'tether cords' on top broke/not included in warranty

[BadKat68]

question here for you all... so mine is an '05... but my I bought it in '06 with a brand new top put on that year. (bought it at CarMax and ... due to a mistake of theirs ... long story... they had to put a new top on it) ... anyways ...

thus ... the top is only 4 yrs old. Anyways ... never a problem with the power function to the top at all ... and then ... just this past January ... at the end of it ... the indicator light near the latch started blinking (the one that indicates whether the top is fully closed or not), and my top wouldn't power open at all. When I went to manually override it, I noticed that this small cord/cable within the side of the top had come loose... seemed broken off from somewhere.

...Well ... just finally got to the dealer ... (I have an extended warranty through CarMax since I'm now past my VW warranty.) ... turns out 2 things: one - the overall electrical housing/modual to the electrical 'brain' of the top was out, and so my warranty, thankfully, covered that. BUT ... that cord i saw broken is called a tether cord. There was that one and another one on the other side broken. They are what are responsible in 'guiding' the top up and down... AND it turned out the extended warranty I have from CarMax didn't cover those (nor anything to do with the top) ... though they did cover the electrical aspect of it. Sad point is ... they were $180 each... along with labor... putting it at over $500 to fix. ... I was just wondering if anyone else out there had had this issue... tether cords breaking ... AND - if so - no warranty action to cover it.

[boogety boogety]

I know of no aftermarket warranty that covers a convertible top or its machinations, except for the hydraulics and electronics. So, it's not unusual of them to deny coverage.

And it's the largest moving device in your car, so it does need repairing/replacement of parts once in a while. $500 to fix it... well, after 4 years, that's only about $0.33 per day you've had it. Less than what you've spent per mile operating the car, counting gas, oil, depreciation, tires, etc. I'd say that's more-than-acceptable normal wear and tear, and since it averages to less than an extra mile a day, I wouldn't worry about it...

[BadKat68]

gee, boogety, boogety... that was a better answer than I would get... say... from an actual VW rep. ...

'oh' ... but you left out - in your response - what, actually, YOUR EXPERIENCE WAS WITH WHAT HAPPENED WITH YOUR TOP ... and what "wear and tear" you've experienced with yours since you've had your car ... like... what's actually happened to cause you shell out of pocket to fix it... (whatever dollar amount you had to.)
Did your tether cords, in fact, break too?? ... or has your top had any other similar "wear and tear" that caused you similar out-of-pocket expenses?? (in the 4 years you've had it?) I'd be curious to know?? ... as... one of the main reasons I posted this thread was to try and get a general sense of... what has been fellow drivers' experiences with their tops ... (i.e. ... at what points the top's integral parts/components seem to wear... need a major fix AND - in turn - how much it costed them)

'oh ... and due to VW's extra diagnosis time... (that - again - wasn't covered under warranty) ... it's costing me just over $700 ... not $500 ... (in case you feel the need to do recalculations.) ... because - of course - when I go to write that check this week (in addition to the other bills, expenses this month, etc. ... including the car payment I still have)... I'll be thinking ... well "geeze ... that's not that bad ... that, really, only costed me 48 cents/day for the last 4 years."

[Duffy]

If you are talking about the cord that pulls the headliner taut with top up, that may be do-it-yourself job. It pop rivets on one end to the arm and clips to the headliner on the other end. If just the cord is broken, give it a hard look.

[boogety boogety]

So.. you're ticked off at me... for advising you that a non-original top would not be covered by a used-car-retailer aftermarket warranty for normal wear and tear?

Ooooo-kay then. I never buy used cars, and I never keep a car after the factory warranty (or extended factory warranty) has run out. So my experience would be, "no problems, zero money outlay." I consider any convertible a "toy" car, not meant for our daily use. It sits in the garage on all but the sunniest, prettiest days, or when we're taking a special trip where the 'vert would be more enjoyable than the BMW. In the four years I've had the car, I've had the top up/down, maybe, 100 times... well below the likely lifespan of a power convertible top. I don't know what the projected cycle lifetime is for a VW top, but off the top of my head, 5,000 cycles is probably a reasonable number (say, 6-7 years putting the top down and up once every day).

Sounds like you're angry that you have to pay for a needed repair... that's not going to be covered by anyone. If you can't afford your car, and its various needs for maintenance repairs and replacements, Duffy has the right idea, fix it yourself. Or get yourself a cheaper daily-driver car that you can afford. But don't be shooting a messenger that's just trying to help you see you're waaay off-base trying to get something repaired for free... something that's not going to be covered in aftermarket warranties.

[BadKat68]

boogety ... I know you live in Dallas ... where ... amidst other things... maybe the sun doesn't shine as much as it does here in LA. But... there are PLENTY of people here who have/drive VW beetles as their only/primary cars (without a back up BMW as their main car... nor with the income to have both/2 cars.) I mean , lol, come on ... you honestly don't think there's something that comes across as completely bourgeois
with that viewpoint?

I love my car... but I didn't get it as my little 'toy' car because I could count on it as my 'fun time' to pull it out of the garage for my Sunday spin since I drive my Benz or Beemer the rest of the week, (and I can tell you nor do most of the drivers here in LA feel that way about their Bug either.

Regarding my top, it is, in fact, a VW top (and a new one - not an after-marktet one ... I saw the $4000 plus receipt/price tag when they installed it) - since the first one was defected)... it's the only top that goes on it ... I mean, 'Christ' ... everyone knows you can't even go for an oil change anywhere else but VW.

Does the $700 bum me out? Yeah ... (We've established I'm not in the same class as you ...with my Bug as my 'toy ca' and my alternate BMW that I've leased with included maintanence.) BUT AGAIN ... I was posting this thread to also really try and see what OTHER PEOPLE WHO HAVE CONVERTIBLE BEETLES ... WHAT THEIR EXPERIENCE HAS BEEN WITH THEIR 'WEAR AND TEAR' ON THEIR TOPS... and just to get a sense of if this fell into the range of 'normal'. ('Oh' ... And ... by the way ... I don't think I've come - EVEN CLOSE - to that projected 5000 cycles of the top going up and down.)

The fact that you never buy a car 'used' (by the way, I bought my car one year old with 15k miles on it... there's 'used' and there's USED, ya know) and then you never keep it after it's warranty. Well ... that's great for you that you're able to do that. I ask that you maybe widen your perspective a little bit... and keep in mind (just like we're all not sitting their with the ability to have a main car... the Beemer... and our 'toy' car for the weekend/sunny day spin ... we all don't have the financial flexibility to, at 50k miles, or whenever, ditch the car and get a new one.

'Yes' ... for some of us ... money is an issue. I inderstand your point that these things - such as the top - cost what they cost and wear when they wear... but to tell me that I should have bought this car for a certain kind of use or in a certain kind of COMPARTMENTALIZED WAY ... that's just ridiculous ... because you're looking at it from your lifestyle and VERY PARTICULAR PERSPECTIVE... which ... like I said... if you lived here...you'd see is NOT the norm.

[oceanjoe89]

I've heard lots of stories about peoples headliner cords breaking, and the headliner sagging, but these tether cords you are talking about I'm unfamiliar with...

It's parts like that which make the convertible a gamble to own! When they work, they can be wonderful, but, when they don't, they can be a big pain and a big expense to get working again--especially on a foreign car!

[oceanjoe89]

whoa... a lot can happen when i don't refresh a page...

[noR]

Hey guys, cool the jets lest i cool them for you.

No flame wars on the Org. How about you just wait and let a few other people add some of their personal experiences to the thread or whatnot.

[BadKat68]

fair enough, noR

[connieray]

I own three New Beetles, one of which is a 2004 NBC. The only issue I have had with the car, other than ignition coils (1.8T), is the front windows dropping correctly when you open the door. just a few weeks ago I was looking at the top and it appears to have shrunk somewhat, really tight to the touch and some possible separation of the outside of the top and the back window glass. For the heck of it, I called one of the best upholstery shops in San Antonio, and to replace it slightly over $2,000. I thought that was not such a bad deal. it has been a good car with now 90K on the clock.

[Deserion]

When I had my NBC, I didn't have issues with the tension cables at all. I did notice the shell above the windows starting to get saggy on some '03s and '04s, but even with sitting outside for most of its life, mine never did that.

Sorry that your warranty sucks (in this instance). I looked high and low to find one that would cover the clutch packs in my GTI, didn't really find a good one. From what I've seen, most just won't warranty a 'vert roof. And in the past a GE warranty I had fixed the A/C but not the ignition switch. Go figure.

Check with a local convertible shop, see what they can do for you...