Hardtop on Jimny cabrio

Hello,

I'm looking at getting my hands on a second-hand Jimny (1998-2002 is my target) in the not too distant future (6 months to a year or so) and until recently I was pretty much set on the regular, non-Cabrio one, for 2 reasons mainly:

- The hassle of having a soft-top in winter
- I understand most soft-tops were made in Spain, not in Japan (is that correct BTW?)

However, recently a few factors have made me take another look at Jimny Cabrio. Mainly some discussions with my wife (who pointed out Cabrios are fun in summer) and some guys in the local off-road community (who pointed out a source of decent quality hard-tops locally).

Therefore, I'd like to ask anyone knowledgeable a put Cabrio Jimny with hard-tops: how do they fare in bad weather (rain/snow)?

Hi Radupuh

Yes I believe the open-topped cars were all Spanish built, but if anyone would like to correct me if I'm wrong then please speak up.

I can't tell you much about the hard-tops on Jimny's as I don't have one, but the hard tops that fit to other cars such as MGB and Midget aren't that great - they often had gaps where the seal doesn't butt up properly, and generate drafts and whistles.
I've owned a convertible all my life and lived with them through winters without a problem. The main problem with a hard-top is that you will need somewhere safe to store it away if you remove it from the car.
Then, while it's off the car you will need a hood because even in summer it rains... so my argument has always been 'why bother with a hard-top?'

Soft-tops - Yes they do take some maintenance, yes they are less secure, and yes like tyres they do wear out and need replacing eventually, and cabrio's are inherently noisier. In winter they will take longer to warm up in the cabin.

MONSOON do replacements hoods, and I have one on of theirs on my Jimny - but although they're made from a more flexible vinyl than the awful original they're a reasonably good fit (not perfect) and I'd say quality/design could be a lot better. That said, I have no leaks or drafts. If you buy one of these hoods new you won't see much change out of £400 which is about what I'd expect.

The worst part of owning the Jimny Cabrio is the practicality of getting into the boot area from the outside; you have to partially unzip the rear window and undo the snap fasteners along the top of the boot door - repeatedly doing this eventually takes its toll on the stitching and fasteners for the hood and the piping on the left hand side and mine is showing signs of wear so I will have to get the hood to a trimmer next summer to sort it out before it gets any worse.
So if you have a dog that needs access to the boot area or you need to use that area a lot then let me tell you its a pain. Luckily I neither have a dog nor do I need to gain access to the boot area often, so I just take it on the chin as being part of the cars 'character'
Quite how the hard top works with the rear door needs to be answered by someone that has a hard-top, but I would imagine that the seal between the door and hard-top needs to be really very good or there is a high chance of a big ingress of moisture into the boot.

Summer.
Summer is a differnt matter!
Last summer for the majority of the time, I left the roof off completely. The only issues I had was that it got a little damp inside the car overnight if there was a heavy dew.
For me the sheer joy of open air motoring far outweigh the impractacalities and other issues associated with convertibles, but I would understand that it's not for everybody


I was brought up with motorbikes but discovered open air motoring in my 20s and have never looked back since. The only time I ever felt a bit daft was when I was sat in my MG Midget at some traffic lights, and people looked at me oddly because the car was starting to fill up with snow.
...Yep - I have the roof open a lot even in the winter months - I just dress for the occasion.
Actually its often nicer in winter because you aren't being baked by the the sun. In winter so long as you are warm its fabulous.
The Jimny is such an aerodynamic brick that you WILL need a hat



Summer is coming...