A properly cared for top should not need replacing that frequently. Its a cloth and not vinyl top (which tends to wear faster especially due to UV and other exposure).
That said, I do agree with the poster that a roadster that sits outside all the time is going to wear faster. Bit hard to quantify of course, but it will happen.
I am a roadster fan (having driven a roadster for the past 12 years, now year 1 into our ZR). The Z's top is complicated, and when it does require replacing (I would estimate 8-10 years of normal wear and good care) it won't be inexpensive. My previous car is 20+ years old, and only on its second top. It spent a mixture of its life in/out of garage depending where it lived.
Follow the Roadster forum and a few top issues have occurred as well. Teething pains I would hope as the engineers dial in a few wear buffers in the design. Ours suffers wear spots in two places and we should be getting a warranty replacement later this year which is good on one hand but not so great on the other: I don't really like the idea of replacing a complicated top so early in its life.
- b
|