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2008 Boxster soft top: the glass rear window is coming away from the fabric, new top or reglue

Started by sunday_drive_couple on Jul 8, 2025 in Tops, seals and care, 7 posts

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sunday_drive_coupleOP
Top Down Savannah, GA 17 posts, joined Jun 2025

#1

ed this time. 2008 Boxster, the 987 base car, Guards Red, black top, 61k miles. we bought it two years ago from a retired dentist in Beaufort who drove it to church.

the glass rear window is pulling away from the fabric along the bottom edge. about eight inches on the driver side, a gap you can slide a credit card into. when it rains, water drips onto the shelf behind the seats. first thing we did was run the VIN on porsche.com for open recalls, nothing open.

the Porsche dealer here quoted a complete new top with the window, installed, at a little under 3,800. an aftermarket top with the glass already in is around a thousand online plus whatever a trim shop charges to put it on. a couple of people online say you can just reglue the glass. marla says fix it right. i say it's a 17 year old car. help us settle it.

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soft_top_or_hard
Top Down Minneapolis, MN 19 posts, joined Jun 2025

#2

my brother had the same thing on a Boxster of about the same year. he had a trim shop reglue it with urethane window adhesive and it held for two years, then the other side let go. so it can buy time. it's not forever.

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garage_kept_only
Coast Runner Scottsdale, AZ 31 posts, joined Jun 2025

#3

the question is why it let go. heat over the years breaks down the bond, sure. but if the fabric itself has shrunk, it keeps pulling on the glass and a reglue will just tear loose again. look at the fabric along the frame bows and at the corners. if it's tight as a drum, faded and shiny at the folds, the top is near the end and i'd put the money toward a new one.

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miata_then_this
Back Roader Seattle, WA 22 posts, joined Jun 2025

#4

whichever way you go, ask the trim shop what fabric the replacement is. the good tops are Haartz cloth, Stayfast or the German canvas, and the cheap ones are a vinyl that looks fine for one summer. a shop that does tops every week will tell you straight. mine in Seattle wouldn't install the cheap one at all.

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gulf_coast_cruiser
Back Roader Pensacola, FL 24 posts, joined Jun 2025

#5

measure it. if less than about a quarter of the bottom edge is loose and the fabric is still soft, reglue. if it's loose most of the way across, you're paying for the labor twice. and in Savannah humidity, dry the shelf and the carpet underneath now, don't wait for the decision.

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corvette_tech_hector
Coast Runner Bowling Green, KY 38 posts, joined Jun 2025

#6

not a Porsche guy, but tops are tops. if you do replace it, have the shop check the tension cables and the side seals while it's apart. a new top on an old frame with a stretched cable will sit wrong and you'll be back for a leak at the side windows.

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sunday_drive_coupleOP
Top Down Savannah, GA 17 posts, joined Jun 2025

#7

result. took it to a trim shop in Pooler. he measured six inches loose, said the fabric is still soft and not shrunk, and recommended the reglue. 280 dollars, done in an afternoon, he cleaned the old adhesive off first and taped it for a day.

three weeks later we've had two real Savannah thunderstorms, the kind that flood Abercorn, and the shelf is dry. he told us honestly the top has maybe two or three years left, so we're putting money aside for a new one. marla agreed to that since it isn't this year.

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