Soft Targa Top

jonnymx25 · 01-27-2011, 10:57 AM

Hello fellow Coupe owners. I was wondering if I can get some feedback from anyone that has the solft targa top for their Coupe. It's a bit pricey so I am trying to figure out if it's worth the money:

How hard is it to put on and off?
How durable is it?
how much space does it take up when in the trunk, room for anything else?
Etc...

Thanks,
Jonny
2009 black GXP Coupe #789

LowLife1 · 01-27-2011, 11:39 AM

The 1 to 1:20 second mark gives you an idea of how you set it up.
2009 Pontiac Solstice Coupe - First Drive - Motor Trend Video

Having two people to remove the hard top is nice but can be done alone if you're somewhat agile. Installing the soft top is easy because it's lighter, assembling it is somewhat difficult but is one of those things where the more you do it the easier it becomes. It looks to be of the same vinly as the vert soft top, and takes up a little more room than a standard sleeping bag and leaves enough room for small overnight bags or a few bags of groceries. Seems expensive for what it is and mine creeks when it's installed but you just have to focus on that's it better than nothing.

jonnymx25 · 01-27-2011, 11:41 AM

Awesome feedback, thanks LowLife1!. I have had my Coupe for 3 months and can do the hardtop alone but agree it's a pain to do without help.

LiquidPT · 01-27-2011, 11:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LowLife1

The 1 to 1:20 second mark gives you an idea of how you set it up.
2009 Pontiac Solstice Coupe - First Drive - Motor Trend Video

Having two people to remove the hard top is nice but can be done alone if you're somewhat agile. Installing the soft top is easy because it's lighter, assembling it is somewhat difficult but is one of those things where the more you do it the easier it becomes. It looks to be of the same vinly as the vert soft top, and takes up a little more room than a standard sleeping bag and leaves enough room for small overnight bags or a few bags of groceries. Seems expensive for what it is and mine creeks when it's installed but you just have to focus on that's it better than nothing.

I pretty much agree with all this.

vzzp0c · 01-27-2011, 08:55 PM

Guven that you cant bring your hard top with you.....you dont have the joy of a real convertible.

The soft top is no perfect but it it doing the job just find. With that roof ou can at leas travel long distance as a convertible carrying it like a convertibe.

Last summer I travel with my soft top in the hatch with two carry on lugggage my soft golf bag with my drivers behind the seat!!!!!

try to do it with a normal convertible

GM dont manufactured it any more and ther is not a lot

again

IF YOU FOUND ONE"""""""TAKE IT

2010Kinetic · 01-27-2011, 09:48 PM

I need to get ahold of one but running around 1K each its hard to come by especially after just purchasing my ride.

I REALLY Want one though. I'm thinking about selling stuff at home so I can have it for the summer

LowLife1 · 01-28-2011, 07:27 AM

Picked mine up from Crate Engine Depot
Solstice Removable Soft Top 19171149 - Crate Engine Depot

Just called them, customer is picking one up this morning and they have another left in their warehouse. If you buy make sure you immediately inspect, a few forum members had quality issues. One even had JPM (forum sponser) recover it a matching exterior sailcloth, it looks really sharp.

risdo · 03-31-2011, 01:30 PM

I've had my Coupe for almost two years, and I've taken the top out exactly... once. Yep, once: the day I bought it.

Of course, I almost never put the top down on my '06 convertible, either... I'm a motorcycle guy. I get all the sun I can stand on my H-D. (much to the chagrin of my dermatologist)

SpyderMon · 04-04-2011, 07:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by risdo

I've had my Coupe for almost two years, and I've taken the top out exactly... once. Yep, once: the day I bought it.

Of course, I almost never put the top down on my '06 convertible, either... I'm a motorcycle guy. I get all the sun I can stand on my H-D. (much to the chagrin of my dermatologist)

I am the exact opposite, once the warm weather comes the targa top comes off and pretty much stays off. Then again I dont own a bike.

After being caught in a rain storm and hiding out in a self service car wash waiting for the storm to pass, I broke down and bought one from Crate Engine Depot. I figured in a few years I can probably sell it for more than I paid for it.

GPSOLcoupe#26 · 04-04-2011, 08:45 PM

We LOVE our soft top. It was a soaker saver several times for us last summer in Colorado when afternoon rain started blowing in.

risdo · 04-05-2011, 06:21 AM

Here's proof, I took it out once... July 1, 2009... the day I brought it home.

But seriously, I've never been a ragtop man. I've always loved coupes... I bought my previous '06 Sol not because it was a convertible, but because I loved the rest of the car so much that I bought it in spite of the top.

The fact that the top comes off is incidental. It's a coupe! It is funny, though, when people look at the car, and they say, Hey! The top comes off?!? I say, yeah, man, how d'ya like my Poor Man's Porsche?

wspohn · 04-05-2011, 07:41 AM

I wish that the top didn't come off at all, but then I like coupes too. I've never had mine off, but may in order to check a rattle problem. Then I suppose I'll have to look at the rusting screws (apparently they specced non-stainless screws in the trim) and would have to have them replaced under warranty and....see why it's easier to leave it on?

risdo · 04-05-2011, 07:56 AM

It looks better with the top on anyway... the lines are gorgeous.

But like I said, I get way too much sun on my motorcycle. When I'm in the car, I want that roof over my head...

My '06 Sol was not my first convertible, by the way. A '67 Mustang convertible carried me through five years of college, including two years in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The top was so raggedy that, if it snowed overnight, there would be a little pile of snow on the driver's seat... Once, I put the top down in 25 degree weather and the plastic back window exploded... Hey, we figured, people were riding snowmobiles, why not a convertible? (yeah, I was a dumb Southerner...)

But the whole time I was driving that car I lusted after a Trans Am... a coupe, of course. Finally got one after graduation. (no, I did not have a mullet...) Later I had a Firebird Formula for a decade. In my mind, my '09 Coupe is the spiritual successor to those old Firebirds.

Weird? Yes. But I'm happy.

Cortez · 04-06-2011, 11:13 AM

My 2-cents...

I'm not the biggest fan of going "topless" either, but just remember this part (soft top) is considered an accessory. GM can cancel this part at any moment. When it's gone that's it... no more!

If the coupe was a bigger seller (higher volumes) you might see an aftermarket accessory company step-up and make a soft-top, but that's not the case here.

Do I think the soft-top is overpriced? (Yes).
Do I use the soft top all that much? (No).
Am I glad I got it? (Yeah...I guess so).

BTW: All-time total sales on this soft top is 517 units. I guess that means there are another 500+ folks that didn't get the top?

Cortez
Coupe #169

coupe_gxp · 04-12-2011, 07:22 PM

I love my soft-top, It can be a real pain sometimes but I wouldn't want it sitting outside all day at work with the top off. Also I was always afraid it was going to rain or something when I was a 1-2hrs away from the hard top.