Buying a Cabriolet Questions About Reliability

[Kenrevo]

My dad is interested in getting a B7 s4 cabriolet but is concerned about the roof. He's the type of person to buy a car and keep it for 8 to 10 years and doesn't want to have a problem with the roof. Does anyone know if there are any problems with the roof? I did a couple searched but could find anything. Also are there any other problems specific with the Cabrio? We both have b5 a4 and know them well but not much about the b7.

Thanks for any help.

[auxnbus]

I haven't heard of many issues with the roof, and have experienced none myself. However the one issue I have heard of is the rear glass separating which can be a bit of a pain. There is a post in the Cabriolet Only section here.

[auxnbus]

One thing that's related to the roof - the 'roof-box' that raises and lowers for trunk space can break. Mine broke and I haven't taken the time to fix it - but as I understand it, the issue is that a cable comes loose.
This SHOULDN'T affect roof operation, but can be a pain, because you have to manually prop the platform up to increase your trunk space.

[R&Cs4]

The only problem I've seen come up repeatedly is the glass separating from the top. It happened to me, and I used gorilla glue to reattach it and it hasn't come apart again.

[308slegs]

I have a Cab too. Love it to pieces! (I shouldn't say pieces should I????) Anyway, when I took delivery from the truck that dropped it off, I was on a somewhat incline and I put the top down. Then it wouldn't go up again. I found out through friends of a friend that knows a guy who dated a girl who had one, that "the car has to be on level ground or the potentiometer won't operate properly." Not sure if that has an ounce of truth to it, but I bought a new potentiometer and install it. It works fine. The replacement part was like $100, and my old one is probably still good. Long story short, I think they are reliable if you know how to avoid the finicky rules.

On a somewhat similar note, I read that you can put the top down or up while driving as long as you are going less than 20mph. I have never tried for the sheer fear of it resulting in the Paul Walker trick in the first Fast and Furious.

[auxnbus]

On a somewhat similar note, I read that you can put the top down or up while driving as long as you are going less than 20mph. I have never tried for the sheer fear of it resulting in the Paul Walker trick in the first Fast and Furious.

It's more like 2mph. I can only be moving at a crawl (or at a stop) in order for my top to function. That said, you can purchase a new module from Kufatec that allows you to open the top while moving, as well as one-touch operation, and remote operation. It is on my list of mods for this summer.

[SprintBlueWorld]

I got my b7 last August with about 38,000 miles the only problem I have had is with the roof latches which came loose. It was an easy fix to pop the cover off and tighten them back up. The weather stripping is slightly cracked at the top rail but no leakage problems at all. I have yet to find a replacement for that weatherStrip and I'm not sure that it can be found without replacing the entire top. However be careful about roof rail drippage into the cabin when the top is open which can Warp your door trim. I never had this problem with my 67 dart gt convertible as it just Dripped off down the road Lol!

[RSFourMe]

No problems on mine...it does need to be level('ish) and I agree with the 2mph limit on the "in-motion operation"...not sure why the manual says 18....it's really not even worth a mention cause you have to be going so slow.

Although I had not heard of any mods for the top operation...I am intrigued! I'd love to have it KEY FOB operated somehow (kinda like the Sunroof operation in the sedans) e.g. open and close it while walking to it would be sweet!

[auxnbus]

Here is the link to the Kufatec unit.
http://www.kufatec.com/shop/en/audi/...ule-audi-a4-8h
There is also one called SMARTTop that does the same thing.

[Denker]

Hmmmm... that is sweet but after killing my battery showing a few people the operation from the "key-in-door" method over the course of a few hours, I'm a little weary and almost always operate when the engine is running now. Am I worrying needlessly? Anyone figure out how to vagcom the windows up down with the fob? Coding that I know works on a sedan didn't work on mine.

Oh, the topic... um, no issues with reliability yet and no regrets here. The roof seems to be pretty failsafe aside from the previously mentioned window and potentiometer problems. I've had neither and know how to reset the whole system if it quits working as I've done it for someone's B6 A4 cab.

[Kenrevo]

Thanks for all of the replies, he's planning on looking at one this weekend.

[dparm]

I've never been able to find any good reliability metrics for convertibles as a whole. I don't think this is widely studied, or if it is, the data is used internally by the car companies and not shared with the public.

All I can say is this: it's a very complex system with many moving parts and tight tolerances. There is a lot that can go wrong, and it's pretty much never covered under a warranty. If something does break, just pray it breaks in the "closed" position and not "open", or even worse, "partially open".

[R&Cs4]

I've never been able to find any good reliability metrics for convertibles as a whole. I don't think this is widely studied, or if it is, the data is used internally by the car companies and not shared with the public.

All I can say is this: it's a very complex system with many moving parts and tight tolerances. There is a lot that can go wrong, and it's pretty much never covered under a warranty. If something does break, just pray it breaks in the "closed" position and not "open", or even worse, "partially open".

There is a way to manually close/open the roof using the key hidden next to the instrument cluster. It's not easy, but can save you a lot of headaches if it does stop working in the open/partially open positions.

[auxnbus]

There is a way to manually close/open the roof using the key hidden next to the instrument cluster. It's not easy, but can save you a lot of headaches if it does stop working in the open/partially open positions.

I had to do the manual process on the side of a highway at 1:00am when my alternator crapped out. All things considered it wasn't too bad actually. And when you've done it once it gets a lot easier. The only thing to really watch out for is to make sure the clamps properly latch once in the closed position, and to make sure to relock the rear 'lid'.

Moral of the story? Take a bit of time to do it a couple times when not in a crisis situation and it will pay dividends when you are in panic mode because it is starting to rain and your top won't close.

[IslandHydro]

Might also want to pose this question here:

http://www.audizine.com/forum/forumd...vertibles-Only

I've had no problems with mine, and it's 10 years old / 60K miles. The car is really really fun!