Soft Top Wear

[Lorelias]

My 16 S550 vert has been stuck at a repair shop for 7 weeks and have kept it outside the whole time I have come to learn.
It has been cold and raining a lot lately, should I be concerned with the roof being constantly soaked?

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[Nightmonkey]

That is what it is made for.

 

[Paris MkVI]

My '06 convertible made it about 14 years before the top needed to be replaced, and it was a vinyl top. The cloth tops should prove to be even more durable.

 

[ORRadtech]

should I be concerned with the roof being constantly soaked?

No.

 

[Farkel]

Good stuff -
https://wolfsteins.com/collections/...convertible-top-fabric-cleaner-protectant-kit

 

[KeyLime]

What are they working on that takes 7 weeks to fix?

 

[GrabberBargeCaptain]

Water no problem. Years of UV is what kills soft tops

 

[Lorelias]

What are they working on that takes 7 weeks to fix?

all they were doing was replacing the rear pinion bearing, they are horribly slow and I will never go there again. the only way I know anything is if I call them. 0/5 stars

 

[luca1290]

Water no problem. Years of UV is what kills soft tops

UV kills practically anything at the molecular level.

 

[Skye]

Sorry to read the car is in limbo. Ford and other vendors do have parts issues from time-to-time. While that could be one piece of the puzzle, an unresponsive and uninspiring shop compounds the problem.

One option I can think of is chatting up the local dealer. I realize they'll probably be more expensive, but if you're comfortable with them and they give any confidence to having parts, maybe pay these guys an hour for labor and get out from under them.

Regarding the top, here are some recent threads for cleaning and care:

https://www.mustang6g.com/forums/th...f-be-removed-by-detailer.189429/#post-3804129

https://www.mustang6g.com/forums/threads/fabric-protector-for-fabric-convertible-tops.176683/

Short term, I think the top will be fine. Long-term, guidance and feedback from the threads will help keep the materials at their best.

 

[luca1290]

Long-term, guidance and feedback from the threads should help keep the materials at their best.

.. and shade .

Edit: I've seen so many otherwise beautiful cars ruined by the sun that I'm a little paranoid on that.

 

[ORRadtech]

Long term exposure to the sun/elements degrades lots of things. I'd venture to say most man-made things. On a modern car I'd be far more concerned about the plastic headlights than a fabric top.
In fact, on my '18 garage kept daily driver, the top looks nearly new but both headlights are beginning to look less than crystal clear.
A well kept car should suffer nothing except collecting dirt from sitting outside for a few months.

 

[GrabberBargeCaptain]

Long term exposure to the sun/elements degrades lots of things. I'd venture to say most man-made things. On a modern car I'd be far more concerned about the plastic headlights than a fabric top.
In fact, on my '18 garage kept daily driver, the top looks nearly new but both headlights are beginning to look less than crystal clear.
A well kept car should suffer nothing except collecting dirt from sitting outside for a few months.

Modern headlights are junk-i've seen them go cloudy on garage kept cars in under 3 years. Im not gung ho on people spending thousands of dollars on PPFing their whole car but i definitely recommend PPF on headlights for a hundred bucks or whatever they usually charge.. it really protects them.

And re: soft tops that i forgot to mention, UV obviously not good, but also operating the soft top when its dirty is gonna rub all that dirt against the cloth further wearing it out so you want to keep it clean when you can, and pay attention to what the manual states regarding operating temperatures because you don't want to use it when the temperature gets too cold since it can also permanently damage the fabric.

 

[Torched10]

A trick to keep top in top shape is never put down a dirty top
It'll rub in the dirt I nto the cloth

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