can put it on full blast with the roof down and you'll be "not cold"
• The main thing to be careful of, is if the rear window is a plastic window, you need to really careful if you put the roof down. If the plastic is cold, it'll be brittle which means it'll snap or crack. Not a good place to be!

Henry Ford III

I can appreciate the attraction of open air motoring but the compromises are just too big.

Mind you a nice MX5 with an optional hard top as a 2nd fun car....

antodeco

100%. Mine is my 2 seater weekend car!

blackbox

I have a hard top for my MR2 but no longer use it in winter. Fitting and removing is a 2 person job.

When you get a bright clear day in winter it's a pleasure to be able to drive with the soft top down (and the heater on!)

I normally keep the car in a garage.

ferg01

FWIW I had an A4 convertible and found the roof to be extremely hard wearing. I took it through a car wash (once) which is a big no no and it was always fine. No leaks, no issues with seals or the rear glass. My biggest problem was small spots of mould appearing. Nothing too bad, just needed a wash every now and then. That Autoglym stuff is good. If you’re on the fence, I’d highly recommend. I had lots of enjoyable driving in mine and I think issues are far less common on modern versions.

Mac 3

+1 for the Autoglym soft top cleaner. The water beads off it.

Sam Russell

I have an MX5 ND and it has one feature I think is fantastic. The soft-top can be raised and lowered by the driver sitting in the drivers seat with no bother - and purely by hand without the use of a motor. I have owned quite a few soft-tops but all required effort to put the top up or down and normally from outside the car.

Driving with the top down is warm and comfortable even in rain (until there is a stoppage of some sort).

LIGHTNING

Soft tops generally have better heaters to make up for the lack of extra lets say cover. Other thing to worry about is security, I had mine cut with a knife when somebody broke into it.