As a business owner myself, I know how important it is to celebrate when companies go above and beyond .

I purchased the SmartTop Module (from mods4cars.com) when I got my new to me 997.2. I was simple to install and it worked great...worth every penny.

Last week I started to have a problem and reached out to them via their support site. I got a response back with in 10 minutes. After some back and forth Stefan (the inventor and owner) sent me a new wiring harness in the mail. Unfortunately it still didn't work. He then told me that he was going to be in Los Angeles (where I live) the following week and he will come over.

Stefan was so committed to his product and so committed to figure out what was happening he really did come to my house, hooked it up to his computer and went through everything.

It turned out that it was MY USER ERROR!! and it's working totally fine now. But given this level of support and service I had to write and support this product and this business.

Jason

 

I purchased a smarttop unit for my 997.1 cabrio when they were first available. The part worked great until it failed catastrophically a week later. With the top down at a gas stop, the lights started flashing, the horn blowing & the top wouldn't go up. Luckily, my regular mechanic was nearby & I was able to ge the car to him. The battery had to be disconnected to prevent the overheated wiring from burning up. Smarttop unit removed, top manually erected & car brought to dealer for top reset. Lost 4 days use of car, cost for installation & removal, 2 way shipping & incidental taxicab fare. Out of pocket hundreds of dollars. Thankfully, no permanent damage. Never, ever one word of apology from this company for this aftermarket product fiasco. Do business with them at your own risk.

 

MichaelL I was really considering getting this. Now I don't know. I never mind spending the money if the customer service is there because things do go wrong at times. Did you install this yourself? I don't need another $400 paper weight. Thanks for the heads up.

 

My third smart top was installed on the 991 - nothing but great things to say about it.

Sent from my iPhone using 6SpeedOnline

 

Hope you compensated him for his time and gas.

 

@MichaelL

I shocked to hear about that experience because it was honestly the total opposite of what I experienced. I can't imagine that if you contacted mods4cars they would not have responded. My responses were almost immediate.

I have had my module for almost a year and it has been flawless (other then my stupid user error).

I know that the model got totally redesigned and the new one has a USB port and new wire harness.

Anyway sorry to hear that happened.

 

I recently traded in my cab and have a smartTop for sale. PM me if anyone is interested. Its as good as brand new, never had any problems with it. Takes 15 minutes to install. After I took it out I drove the car for about a week without it. I couldn't believe how much I missed it. Its a shame that those features are not stock on a porsche.

 

I can't speak to what this company is doing now. My experience was with them several years ago & when the product was first introduced. I was lucky to get out of it without the car having an electrical fire. The installation and removal was done by a high end shop. My negative experience with them cost me several hundred dollars and great inconvinience at the time. It could have been much worse and legal action to compensate for damage their defective product caused may have been ineffective, due to one-sided purchase agreements.

What I find objectionable is that there was never, ever a single word of apology for the problems that their defective product caused me. They even send me advertising to purchase new products from them from time to time.

The mark of a good company is what they do when something goes wrong. This company clearly failed to address their product failure with proper customer service.

 

I really like my SmartTop so far. It's been about 4 months, so I can't speak to long term reliability of it. It was quite easy to program and install, and really adds some very useful features.

 

If they make a module for your car and it works fine then its all great.
Sounds like if it fails you may have issues.

They still have not, and I suspect will never, make the small modifications to the SmartTop to allow it to controll the Targa top just as it does the Cabriolet top. Thats the main downside for me.

No Targa roof support and all I get is the chirp when locking (the rest of the features listed I already have from the factory for my car or are not needed on a 997.2) = not worth $400

 

installed SmarTop when i first got my cab.. and cannot imagine my cab without it now.

Very convenient.. and no problem what-so-ever (knock on wood )

the installation was straight forward.. relatively an easy DIY.

i am pleasantly surprised by the over-the-top customer care for the OP jsimon77 (he must be personable and persuasive ).. and little disappointed with the lack of customer support for MichaelL in the past.


I hope the inventor and owner of SmarTop now realizes that he has set a high standard for after-sale service.. and better live up to that expectation from now on

 

Don't mean to hijack, but it's somewhat related. I had activated the door open/close chirps, but found them way too loud and annoying. Where do the chirps come from? If from the SmartTop Module itself, then I wonder if they'll be less loud if I wrap the module in something....?

Is anyone else annoyed with the tone/volume of the chirps?

 

I am seriously considering installing SMARTTOP on my 2011 CAB, I need the "CHIRP" I am tried of always having to do the door handle test.

Where is the best place to purchase SMARTTOP on line?

Any known discount codes for forum or PCA members?

 

The tone/volume of the chirp are a bit annoying. You do also have the option of the horn sounding, but I don't think that's much better, although I haven't tried it.

I think the prices are pretty much the same regardless of where you buy it, +/- a couple of dollars. I don't think anyone offers a PCA discount, but I could be wrong. I bought mine from BumperPlugs.