I was told by a dealer (whom I generally trust, but who did not sell me the car) that the hood-retracting mechanism can be a problem.

He said that they are generally reliable, but IF they do break, they can be VERY expensive to fix. For example, he said that if you interfere with the hood stowage space in the trunk (e.g. by putting something on top of the soft protective shield the damage can easily cost up to $20,000 to fix.

This got me worried - mistakes can happen.

Anybody got any comments to this?

 

Did he tell you that if you dump a pound of sugar in the gas tank it will cost a fortune to replace the engine?

Of course, if you do something crazy like load up the roof storage area and then try to store the roof, you could cause some damage to the roof. You are free to not follow directions and cause problems for any expensive technical device.

I've had my SC since the first month it became available, and I've never come close to doing something like that, because the roof storage area in the trunk is clearly delineated, and the protector device has to be in place for the top to retract. There is no reason to ever put anything on top of the divider, as it retracts in one second with no effort.

Nor do I recall any posts here in the past 6 years of this happening. In fact, you will find posts here in which owners remark on the reliability of the complex top mechanism.

Of course, it could go bad, it could break, you could, if you tried, screw it up yourself, but that seems to be very rare. His statement that if it does break, it could (depending on what broke) be expensive to repair is, of course true. (Some roof malfunctions are not expensive to repair.) It is complex and sophisticated, and a major repair would be expensive, but that is a risk every owner of every piece of high-tech hardware takes upon purchase.

The question is what is the record for reliability for that car. Powers puts the SC430 at the top of the list for reliability, and that's always a good place to start, as Powers is a highly respected authority whose conclusion are, as far as I know, based on valid and meaningful surveys.

If that risk of breakage, which cannot be eliminated, causes too much worry for you, buy something less complex or something less expensive to repair.

That dealer is both catastrophizing and generalizing from insufficient data.

 

I was in the same dilemma as yourself, The dealer told me this would cost you a fortune bla bla bla. I took a few days and called a few friends of mine in the auto dismantling business and they all told me that they could source a salvaged sc and get me any part I would need off the top or its mechanical inter-workings for a fraction of what the dealer wanted.


If you are located in la and you happen to need a part you can call me at any time and ill be able to ask around and try to find it for you through the local yards...

 

20K, NO!
As stated above, it would be very difficult at best to make a mistake in this situation. There is a soft cover that needs to be set in it's position before the top will operate anyhow. Placing something on top of this would be very foolish/difficult at best even for the most absent minded days we sometimes have. That is the last thing to worry about.

 

Does anyone know if there is a limit on the number of times the roof should be retracted in a day. It may be a silly question but one that has been asked of me by many of my passengers. I often make several short trips around town and don't really like to leave the top open when I run in a store etc. Thanks

 

Everyone really should stop worrying about the reliability of the top. It is a pretty stout setup and reliable. Yes, there have been some that reported motor replacements-but very rare.
That said, I would say that on average I use the top around 2-7 times a day when I drive the car and have done so since I purchased it. Never an issue.
Just let your friends know that the car is considered the most reliable on the road 2 years running (or is it 3 now).

 

The answer to your question is probably "no," because I don't think anybody knows whether there is a limit or not.

On the other hand, many owners are now over 60,000 miles with no problems (I'm only at 28,000 after over 5 years). It seems to work pretty reliably with minimal attention, although I don't know what the dealer does on routine servicing, if anything.

Also, the top system is made by the same company who supplied the top to the original MB SLK, and a friend of mine got one of those when they first came out. This is his daily driver and he often, weather permitting, puts the top down to drive to work, up to park it, down for the ride home and then back up again. That's about 8 years, I think.

I am amazed at how well the complex thing works without attention and without special upkeep, but the same is true for my knees, which are pretty complicated and which will eventually start making noises and give out, but that does not keep me from using them as much as I want.

I have no reservation about operating the top to show my curious friends (that's what it's for), and I do that at no charge.