Hard top pros and cons-should I or should I not sell mine?

[Electro]

When your HT is lighter than a ST setup, there is no comparison. Eezy Peezy Lemon Squeezy. Plus they are substantially cooler when sitting in grid. I don't want to mess my hair up. :)

[Rob®]

I have no use for a soft-top really. It's either nice enough to drop the top and park in a secure parking lot, or put the HT on.

Agreed

Serious question about that: So you don't ever drive your Miata to the mall, grocery store, Walmart, overnight/weekend trips, etc? I've been back and forth on removing my soft top once it falls apart now that I'm not in Florida anymore, but the parking and cross-country driving things are my sticking points. Wifey and I take it to the mall and other places where it's out of sight in not very secure places for hours at a time. Obviously since it's a convertible it's never really "secure", but having a top is better than completely open IMHO.

We like taking day/weekend trips in the car, and obviously need to park at a hotel overnight at times. Having a hardtop would defeat the purpose of having a convertible on those trips...most were just because I have the car: we wouldn't have gone in her car or the truck. There'd be no place to store the hardtop on those trips. Is there a simple solution to this that you know of that I'm overlooking? (besides one of those cockpit cover things)

EDIT: Before anyone says it's off topic, I think it's right in line with the topic of pros/cons of hardtop.

[POS Racing]

^^ Is it just me or does that last post seem off topic??

[goofygrin]

Maybe I was just lucky, but if I had the top down on the Miata (meaning it wasn't raining or insanely hot and I had my kid with me), I never put it up when I parked.

[CosmosMpower]

If you're ken o you can't fit in the car with a hardtop....oh wait you can't with a soft top either :)

[sammm]

Part (a BIG part IMHO) of owning a Miata is the drop top....why don't you HT lovers buy a nice Buick!

[Rob®]

Part (a BIG part IMHO) of owning a Miata is the drop top....why don't you HT lovers buy a nice Buick!

This. I initially bought mine thinking it would be a track-only car. Then I realized how much fun it was to drive on the street, largely because of the convertible (and I came from a 300zx with t-tops). I don't think I'll ever not own a convertible again, all because of the Miata...I even bought a Wrangler when I needed a truck in NY because of the convertible thing. Which I didn't have a hardtop for either, and that was my daily driver in Syracuse, even in the -20° winters...which I could have done without.

[Rob®]

Maybe I was just lucky, but if I had the top down on the Miata (meaning it wasn't raining or insanely hot and I had my kid with me), I never put it up when I parked.

Oh, same here, don't get me wrong. I would usually park at grocery stores and places with the top down. If I was going to a mall, I'd usually just put the top up unlatched. Just parking overnight somewhere without a top at all, intentionally, seems like playing with fire to me. BUT...I grew up in NJ/NYC area, so I'm not used to not having to worry every second of the day.

And again, I'm seriously asking how you guys with no soft top at all deal with this..guess I just need to commit.

[Electro]

Part (a BIG part IMHO) of owning a Miata is the drop top....why don't you HT lovers buy a nice Buick!

Hmmm... 3.8 L at only 167 HP and FWD for the Reatta, no thanks.

[POS Racing]

And again, I'm seriously asking how you guys with no soft top at all deal with this..guess I just need to get my car running.

Fixed it for ya!

Hmmm... 3.8 L at only 167 HP and FWD for the Reatta, no thanks.

Excuse me Grandpa what was a Buick Reatta?

[SirHustlerEsq]

Serious question about that: So you don't ever drive your Miata to the mall, grocery store, Walmart, overnight/weekend trips, etc? I've been back and forth on removing my soft top once it falls apart now that I'm not in Florida anymore, but the parking and cross-country driving things are my sticking points. Wifey and I take it to the mall and other places where it's out of sight in not very secure places for hours at a time. Obviously since it's a convertible it's never really "secure", but having a top is better than completely open IMHO.

We like taking day/weekend trips in the car, and obviously need to park at a hotel overnight at times. Having a hardtop would defeat the purpose of having a convertible on those trips...most were just because I have the car: we wouldn't have gone in her car or the truck. There'd be no place to store the hardtop on those trips. Is there a simple solution to this that you know of that I'm overlooking? (besides one of those cockpit cover things)

EDIT: Before anyone says it's off topic, I think it's right in line with the topic of pros/cons of hardtop.

I avoid long drives with the top town like the plague, it beats me up too much. When I run errands I take the V1 with me so there isn't much of anything to steal. On road trips, we take the HT for the highway, if I cruise for a day I'd leave the HT in the hotel room.

[Electro]

Excuse me Grandpa what was a Buick Reatta?

An overpriced 2-seater that boasted a $30,000 price tag; in hopes of entertaining ENTHUSIASTS with a "non-sporty Luxury" car to compete with the Corvette in sales. They made very low numbers and sold prolly just as little of them. :)

Edit: That was back in 19 of 89 thru 19 of 91.

[Rob®]

Fixed it for ya!

LMAO. It runs, ass. There's nothing from the turbo in either direction, but it runs.

[Rob®]

On road trips, we take the HT for the highway, if I cruise for a day I'd leave the HT in the hotel room.

Well, yeah. But that only works if you're going back to the hotel before you start coming home, which usually is not the case for us. Guess I'll just think about this more when my top needs to be replaced or removed. Thanks for the input.

[altiain]

Maybe I was just lucky, but if I had the top down on the Miata (meaning it wasn't raining or insanely hot and I had my kid with me), I never put it up when I parked.

See, I'm the exact opposite. I drive into work almost every morning with the top down, but I don't have covered parking at work so I put the top up during the day - not for security as much as to keep the surface temp down on the black leather seats.

To me, having a convertible with only a hard top that can't be stowed (like an S2000 CR) defeats the purpose of having a convertible, because I can't put the top down whenever I want to. But I tend to put the top up/down several times a day. Case in point - I dropped the top when I drove home for lunch this afternoon, but decided about 2/3rds of the way home that it was a little hot, so I put the top up at a light.

That said, I'd love to have a hard top to leave on the car all day long, but only for July-August. And I wouldn't remove my soft top.

[GregW]

Serious question about that: So you don't ever drive your Miata to the mall, grocery store, Walmart, overnight/weekend trips, etc? I've been back and forth on removing my soft top once it falls apart now that I'm not in Florida anymore, but the parking and cross-country driving things are my sticking points. Wifey and I take it to the mall and other places where it's out of sight in not very secure places for hours at a time. Obviously since it's a convertible it's never really "secure", but having a top is better than completely open IMHO.

We like taking day/weekend trips in the car, and obviously need to park at a hotel overnight at times. Having a hardtop would defeat the purpose of having a convertible on those trips...most were just because I have the car: we wouldn't have gone in her car or the truck. There'd be no place to store the hardtop on those trips. Is there a simple solution to this that you know of that I'm overlooking? (besides one of those cockpit cover things)

EDIT: Before anyone says it's off topic, I think it's right in line with the topic of pros/cons of hardtop.

I still have my soft top but I rarely use it. My soft top has small water leaks and larger wind leaks. I don't like birds pooping on my seats and the occasional rain it's nice to have. At a store I put it up if I'm out of sight. But it's RARE I take off the hard top.

Part (a BIG part IMHO) of owning a Miata is the drop top....why don't you HT lovers buy a nice Buick!

I was really debating getting a park ave to autocross, but I hear that the brakes aren't as good as the miata, so I got the miata instead.

This. I initially bought mine thinking it would be a track-only car. Then I realized how much fun it was to drive on the street, largely because of the convertible (and I came from a 300zx with t-tops). I don't think I'll ever not own a convertible again, all because of the Miata...I even bought a Wrangler when I needed a truck in NY because of the convertible thing. Which I didn't have a hardtop for either, and that was my daily driver in Syracuse, even in the -20° winters...which I could have done without.

Yeah I got mine as a "race car" but realized it's so much fun I drive it daily now. After driving with the hard top I can't stand the wind noise of the soft top on my drive to and from work.

I avoid long drives with the top town like the plague, it beats me up too much. When I run errands I take the V1 with me so there isn't much of anything to steal. On road trips, we take the HT for the highway, if I cruise for a day I'd leave the HT in the hotel room.

I would buy another sportbike if I wanted to get beat up on the highway.

[SirHustlerEsq]

I would buy another sportbike if I wanted to get beat up on the highway.

Backpage in the Observer can discipline you much cheaper than the price of a sportbike.

[GregW]

Fine. I just took mine off ad it's in the garage. I'll give topless another try tomorrow.

[bnordin]

I use mine about three months out of twelve. It came with the car in 89 and love having it in the Winter. If you have no use for it and could use the money, sell it.