Convertible boot cover snaps

[BrandonBird]

I mostly just lurk here, getting lots of my questions answered without even having to post them 🙂 But I haven't seen any mention of this problem and I'm wondering if I'm the only one. My 2005 Pacific Coast roadster came with a padded fabric boot cover that snaps in place to cover the top when it is down. I have always had a really hard time fastening the snaps, sometimes having to pound on them with my hand to get them to snap. And of course, unfastening them is only slightly easier, since pulling is easier than pushing, but I still end up having to jerk very hard to get them unfastened. I've always worried that doing that would eventually pull the snaps through the fabric, and sure enough, that has finally happened to one of them. My questions are these. Is that supposed to be covered under the warranty? Is it better to have the offending snap replaced or should I just get a completely new boot? Is there any way to make fastening and unfastening the snaps easier or a tool that might help unfasten them? Are they supposed to be this much of a pain? I love the way the car looks with the boot in place, but I often avoid using it because of these problems. All advice appreciated. Thanks in advance. 🙂

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[George]

Brandon:

There are quite a few that have the same experience as you. 😡 Some dealers have fixed the boot at a local shop, others have replaced the boot and yet others say, nothing we can do - So you see it is a problem for many owners.
Try your dealer and see if they'll help. If not, nothing ventured nothing gained, but...you find out a lot about the dealer and customer service. 🙄

Now onto the problem. You can use a very slight amount of white grease or vasaline on the recepricle of the snaps and that helps a lot.
If your gun shy on grease, try a bar of dry soap - lightly. Just anough to make a difference.

For unhooking - You should use either a small knife blade of a small screw driver and just twist/pry, ever so lightly, and they pop right up. That way you have equal pressure on the snap and recepticle, forcing the snap to come loose.
Good luck and keep us posted 🙂

 

[Quickdraw]

George, good answer!

I too used to hand pound them on but notice that the snaps on the boot side get dented and deformed and even harder to install. I don't use a tool to unsnap but I slide two fingers on each sie of the snap before pulling. I bought a boot at eBay that had a snap missing and took it to local trim shop. He put a new snap on for "no charge" but I left him $10 anyway.

The main thing that makes installing the boot a no-hassle for me is that I only snap two of them - the outer most on each side. I've been on the highway at 70mph and there didn't seem to be any tendency for air to get under it to pull it off.... still if I was going to do a long highway trip with the top down I'd snap one or two center ones...

 

[JimYo]

Boot snaps

put a little grease ( or wax or other lubricant) where the spring retainer is inside the snap.. they will be much easier to push on and pull off. Candle wax will work fine also.
Jim

 

[BrandonBird]

Thanks to all of you who answered my questions. It really does help to know that I'm not the only one with difficult snaps. 🙂 I really appreciate your suggestions and will give them a try now that the broken snap has been replaced. I took it to the dealership and they sent it out to a local trim shop, got it repaired and had it back to me in 2 hours, at no charge. Now I can't even tell which snap it was. Pretty cool! Now I'm all set again for the rest of the top-down driving season. 🙂 Thanks again!

 

[jerrym3]

boot snaps

I use a crayon every now and then to wax the snaps. Never had a problem.

 

[yrbamje]

Cover Snaps

We had the same problem....snaps coming off the top.
I took it to a the dealer and he said "Idon't think I have ever seen this happen. We'll probably have to order a new one."
Haven't heard back yet, so can't say how good the service is.
Yrbamje