Please excuse my ignorance on this.... we've not long had our copen and with the help of the experienced owners off copenworld we ate slowly but surely getting to grips with the cars little quirks, add ons and maintenance tips. Being the first convertible we have owned and more importantly the first car that we actually care about we are looking to do some sympathetic upgrades like chrome seat belt guides, custom boot suitcases ( both seen on the forum) & a tonneau cover..... We have seen pictures off copens with this part, other than covering the gap left behind the roll bars when the roof is down what does this do? Is it purely cosmetic to cover the gap or is it some sort of extra storage and is it a permanent fixture with the roof up or down? Any advice would be great. Thanks
dwayner Its just cosmetic / keeps water out of there i guess, if you drive it in the rain with the top down??? Had my copen since 2003/4 and have never used it.
Hi dodo, in my opinion the tonneau cover is more than just cosmetics. When driving long distances with open roof it keeps a lot of dirt and dust out of the boot. In addition it is the perfect place to put bags on (which then are strapepd to the roll-bars). If it's going to be a longer drive than just around the corner, my tonneau cover gets installed. Andreas
Yeh I agree with scooty. Without the tonneau you do collect debris into the boot. The tonneau folds up & is stored int the boot. To fit it you need to take it out of the boot before you drop the roof. Once it's down, you need to open the boot. Then place the tonneau onto the four fastners. On the tonneau itself it has three metal fingers that need to go into holes. I think one of them triggers a switch, which prevents you from rasing the roof with the tonneau fitted. Once it's in place, close the boot. It's a bit of a faff really but it does look nice when fitted & on long trips helps.
Hi Guys, thanks for the quick replys. Much appreciated. I guess it's all a matter of opinions, it does look good when fitted in the pictures I've seen...especially when using the custom bags on the roll bars. If I can pick one up at a decent price I'll take a gamble on it and get it on for the longer journeys. Thanks again, Ian
There is one additional point to consider If the weather looks a bit unstable ... means that there is a noticeable remaining risk that I could start raining, I would prefer to not install the tonneau. Depends on how skilled you are in installing, and especially removing the tonneau. I guess I would need at least 30 seconds to remove it, plus the 20 seconds to close the roof ... 20 or 50 seconds when you are facing a downpour could be a lot of time CU Andreas
Good point! I also tend not to install it, even for long journeys in beautiful weather, if I'm travelling alone. It's a pity that you have to think about these things, but if you found yourself in a situation where you wanted to get the roof up quick (as I did in a traffic jam on the M25 once), just pulling over and pressing the roof button is a hell of a lot quicker and involves less exposure than removing, folding and stowing the tonneau first.
sorry rex sorry to hear that. The trouble whith yahoo japan auction however is most people there are local japanese and not willing to ppost overseas. I can ask the australian copen club members if anyone wants to sell their cover. cheers
Thanks for the offer lamster, but as Pikachu posted, I'm not sure if I would use one. So to be honest, (and to save wasting your time) unless it was a real bargain, I don't think I would buy one. Rex.
Tonneau Hi guys and ladies if any, I just read the posts on the tonneau subject. I too think that it adds to my little cars outlook. However I have a problem.:-(( My dutch 1,3 l Copen was delivered without a Tonneau, so it does not have the 3 guidance holes for the pins, nor the 4 quick fasteners to securely fix the thing to the car. I managed to get a second hand Tonneau from Belgium, but now have difficulties to get these additional fastening parts. Our dutch local Daihatsu dealers are not very heplfull on this subject. Does anyboy know were I could get hese parts? your help would be grearly appreciated
Hi Bart, take a look at this thread. There you can find all the official Daihatsu part-numbers (which every Daihatsu dealer should be able to look up and order) and alternatives for fixing the tonneau cover. Andreas
