C70 Smarttop

[Willber G]

Fitted my Smarttop today. Took my mechanic about 15 minutes (£20). Great little gadget! Opening the roof using the remote means all the hot air is released before you get to the car, and closing it without leaving my house if it starts to rain will be nice. The one-touch feature inside means you can get yourself sorted out while the roof is working, and the ability to drive off before it is finished (up to 10 mph) is a bonus. Highly recommended.

[Baxlin]

I agree. It means too that you don’t have to sit there with your foot on the brake.

I also liked the setting that dipped the near side mirror when reverse is selected.

[Willber G]

I chose not to select the dipped-mirror option. I sometimes have to do tight manoeuvres in reverse so need both side mirrors in play. I use a seat memory position to dip the mirrors if required.

[Baxlin]

Originally Posted by Willber G

I chose not to select the dipped-mirror option. I sometimes have to do tight manoeuvres in reverse so need both side mirrors in play. I use a seat memory position to dip the mirrors if required.

I did that until I got the smart top!

[Willber G]

I need the mirrors in the normal position when reversing more often than not. It's good to have the choice.

How long have you had yours, BTW? Do they 'wear out' in some way after a time?

[Baxlin]

I had the car for 4+ years, fitted the SmartTop after about a year, so 3 years. TBH it was about the only thing that didn’t go wrong on the car. Hence I no longer have it....🤫

[Willber G]

I'd be happy with three years.

[Simmy]

the c70 roof is complicated enough without adding the smart top and would make it difficult to fault find with vida so i decided against fitting one ... good luck with yours though .....

[eagle58]

Originally Posted by Simmy

the c70 roof is complicated enough without adding the smart top and would make it difficult to fault find with vida so i decided against fitting one ... good luck with yours though .....

I'm with you on that. Thought about it but couldn't see the benefit versus buggering up the whole thing.

[Baxlin]

Originally Posted by eagle58

I'm with you on that. Thought about it but couldn't see the benefit versus buggering up the whole thing.

Did you try a car with one fitted?

I miss having a convertible, although I still have the open top 3 wheeler, as, most of the time, when I was on my own and it wasn’t raining, the C70’s top was down. So my roof mechanism had a lot of use. The only problem I had with the roof was before the SmartTop was fitted, the ‘yellow button’ stopped working, disabling the roof temporarily (in fact this happened on the test drive before I’d even bought the car!). So it was nothing to do with the SmartTop, when it happened again 4 years later. Volvo software identified a faulty sensor, the same as the previous time.

I’d go as far as to say having the convenience of one-touch and key fob opening of the roof transformed the car, and I don’t know why these weren’t OE. The 2006 Saab 9-3 vert I’d had two cars previously had key fob opening as standard.

Having said all that, one SmartTop feature I didn’t try, and never would, was to operate the roof with the car in motion. The gumph said it was OK up to, IIRC, 10 mph, but that was, to me, a no-no for several reasons.

But as ever, see my sig blow.
Malcolm