hjkarten

After 2 weeks of sitting in the shop while awaiting delivery of new bungees and also the plastic door seals, I was informed that the repairs were completed.
The service manager at Nissan Mossy dealer on Claremont Mesa in San Diego told me that one of the other service shops of the San Diego dealership had previously replaced the bungees, but installed them incorrectly.
The top now operates much more smoothly, and the tonneau cover no longer hangs up on the canvas. The bungees pull the roof cleanly forward and the metal cover no longer makes a loud clunking noise when opening and closing. Still not a slick quiet process, but much better.
I did notice that they had cut part of the cloth on both sides, where the bungee attaches. I plan to take it back to further question them about the long term consequences of that. One of the service managers, Manny, seemed particularly knowledgable about the problems with the top. He said that this should deal with the problem. He offered some guidelines to preserve the top:
1) Hand wash the car, never use the automatic machines with the big roller brushes.
2) Best to store the car in a garage whenever possible. Preferable to do that with the top up.
3) Exercise the top (open and close it) at least once a week.
Although he did not suggest a service interval on the bungees, it would be advisable to have them checked on a regular basis - e.g., when doing routine oil changes. Don't hesitate to spend the extra money to replace the bungees when they start to show signs of excess sagging.
He insisted that this should fix the problem and prevent bending and breaking of the 5th bow.
I have 2016 that was purchased a month ago as a pre-certified used can (24,000 miles). The work on the top was done as a warranty repair.
Let's hope this solves the top problem!!!
It is a nice little car, and I hope that it gives me no further problems with the top.
Harvey