Found a hard top on craigslist, matching color and will take 450.00.
My question's are

1 -- will any year hard top fit my 05 ??
2 -- Is it worth it or a waste since I won't be doing much winter driving?

Thanks guys from the newbie!

 

Do you have room to store it? I thought about this, but the soft top will fair better if it is up all the time as opposed to folded down for long periods.

I am also curious about other opinions.

 

I was thinking about buying one but found that most people who had it don't use it (including Boxster owners). I don't want to have another big item in my garage collecting dust.

 

Whatever you do, make sure you store it yourself. I worked at a dealer when I was in high school that did their clients a "service" by storing hardtops from MB 500SL roadsters in the early 90s. To clarify, service = have a guy who makes $5/hour (the full-time guys who didn't care, not me) go stick your hardtop in a container along with 30 other tops. When fall came around, half of the tops were scratched, and some simply went missing. Others were put on cars with different color interiors, and somehow they were also left over with a black top for a red car, which they proceeded to paint to match. Just a heads up.

 

I too am a newbie and had that same question. I posed it to my service manager. The screws maybe the only issue that hold the hardtop down behind the rear seats. The screw threads may be slightly different. I don't think the hardtop for a 996 differed from a 997 top since he said I could buy a new 997 hardtop for my 996 if I wanted. The screws could easily be swapped out for about $100 (mind you, only two screws and nuts). It needs an initial adjustment (or so they say) and then it won't need it again.

My coworker has a cab and has the hard top. In his words, he had to put the hard top on twice since he's had the car, once to take it home from the dealer and the second time, when he moved to our state. Garage space waster in his words.

I have a craigslist offer for 750 that included the hardtop carrier on wheels. I passed on it. I won't be driving in the winter. Instead I'm looking into a kickbutt laser jammer and radar detector for the money to install in the Spring.

 

If anyone has a black one near the state of Iowa to sell, let me know. I'd like to have one. I drive my car year around, so a hardtop would be nice.

 

to be honest, I can't imagine taking it on and off, storing it, etc...The soft top is quite adequate for year round driving....I don't see what the hardtop would provide as an advantage...unless you are talking track. Waste of money IMO.

 

I am a newbie as well but was am looking to add this. I have the storage so just need to find midnight blue.

This is my second convertible (1st P-Car) and I use it as a daily driver. My BMW top lasted the entire 11 years I owned it but was in rough shape the last few and should have been replaced. I think that top had tougher fabric than this one. With prices in the $400-700 range and winter driving in the Northeast, I think it will preserve my soft top and iw worththe modest investment. I woudl nto have spent $4k on it - woudl rather just replace the soft top when the time came.

Other threads on this site discuss installation and the fact that the car is much quieter so I'm hoping to own a coupe (sans sunroof - too bad) for the winter and a ragtop for the other three seasons.