Why take a soft-top over hard-top convertible?

[hammo19]

We’ve had many of both soft and hard tops. I don’t have a preference to be honest as long as the weathers good the roof is down, as it should be.

[rscott]

MX-5 PRHT (the folding plastic, not cloth roof) owner here. It's quieter and warmer than the soft-top. Mine is 14 years old, has done 120k, and the roof is down if it's it's dry and above 15 degrees ..

I've just had to replace a microswitch under the rear deck cover as the roof decided not to go down. Cost me £60 in parts off eBay for complete pair of rear deck motors and switches from a breaker.

[white_goodman]

I think the main problems with folding hardtops were:

1) Heavy;
2) Compromise boot space;
3) Compromise styling;
4) Leaky seals;
5) Complexity.

Not actually owned a hard-top convertible but had a few soft tops. E30 soft top was pretty noisy top up at motorway speeds but my NB MX5 and other cabriolets (Beetle/A4 etc) that I have driven with multi-layer roofs were just fine ie you would hardly know.

Glass rear screen vs. a plastic rear screen makes a big difference I think. The plastic one on my E30 went milky and split, as do MGF/TF rear screens but the glass one on my NB was good and had the bonus of a heating element. You can maintain some simplicity with a soft top too. For instance, I believe the roof on soft top MX5s is still manual. Just release 2 latches and drop it at the traffic lights without getting out of the driver's seat. Easy peasy. No electric motors/pumps to go wrong and no extra weight. Having said that, I do prefer the look of the hardtop MX5 RF to the softtop.

SLKs and R230 SLs look great too and don't Ferrari/McLaren still use hardtop roofs and they still look decent.

In favour of hardtops though, they do provide better security/are less prone to vandalism and which would you rather have a rollover accident in?

[Diderot]

I recently had an SL (R230). Various leaks, sensors and seals gave issues for the 4 years I had it, plus one expensive repair. Needlessly complex, but at least the looks weren’t compromised.

[s p a c e m a n]

Hard tops all leak. If they're not leaking then they're about to start doing it, changing all of the rubber seals takes forever and it will still leak after you've done it.

I love the looks of the e93 convertible 3 series but I already have a Chimaera that I have to hide from the rain

[Simon_GH]

I think the folding hardtops are a useful compromise from a security perspective if you park in places where people may knife the roof for the sake of it or to get inside the vehicle. Otherwise, the traditional soft top looks the better solution.

[Oceanrower]

I’ve got a 16 year old E88 M125i soft top and can’t praise it highly enough. The roof goes up and down quickly, even whilst driving. No leaks, acceptable noise levels and I’ve never been scared in a thunderstorm…

Having had various metal clad and fabric clad roofs over the years that ALL leaked (I’m ashamed to admit to a brief flirtation with a Citroen Pluriel. I genuinely drilled a hole in the passenger floor to let the water out!) I’m really impressed with how good the BMW roof is.

Edited by Oceanrower on Saturday 29th June 07:11

[LooneyTunes]

Gericho said:

I don't think there has been a new hard-top 4-seater convertible launched recently. BMW have done away with them altogether on all their models.

So I have a soft-top and I am thinking about selling it because:

1. It is noisy with the roof down but also with the roof up if I reach motorway speeds
2. It is heavy and kills fuel because of it
3. When there's a thunderstorm going on it doesn't feel great having just cloth over your head
4. The roof always has issues - microswitches not working, cover locks malfunctioning. The soft-top is not that reliable.
5. Maintenance of the soft-top fabric requires cleaning and waterproofing which is not a hassle by any means but an unkept roof leads to mould. Also the rear window is prone to falling out due to age/heat.

Of course the noise and wind with the roof down would apply to a hard top convertible as well, but at least the hard top becomes a secure and quiet place to be when you want to travel at speed safely over long distances.

So why have manufacturers ditched the hard-top convertible idea and gone to soft-top?

And the next question I suppose is do people really enjoy using a convertible as a family car (not sports cars)? How can you enjoy the car when travelling at speeds say 60mph+ causes too much noise and wind and there's also not enough boot space when the roof down?

I'm thinking about selling mine because I just don't get it even though I really want to. I've driven barely 500 miles and with the weather as it is I am thinking it was all just hype over nothing - like living in a studio flat in central London.

Between myself and MrsLT we’ve run at least one convertible almost constantly for the past 25 years, and one each for the past 5 years, without most of the issues you’ve described. For probably five years we had three cars, all convertibles. They’ve ranged from old stuff (70s) through to modern, with one folding hard top (SLK) in the mix. Only real problem was when someone did a half-arsed job of knifing one of them, leaving a ~ inch long cut in the outer layer (easily sewn back together).

Yes, the hoods can get a bit green if you don’t clean them often enough, but have never found the need to re-waterproof any of them or had windows fall out!

Tbh, I think there are three types of people when it comes to convertibles. Those who just don’t like them much, those who like them on a sunny day, and those who go “all in” on them. Obviously if there’s child paraphernalia to lug then that might change things a bit.

Sure, for a long motorway journey where the desire is simply to get from A-B, the hood might stay up but otherwise if it isn’t actually raining at the start of the trip the roof goes down. Top down in summer is good, but IMO there are few things better than driving with the hood down in winter, especially on a clear night with a bit of jazz on the stereo.

[GeniusOfLove]

^^^ 100% agree with all that. I always run at least one convertible, and if it's not raining when I set off the roof goes down all year round.

Only roof issue or leak in the last two decades has been the rear glass separating on a Jaguar XK, it can be glued back in place but the roof was looking tired so I had a new one fitted.

The modern 3 layer soft tops are very refined with the roof up, if you're getting wind noise it's usually because the side class needs realigning, which happens with frameless fixed top cars too.

[Roger Irrelevant]

Gericho said:

And the next question I suppose is do people really enjoy using a convertible as a family car (not sports cars)? How can you enjoy the car when travelling at speeds say 60mph+ causes too much noise and wind and there's also not enough boot space when the roof down?

Well...yeah...and it is for this exact reason that virtually nobody will use a convertible as their main 'family' car (though I don't doubt there are a few PH heroes who do). I'm hoping to get a convertible in the not too distant future but I'll sure as hell be keeping the XC70 for shifting people and stuff about. It's like saying 'How can you enjoy a motorbike when you need to tow a caravan?'.

[Gericho]

Roger Irrelevant said:

Well...yeah...and it is for this exact reason that virtually nobody will use a convertible as their main 'family' car (though I don't doubt there are a few PH heroes who do). I'm hoping to get a convertible in the not too distant future but I'll sure as hell be keeping the XC70 for shifting people and stuff about. It's like saying 'How can you enjoy a motorbike when you need to tow a caravan?'.

I would understand that for a two-seater convertible. I thought a 4-seater would be a family car because they're not cheap and are pretty large things e.g. Saab 93 or Volvo C70 or Audi A4.

[AmyRichardson]

Well, my sister justified a 6-Series convertible on the basis that she wanted "a tart's car" before the kid's hobbies made something quite that impractical a no-go, but taking a couple of kids along would be a fairly regular need.

Convertibles don't really make sense regardless, so whatever your reason for wanting one, it's as good as anyone else's.

[rottenegg]

I've never even considered a convertible after some local loon decided to attack some soft tops with a stanley knife years ago.

I watch a lot of YouTube car mechanic videos of all brands, and the amount of issues with folding roofs is quite alarming, so they're out as well.

Some convertibles are very nice looking cars, and if I were living in Southern Italy or Croatia, I'd consider it, but in this country, no chance.

[98elise]

Missy Charm said:

Aren't the folding hard-tops notorious for leaking whilst closed? I was thinking about a Focus CC at one point, but was put off by horror stories of water ingress. The contemporaneous VW version was reputedly far worse.

We've owned a CC for about 10 years and it's never leaked.

My old boss had multiple VW Eos with no leaks.

They aren’t all bad.

[rscott]

98elise said:

Missy Charm said:

Aren't the folding hard-tops notorious for leaking whilst closed? I was thinking about a Focus CC at one point, but was put off by horror stories of water ingress. The contemporaneous VW version was reputedly far worse.

We've owned a CC for about 10 years and it's never leaked.

My old boss had multiple VW Eos with no leaks.

They aren’t all bad.

My MX5 is 14 years old and the folding hardtop has never leaked either.

[98elise]

Gericho said:

I don't think there has been a new hard-top 4-seater convertible launched recently. BMW have done away with them altogether on all their models.

So I have a soft-top and I am thinking about selling it because:

1. It is noisy with the roof down but also with the roof up if I reach motorway speeds
2. It is heavy and kills fuel because of it
3. When there's a thunderstorm going on it doesn't feel great having just cloth over your head
4. The roof always has issues - microswitches not working, cover locks malfunctioning. The soft-top is not that reliable.
5. Maintenance of the soft-top fabric requires cleaning and waterproofing which is not a hassle by any means but an unkept roof leads to mould. Also the rear window is prone to falling out due to age/heat.

Of course the noise and wind with the roof down would apply to a hard top convertible as well, but at least the hard top becomes a secure and quiet place to be when you want to travel at speed safely over long distances.

So why have manufacturers ditched the hard-top convertible idea and gone to soft-top?

And the next question I suppose is do people really enjoy using a convertible as a family car (not sports cars)? How can you enjoy the car when travelling at speeds say 60mph+ causes too much noise and wind and there's also not enough boot space when the roof down?

I'm thinking about selling mine because I just don't get it even though I really want to. I've driven barely 500 miles and with the weather as it is I am thinking it was all just hype over nothing - like living in a studio flat in central London.

Edited by Gericho on Friday 28th June 14:39

Edited by Gericho on Friday 28th June 15:45

We use our CC as our main car.

It's fine with the roof down at 60. The boot space is also fine with the roof down, it's just the access that's limited. I have a large toolbox, and a couple of plastic boxes permanently in the boot. They sit under the boot divider when the roof is down. There is space for a couple of carrier bags behind the roof with it down.

This is the divider.



The roof folds into the space above the divider. With the roof down it's still useable, but with restricted access.

Edited by 98elise on Saturday 29th June 15:20

[Mad Maximus]

Big hard tops are crap. Soft tops are lighter and you can make proper 4 seat soft tops. 4 seat hardtops are only 2 + 2 half people.

[mr pg]

We've had soft and hard folding tops. Biggest issue for me is that you lose a lot more space in the boot with a hard top. Our SLK boot was halved with the top down. Would not have another.

[hersh]

Mad Maximus said:

Big hard tops are crap. Soft tops are lighter and you can make proper 4 seat soft tops. 4 seat hardtops are only 2 + 2 half people.

Agreed

[Wheel Turned Out]

Sounds like the best thing for you would be a regular coupe with frameless windows (appreciate that's a narrow list) - when they're all open you have a nice airy space, with some shade, but with none of the convertible 'drawbacks' you've listed.

Folding hardtops, as has been mentioned, are usually just ungainly, heavy, and a bit crap overall.