MAJOR Convertible Top Problem

[MrMikeL]

Follow-up

I stopped by the upholstery shop on the way home form work. I was worried about my baby! Well, the shop owner found the problem! The tension cable was not broken, but had pulled loose from it's anchor. The reason it did so is that it is a plastic-coated cable, and the anchor "thingy" was crimped over the plastic coating and the wire instead of the plastic coating having been removed first before the anchor being crimped onto it. He should have it all back together by tomorrow.

Total labor is extimated at $400, which is just 1/10 the cost of a new top, which is what Toyota wanted to do.

More tomorrow when I get my baby back!

[MrMikeL]

EPILOGUE

Got a call from my buddy at the upholstery shop this morning: "Your Solara is ready to roll". As a reminder, Toyota was willing to spend $4,000 to REPLACE the top because their upholstery shop didn't want to attempt a REPAIR.

Check your drop tops! If you experience sudden onset of wind noise from either side, if you can feel the tension cable when the top is up, if you can easily stick your hand under the canvas, you have a problem with your top. Find an upholstery shop that is willing to attempt a repair, don't let anyone talk you into a new top.

If you have questions about the repair, I will provide the name and number of the shop that repaired my convertible.

[michaels artic frost]

Glad to hear you got that problem fixed.

[clarkman]

There is a service part for the cable alone. The dealer should not replace the entire top. The cable is the source of the lose of tension. Tell your dealer to call the TAS line for this issue if they do not believe you.

[MrMikeL]

This is interesting, since 2 separate dealerships both claimed there was no cable replacement part available.

Anyway, the cable wasn't broken, just detached from it's mooring because they crimped over the plastic coating instead of over the bare metal end of the cable.

But all info regarding drop top problems is useful, thanks!

[clarkman]

The problem is that the cable crimp was over the plastic for the cable to end cap connection. 10 minute fix of cable replacement if you know what you are doing. I predict a TSB is coming.

[MrMikeL]

10 minutes once you get the top apart! It was a $400 repair at my upholstery shop. The problem was that their upholstery shop was too lazy to attempt a repair. That, or they wanted the money that a full replacement would have generated for their shop.

Say, don't you think Toyota owes me some free service or something? I mean I saved them $4,000.

[Lone Solara]

MrMikeL, are you still planning on posting those pics ?

[bob015]

My top was lose and had a lot of wind noise so I took it to the dealer and they sent it to a top place in Clearwater, Fl. about 40 miles from here. I got the car back in 2 days and it's real tight now. They said the cables were stretched so they had Toyota over night new cables. They also gave me a loaner car to use. I'm impressed

[MrMikeL]

Interesting. Two dealerships here said that no cables exist in their parts list. And as it turned out, I didn't need the cable replaced, merely re-secured.

[MrMikeL]

CHAPTER 5

Sorry for reviving this old post. If you recall, shortly after getting my car, I suddenly experienced significant wind noise on the driver side with the top up and the windows up. Dislodged tension cable was the culprit. Got it fixed, no problem.

Driving along a couple of weeks ago, and suddenly experienced significant wind noise on the PASSENGER side! Same problem, different side.

Took it to the same dealer, explained the problem, told them I wanted my guy to fix it. Absolutely no problems with the dealership, and I had a free loaner for the day. And the repair was done the same day! Last time it took 2 days to repair. I called the upholstery shop, and he said he's repaired several Solaras since I brought mine in last summer, so he has it down to a science.

So, have any other convertible owners experienced this problem? Have you gotten it fixed successfully?

[SPF 0]

You know, I turned down the 70K extended warranty from Toyota. I may now reconsider it.

[Lone Solara]

I had it fixed on my 2004. My 2006 has nad no such problems thus far. If I remember correctly, the TSB required the change of both cables at the same time, not just the offending side (either that or the fixing kit was coming with cables for both sides). I'll guess they had manufacturing defect in the beginning.

[MrMikeL]

Yeah, I think the TSB came out after the first side was repaired.