Board logo

How reliable are folding hardtops?
morcus - 27/12/13 at 02:36 PM

I'm hoping to replace my car in the coming month or so because mine is pretty much dead and not worth fixing. I was looking at getting a Focus or an Astra or something simillar for about £4000 (Between about 5 and 8 years old) and noticed in my budget a few 307's and megane convertibles of the same sort of age and milage. I miss having a convertible but the whole purpose of the exercise is to get something cheapish to ruin and keep running I'm a bit worried about how complicated the roofs are and also curious about what they're like to live with.

Ben_Copeland - 27/12/13 at 02:55 PM

As always any French with large amount of electronic gizmos is going to be a nightmare when it goes wrong.

We have the 206cc hard top convertible and it's been ok I wouldn't touch the 307cc it's just a money pit waiting to happen. The Renault is the worse for reliability.

The ford and Vauxhall are good but with anything if and when it goes wrong it'll be expensive.

[Edited on 27/12/13 by Ben_Copeland]

sdh2903 - 27/12/13 at 03:20 PM

A work colleague has the Megane with a 1.5 dci engine. He does 30k a year and has had his for 2 years and all it's needed are 2 front wishbones, it does 50+mpg too. He loves it.

britishtrident - 27/12/13 at 03:56 PM

At auctions trade buyers give them wide berth, the risk of major repair costs ratio frightens them off.

Rek - 27/12/13 at 03:57 PM

A friend has an 07 focus cc. When you open the door the window drops a little and then is supposed to wind back up once the door closes again. On the drivers side (I guess as it gets used more) this doesn't always happen any more. taking it all to bits and back together again sorts it for a few weeks but the only way to be sure is to replace the unit (expensive) or keep getting in and out the passenger side :-)

Apparently a common fault

britishtrident - 27/12/13 at 04:03 PM

quote:
Originally posted by sdh2903
A work colleague has the Megane with a 1.5 dci engine. He does 30k a year and has had his for 2 years and all it's needed are 2 front wishbones, it does 50+mpg too. He loves it.


If he gets more than one MOT without replacing Renault (or Nissan) front wishbones he has won a watch.

[Edited on 27/12/13 by britishtrident]

Slimy38 - 27/12/13 at 05:47 PM

The one thing I have noticed with folding hard tops is the actual 'converted' bit isn't as big as a standard soft top. In some cases, it seems the top of the windscreen actually ends above the driver, so the 'convertible' effect isn't as pronounced. Compare that to an MX5 and the windscreen is quite short and upright.

Isn't there a Focus convertible? Although they're a bit newer, 06 I think?

madteg - 27/12/13 at 07:05 PM

I towed my bosses astra into a vauxhall dealer with roof half open, when we arrived there was another one with roof half open. Found out there ia a problem with the loom. Cost 1550 pounds to put right.

scimjim - 27/12/13 at 08:08 PM

saw a focus cc the other day for the first time and thought the back end looked terrible

apparently the roof is fitted in Italy and has caused loads of problems with sealing and reliability? didn't they stop making it after 4 or 5 years?

prawnabie - 27/12/13 at 08:19 PM

There aren't many coupe cabs that the manufacturer will warrant as totally waterproof. 90% of them leak, just how severe is another matter.

bowood14 - 27/12/13 at 08:39 PM

My wife has had a Megane and now has an EOS, the Megane leaked if parked the wrong way on the drive. The EOS has never leaked and has been reliable but for the money you want to spend you won't find a nice one.

big-vee-twin - 27/12/13 at 08:40 PM

Had a 206cc from new for ten years now, never had a problem, still has original exhaust, top doesn't leak and the car seems soildly built, never failed an mot.

morcus - 27/12/13 at 09:43 PM

Probably not worth the hassel then I need an auto and for the money that means french, a vw is way out of budget. Theres not really any soft tops that fit my requirements short of up sizing to a saab.

Looks like a boring silver 5 door hatch back.

ChrisW - 27/12/13 at 11:37 PM

quote:
Originally posted by madteg
I towed my bosses astra into a vauxhall dealer with roof half open, when we arrived there was another one with roof half open. Found out there ia a problem with the loom. Cost 1550 pounds to put right.


My Mrs had an Astra twin top from new. Quite possibly one of the most horrible cars I've ever driven - she bought it just a month or two before we met so I had no say in that decision. It was rattly, the roof gave no end of problems, we had a failed VVT cam actuator which Vauxhall replaced under warranty, and the steering and brakes so power-assisted they give absolutely zero feedback to the driver.

As Madteg says hers too also jammed with the room half down and had to be taken to a dealer for a replacement loom. After a lot of complaining I managed to get Vauxhall to replace it free of charge but it wasn't easy. I did a lot of quoting from the sale of goods act (not 'fit for purpose', product must 'last a reasonable length of time', etc) and threats of taking them to court before they eventually agreed to fix it. It helps that they revised the part at some point down the line so it's clear they know it's a design defect.

If you must get one, whatever you do avoid the 1.6 as it was a gutless POS. I'm told the 1.8's are a lot better. Make sure the boot loom has been replaced if it's prior to the revision (I can't remember what year I'm afraid).

We sold hers last Autumn. Well, I say sold, we would have struggled to give it away, and it was a very tidy car with full main dealer history, below average mileage, one lady owner, etc.

Chris

morcus - 28/12/13 at 12:42 AM

I'd not have a 1.6 astra of that generation simply because I really don't want a car with a computor controlled semi autobox outside of a warranttee, the 1.8 had a propper auto box.

I had a look for soft top convertibles but for budget theres not really much about without either going for older, much higher milages or smaller, or a combination of those factors.

ChrisW - 28/12/13 at 10:28 AM

quote:
Originally posted by morcus
I'd not have a 1.6 astra of that generation simply because I really don't want a car with a computor controlled semi autobox outside of a warranttee, the 1.8 had a propper auto box.


Can't comment on the auto, the one we had was a manual. I doubt the choice of gearbox affects the problems we had to be honest!

Chris

Pat_T - 28/12/13 at 11:14 AM

my fiance has a 2007 Mitsubishi Colt Cabriolet, folding hardtop. It has a 1.5 turbo petrol engine and so far I've been quite impressed whenever I've driven it!

Only 30k on the clock so I wouldn't be expecting any problems let, but it doesn't leak at all and the bootspace is very good with the roof up (we can get her road bike in it) and there's still enough room in the boot for a big food shop with the roof down. Heated seats and aircon as standard.

Think she's averaging 35mpg in it. I would recommend it if you're looking for something along those lines.


edit - to add pic - ours is black, but i like this orange:


[Edited on 28/12/13 by Pat_T]

thefreak - 29/12/13 at 11:01 AM

A Mk3 MX5 falls into that price bracket. The 05-06 ones start around £4k now.
Jap reliability/build quality and some RWD fun with the roof down