My Renovo nightmare - is my hood ruined?

[chrisbw]

As I thought my hood was looking a little faded and generally could do with a little refresh, and after reading a few positive reviews about Renovo soft top reviver, I decided to give it a go.

I wish I hadn't. I fear I've ruined the hood, it now has a difinitive line down the middle of it where I've worked from middle to edge (as instructed on the bottle) and generally the whole hood looks terrible. It looks like it has been painted really badly by something that should not be used on a soft-top hood.

Please have a look at the pictures, however these do not do it justice as it looks much, much worse in real life!

As far as I am aware I've followed the instructions to the letter, I even tried another coat hoping this would help to even out the finish but with no success.

Over the last few weeks I've scrubbed it several times with a sponge and hot water, and hoped that it would 'weather' slighty but it's still as bad. I've even emailed Renovo customer services but had no reply in over 3 weeks (thanks).

I'm gutted.......... but what I need to know now are my options......... has anyone else suffered the same fate and managed to sort it out?

My next line of thought is trying to blast it with a pressure-washer but I don't really want to do that to the hood......

Any advice would be very much appreciated!

[2002pony]

I recently acquired my 2002 Boxster with the black top. I live in an area with many plants shedding various filaments and lint-like particles this season. I have found that using the special convertible top cleaner with a spray bottle and a wet-dry vacuum fitted with a soft upholstery brush has done well in removing these little eyesores. I have noticed other water spots and blemishes were easily removed with the wet-dry vac and a spray bottle with cleaning solution. I think this would be much safer than the high pressure power wash. Just make sure the bristles on the upholstery brush are soft. Good Luck!

[berty987]

Steer clear of the pressure washer you will undoubtedly do more harm than good , posibly ruining the inner lining as well as the outer. Have Renovo been able to offer any advice on the best removal process for their product. Surely they must know what dissolves it ?

[White987S]

Ragg Topp is a very good product. Try it next time.

[rick3000]

The Renovo reviver comes in different colors, to 'revive' different colored tops. Did you by chance buy the wrong color reviver.

[mbodo]

Steer clear of the pressure washer you will undoubtedly do more harm than good , posibly ruining the inner lining as well as the outer. Have Renovo been able to offer any advice on the best removal process for their product. Surely they must know what dissolves it ?

agreed! very good advice - never use high pressure water on the car for fear of damaging the top. I believe this is also in the manual, and a good dealer will advise you the same.

I may have read it here or perhaps on another forum, but a relatively safe way to clean the top is with a shopvac.

Hose down the top, use the porsche top cleaner (available from the dealer or online), use a soft bristle brush to do a light scrubbing, and then use a wet/dry vacuum to suck up the water/debris.

Obviously you don't want to use an attachment that will result in making a vacuum lock on your top, so use some common sense.

If you haven't tried this yet, perhaps it would be worth a shot. I mean, it can't get much worse right?

[mindware]

Sorry to pull up a old topic, but does anyone know how to sort this? I've got a similar issue on my hood after using Renovo...Tried scrubbing down etc as reccomended with no luck :(

Edited September 28, 2009 by mindware

[chrisbw]

Sorry to pull up a old topic, but does anyone know how to sort this? I've got a similar issue on my hood after using Renovo...Tried scrubbing down etc as reccomended with no luck :(

Hi,

Sorry to hear you suffered the same fate as I did......

It was well over a year ago when I applied the renovo for the first time and my hood is still a mess. I contacted renovo at the time and they advised that I used their cleaner product and this would remove the reviver. So, I bought some and tried it out. Unfortunately this did absolutely nothing, even after the 3rd attempt so I wouldn't bother with that. I contacted renovo again and nobody ever replied to me this time.

I spent many weeks trying to remove it, and visited various local hood and upholstry specialists but nobody could offer any decent advice. I actually found that if I picked at it with my fingernails, the reviver would come off in a sort of dust.

So, I decided to buy a stiff bristled brush and try and work it off by hand. This worked to a certain extent, but took many weeks (no joke) and has left parts of the hood looking worn. Although much better, its still a million miles away from the condition before I applied the reviver.

I give the hood a good scrub (with a sponge) every time I wash the car in an attempt to 'weather' the hood in the hope to make it look better. But still well over a year on it looks pretty horrible if I'm honest. On a dull or cloudy day it looks especially bad.

As the hood looks better when wet, I have recently applied some Fabsil Gold proofer, as this makes the hood look slightly darker. It look a bit better after applying the Fabsil and also has the benefit of being waterproofed on the outer layer again. However, I would make sure that you have done everything you can to remove the Renovo first as the Fabsil will just seal it in underneath and it will be even harder to remove.

Sorry I cannot bring you any news of a magic fix...... I just don't think there is one.

I'm amazed how bad this Renovo product is and I'm sure we are not the only folk to have hoods ruined by this.

Let me know how you get on. If I can help further just get in touch.

Cheers,

Chris.

[mreynol5]

Gents, this is probably going to sound a bit strange, but I run a lint remover (you know the sticky roller thing) over my top (I just figured out that you were not discussing the front metal "hood") and it seems to pick up a lot of junk. It makes my wife crazy though because I always forget to put the lint remover back after I use it (kind of like leaving the seat up...)

[German Motors]

Oj I dont own a porsche but I have decided to join this forum just to repky to t highest is thread.

I own a bmw convertible which uses the same type of mohair material for their roofs as porsche. Mine was in gopd condition besides the sides that had pressure marks due to being stored since I have a hardtop.

So I decided to buy thr renovo rejuvenator and give it a try. What a mistake! !!

The thing mixes with the mohair cloth giving an almost vinyl like result which is a different texture feel than the mohair.

Also if you apply morr in some areas it shows lines etc etc.

If you dont thoroughly wash the softtop with their cleaner it will also flake and make spots.

What I did because it looked horrible is that I managed to remove it with alcohol. I was applying alcohol with a sponge and then removing it with a cloth.

Nowin your case you might try that to smooth everything up, and then a couple of days later take it to a professional who has done this lots of times in order to reapply it correctly and cover all the imperfections.

Again, this stuff is not for the amateurs and should have a big sign on it saying that!

Hope this helps keep us posted.

[mcmike27]

The ONLY product I use on our 986 Boxster top is either the Ragg Topp product line or the 303 Product line of cleaner and sealer both are easy to use an appy just DONT get any of the sealer on ANY metal or plastic as it will leave a white 'haze'. I just carefully apply the sealer with a towel placed next to any places where I dont want it to touch then I use a soft clean sponge to wipe the excess in with and it looks perfect and repels water for 1 year at a time. Water just beads up and runs off the top. During the driving months I use the lint roller to remove dirt and dust from the top in between washings and it keeps the top looking like new. I also have used our garage wall vac with the brush head to vaccum the top when it gets really dusty. I hope this helps.

[Redford]

Although this thread is a bit old, I am new to the forum. As the Renovo distributor for Australia I'm always interested in any problems customers have with Renovo products regardless of who or where they bought them from. chrisbw's original post suggests a couple of things to me. Firstly, he does not mention cleaning the top with Renovo Canvas Cleaner before he applied Reviver. Instruction 1 on the Reviver bottle says "Ensure that the soft top is dry and free from grease, dirt and previous water proofing coatings by thoroughly cleaning with Renovo Soft Top Canvas Cleaner before commencing application." Failure to do this can result in patchy or uneven results when Reviver or Ultra Proofer are applied later.

The photos also show a "tide mark" effect. This can occur when Reviver is applied in direct sunlight which results in sections drying out before over-lapped into the next section, or the sections have not been over-lapped properly leaving bits untreated.

These photos were sent by a customer and show what can be achieved (he was very happy):

Even though Renovo can give very good results, it is not a "magic bullet" for every soft top problem and I would not pretend it will work every time. Problems can, and do, arise when tops have been "treated" with home-remedy concoctions like anything containing silicone (e.g. wash n' wax car shampoo) and, I kid you not, boot polish and linseed oil.

Edited June 9, 2014 by Redford

[saab]

Red you say you work for renovo. But you give no solution to the problem. Is there a solution. As if not people seeing this might not use the product just in case they get same results. If there a solution. If the cleaner will remove the mark. Then say so. I know someone else with the same prob. Got overlap mark right down centre of hood. And he has used the 3 renovo products. Ie cleaner. Reviver. Yet to use sealer as trying to remove mark. A solution to the problem would be good if you know your product and not just a salesman

Edited June 22, 2014 by saab

[Redford]

Hi saab.  Firstly, I do not work for Renovo.  I am the independent Australian distributor of Renovo products.  As I said in my earlier post, the (chrisbw) photos appear to show a "tide mark" caused by the Reviver (dye) not being overlapped when it was applied or, perhaps, the Reviver was applied outside in the sun which can result in areas drying out before being blended into each other.  Another possibility is that the Reviver was not stirred (must not be shaken) properly before it was applied which could result in uneven saturation of the dye - similar to not stirring a can of paint before use.

 

Provided that the top is thoroughly cleaner with Renovo Canvas Cleaner, one application of Reviver should be enough to treat a Boxter top.  I have a Saab 9-3 and use a bit over 500ml of Reviver for one coat which is all I have ever needed.  However, no two tops are the same and it may be necessary to apply more than one coat for best results.

 

I advise my customers to clean the top and allow to dry completely (overnight if necessary), then apply one coat of Reviver (out of direct sun light) and again allow to dry completely.  If not satisfied with the colour apply a second coat of Reviver and allow to dry.  Only when completely satisfied with the colour, apply Ultra Proofer.  Needless to say don't allow a top to get wet before sealing with Ultra Proofer.

 

If drying time is a problem (cold weather) you can also take the car for a drive and let the wind speed up the process.

 

Hope this helps.

[David Azueta]

I know this is an old topic but I suffered the same situation with my Pontiac Solstice Top, I bought the products and did everything as instructed and got the same results as chrisbw, did it inside my garage, used the 3 products and nothing, my Top looks worst that it was, it was like new before, just wanted to give it a deeper black color and I regret that every day :(. Anyone got a solution for this?

 

Thanks for your help!

[Bill Duff]

I have a serious problem with my soft top on the Boxster, used Renovo to clean the roof, then reviver to revive the colour (Blue) and then selaed it with their water proof product. Well the outcome was a disaster, the roof is now so hard, it's like a hard top, it is so stiff, when I open the roof, the rear cover cannot close as the roof will no longer close correctly.

 

I just read an article on the Detailer forum and a guy has exactly the same issue as me. Like you guys report here, the reviver has left streaks everywhere and a line where I started painting with the brush, the top is also shiny, like a pair of 100 year old shiny worn trousers. It is a joke.

I contacted Renovo, they have offered me a full pack of replacements to do the job again, I was about to do this when they sent me an email that said "Please respond to this email to advise that you are willing to accept this offer to rectify your problem in full and final settlement of this case?" That made me suspicious this must have happened before, blow me down, I searched Google and there are similar stories on dozens of forums.

 

I put the car in our local valeting detailing guy who specialises in restoration, I was having the car Ceramic Coated and asked him to sort the roof as well, unfortunatley he called to say, hmm, Renovo, nothing he can do with the roof.

 

Renovo have totally destroyed my roof and now I need to get them to replace it.

Dont use Renovo reviver, EVER.

[X2xjp]

RENOVO don't use it

I had the same issues with my 2019 merc convertible. Some neighbour had had a bonfire or something and my roof had this white cloud over it, we washed and washed it and it Woudlnt go so we used this Renovo, wish we hadn't as the hood is trashed, looks awful to say the least, I have had many roof specialist round and detailing guys too, all have confirmed the renovo has melted the hood to a degree therefore its hard and has lines in it in places where its been applied as direct on the bottle

Please don't use this stuff