does the cover come with the car from the factory?

 

Yes the top cover is supposed to come with the car. I bought my MY01 used a few weeks ago and I did not get the cover. After reading the manual I realized it should have come with the car. Called the dealer and he looked it up and said yes I should have gotten a cover. A week later he had me one. Good thing.........new they are about $700.00 from dealer.

 

the hardest part of installing it is getting all 4 buttons fixed in there
iv never been to accually do that...i usually only do 3 and then take off
it look much cleaner with it on, but if you are going for short distances, its pretty worthless

 

I don't like the cover for it because you have to watch out make sure you are careful though becuase it can scratch your car.

 

Call me crazy, but I don't really even think the cover is an improvement myself. To me it just messes up the lines of the car. It may look a little more finished but because it sticks up so much more than just the soft top it only serves to make a little problem even worse. Instead of little corners sticking up on either side you get a big mass all the way across.

ron

 

o.k.- the contrary opinion...
i have only driven the car twice without the boot on it.
my car is 3.5 years old, except for the top- its brand new (i only know cause when i detail the car i put the top up)!
i think the car looks much better with the boot and it really does keep the top area clean.
btw, it is very easy to put on and off (after you have done it a few times)- and tip to keep from scratching the car: i put two rags on the rear deck where the metal boot parts are until the boot is installed (then i put the rags on the rear window to keep it from getting scratched while the top is down).

 

I agree with wanabe: I think the car looks much better with the boot installed.

For you '00-'01 owners: they removed the two middle snaps on the '02 and up. You can do the same. If you remove the trunk panel so you can get to the spare tire, you can put a wrench on the back side of the stud on the passenger side. Remove the similar panel from the other side of the trunk and you can get at the stud on the driver's side. Buy a couple of trim clips for 10mm-3/8" holes to cover the holes. Those two snaps in the middle were the worst part of installing/removing the boot before I removed them.

 

Well I am new here and haven't even purchased my S2000 yet (am in the process of doing so) so this may not be pertinent to the S2000. But being a Miata owner for the last few years (and still for a few weeks) the top cover in the Miata's case was important because the inside of the top, which gets exposed when it's down, has no UV protection and will eventually crack if left unprotected. Yeah, this will take a couple years so the relevance depends on how long you want to keep your car...

 

Where can one buy a 02-03 soft top, aside from taking the route of getting ripped off by the dealership. About how much will it cost me?

 

I put mine on for the first time today. The PO had never even used it and it was still in the plastic. It was extremely easy to put on. It maybe takes a full minute tops. I dig the look and took some pics: