how long with new plastic rear window top last?

[rsfeller]

I'm going to replace my to this month. Not sold on a glass window but wouldn't mind one either. Since I bought a hard top for the fall/winter in Ohio and my car is a 3rd vehicle for my wife and I and resides in garage most days and nights.

With that said what kind of life expectancy are most getting out of their plastic rear windows?

I wouldn't mind saving a few bucks on a plastic, like the extra engine access room they provide plus the better rear visibility and cockpit light...but glass will live longer!

So I guess the life expectancy may be the true test for me!

[fasterjames]

I think if you keep it really clean, don't wipe it until all surfce dirt it off, keep it garaged (like you do), and use a great plastic cleaner on it you should get many years from it. I'd say 5-8 years at least. Whatever you do, don't use Windex or any other typical glass cleaner. The ammonia will make it brittle and cause the yellowing corroded spots you see on a lot of them.

You probably know how to clean already but here's my 2 cents on how I plan to keep mine that long.

Here's how I clean the outside: When washing the car I generously spray the window with water (never any soap). Then I coat the window with Plexus or the Porsche plastic window cleaner so it looks like it was snowed on. Then I take a baby's cloth diaper and gently make one pass over it. If there is any cleaner left I make another pass over that part only with a different part of the diaper. This gets up almost all of the surface dirt that can cause scratches. ( I learned to never short-cut this step the hard way once. ggrrr) Then I recoat with cleaner and use a different cloth diaper this time using a circular motion like I would on a normal window.

I do the inside the same way except for the initial spray of water.

If I was replacing my window, I may go with glass just to save the time and effort involved but like you wouldn't want to lose any space when working on the engine. Tough call, good luck!

[rsfeller]

Thanks James, good stuff!