Roof hitting the tonneau when opening

Hi-Step'n370Z

Hello Everyone,
The tonneau cover began hitting the bow within two years of purchasing the Z brand new. Because of that, I had the bungee's replaced back in October of 2013, then the Z was stored for the winter.

Because of one reason or another, the top was only operated once during 2014, once in 2015, and once in 2016. Last month I took her in for an Ester Oil change and asked the Tech to try the top, and the tonneau hit very lightly against the driver' side bow. Now we're wondering where to go from here.

The odd thing is that when he tried it a second time, the tonneau did not hit. It was as if the system had to be primed up or something. However, the tonneau should not be hitting regardless of whether it was the first opening or not.

Doesn't seem like we have to open the top multiple times throughout the year to prevent the tonneau from hitting, and if the car is stored for six months over the winter, you're automatically back to square one again.

I do remember the Tech telling me that he had to stretch the bungee's in order to be able to install them. He said Nissan instructed him to do so.

In my way of thinking, stretching them could cause the bungee to be weakened before it's even put to use.

I wanted to run this by the Forum to get some feed-back as the Dealer and I both want to fix the issue to last longer than three operations.

The bungee's were supposedly an upgraded bungee which Nissan made the change in 2012.

Could the Tech have made a mistake by stretching them in order to be able to install them? I'm wondering if he should have adjusted the bow to allow the install, then re-tighten it to proper clearances.

The Dealership and the Tech are great to work with, and are seriously interested in finding out why the new bungee fix didn't last very long. They want me to leave the Z with them and open a repair order on the issue so the Tech can be in direct contact with Nissan and compare notes with them as he makes any tests or measurements to allow Nissan to help guide him in finding the problem and making the proper fix.

Any input would be appreciated.

Thanks.