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Question for the Cabrio owners with the wind deflector
Curious question for the convertible owners that have the rear seat wind deflector in their car.
If you are out and about driving with the top down and the wind deflector in place and you stop into the store, shopping mall, or a diner to grab a bite to eat.....what do you do with your car when you park it??
Do you:
A) put the top up and close all the windows and lock the car?
B) leave the top down and the wind deflector in place?
C) leave the top down and remove the wind deflector and put it in the trunk and lock the car?
My concern is that "someone" may come by and take the wind deflector if it's accessible in the car with the top down. We all know that these are expensive and desirable....I'm just on the fence as to what to do when we have our '06 R52 out in the nice weather and the occasion arises to leave the car unattended for a time period
I put the top up, windows up, lock up whenever leaving the car when out and about.
I did install a smarttop module last summer (second summer of ownership) which allows open and close with a button push, open and close while moving, and open and close with the key fob so I’m rarely waiting for it to open/close now.
Don't have the wind deflector yet. I will probably get one soon. I have stuff in my car that is probably more likely to be stolen than a deflector. I suspect they are too big and have a limited market.
I wonder if closing the top to run into a store for 5 minutes strains the various components and fewer openings would prolong the life.
That said, I close mine unless I think I am in a safe area and I can keep an eye on the car while I am in the store. Again, it depends on how safe the location is. I won't put the top down at all in Baltimore. An open convertible is too inviting to panhandlers, squeegee kids, and worse who are more likely to approach cars that are open.
A big problem I have leaving the top open is the temperature of the seats after 10 minutes of sunlight. I have folded the seats which reduces the seat temperature but exposes stuff stored in the extremely tight slot where people would put their legs in other cars.
Depends how sketchy the area is. To be honest Ive not been in America long enough to become totally paranoid about other peoples intentions and so far Ive no reason to be.
If it looks like it might rain, or more likely that the leather will get to skin searing temperatures in the sun, then I'll close up shop, but generally I just leave the roof down and go do whatever I went there to do, and so far my faith in humanity has not been betrayed. But would I do that in a big city? Probably not And I dont leave any valuables in the car.
Lets face it, to most people an R52 is just an old car that the poor owner cant afford anything newer or better, so its unlikely to appear as a beacon of rich pickings to the unscrupulous!
Yep, safe area, windows up and wind deflector in the trunk. If you go for like a few minutes or can sit and watch it in site.
If its not in the best area, then top up for sure. A factory alarm, (which i have to install) helps also as you get the little flashing led red light and if someone puts there arm inside it goes off if you have the top down, or windows down, top up,
06-27-2019, 04:02 PM
And I dont leave any valuables in the car.
