Applicable to: '90 - '97 1.8 liter
Black vinyl top with no-zip glass window
Good news and bad news with better news to follow. After having the factory plastic window become opaque in less than two years and replacing that top with a Robbins top with a glass window - an expensive top that lasted not much longer than the factory top, I bought one from Duetto based on price alone (plus a few good reviews). The rear window tore loose in 3 years and one of the attachments to the bows also separated at about the same time. Bummer. So I asked Duetto for a replacement, offering to take a pro rata adjustment for the three years of use I got from their top. Not only did Duetto replace the top at no charge, they shipped it freight prepaid. Here in sunny SoCal I have the top down almost daily so the thing does get a bit of exercise and I don't bother with the factory supplied cover so the inside of the top is always exposed to the sun with the top down and since the car is not garaged the exterior is exposed to sun daily as well. This top probably gets more wear and tear and UV exposure than most so three years might be all I can expect from a top, and at about half the price of a comparable top from Robbins it would be a good deal even without Duetto's remarkable warranty.
A better product at a lower price with an excellent warranty. What more could I expect?
Over 30 minutes to remove completely
Applicable to: '90 - '97
This is the Duetto plastic top with zippered window. It took about 8 hours to install. Instructions were good.
I had a lot of trouble getting the top closed after installation. I had to have a local uphoulstory shop get it latched. After two weeks it could be latched with difficulty. I would not purchase anything from this company ever again.
I has now gone through 6 months of being closed through winter. Guess what, it is still almost impossible to get it latched. Calls to Duetto have not been successful, and calls to ACME, the manufacturer have never been returned.
Difficult to remove without leaving damage
Applicable to: '90 - '97
Tan cloth Duetto No Zip top.
I love this top! Gerry at Duetto is awesome! The company was great to work with, answered a ton of questions for me before I ordered by top. My top is almost 2 years old and it still looks like new, works great, and the cloth top really adds a classy look to the car. I love everything about it! I had it installed and the shop was very pleased with how easy it was to install. If I ever need another top it will be a Duetto. Thanks Gerry for such great service and a great product!
Highly recommend the no zip. It's to easy and convenient to not have the zipper and I also love the glass window.
Not an installed item
Applicable to: '99 + 1.8 liter
Duetto Vinyl No Zipper Glass Window Top
I needed a new top for my 2000 Miata and decided to get the vinyl Duetto No Zip Glass Window Top. I heard great things about Duetto tops and their 5 year warranty is 2 years longer than the Robbins warranty and the Duetto top is a lot less expensive. (Duetto sells Robbins tops too.) Thought I'd have to replace my rain rail, but they saved me money by telling me that I could most likely reuse my old one and fix it if it was cracked. They were right. Duetto emailed me the link to their really impressive online instructions and we successfully moved the old rain rail to my new top. It was in good condition, so we didn't have to do any repairs. I had never done a top installation before so I was kind of nervous, but my son and I were able to do the install in about 6 hours. The instructions were very detailed with lots of pictures and we never felt that we didn't know what to do next.
The Duetto top was definitely the right choice. The top looks great, like the original down to the grain in the vinyl. The glass window looks so much better without that ugly black plastic strip around it like on my old one. After almost three months on my car the fit is perfect and without any wrinkles and the top folds smoothly and easily. This is a great top and a great value and the instructions make it a doable project for any do it yourself-er. If I ever need another top it will be from Duetto.
Over 30 minutes to remove completely
Applicable to: '90 - '97 1.6 liter 1.8 liter
The Duetto no-zip vinyl top with glass back window.
I have had three of these tops in the last few months. The first one looked good for about a week, and then the vinyl started to peel away from the back window. Duetto sent me another top which looked ok for about one day before the same thing happened again! Duetto then put me in contact with the factory that makes their tops, Acme Auto Headlining. They admitted that they had been having a problem with a bad batch of glue, but had fixed the problem and would send another top. This top was peeling away from the window even before putting the top down for the first time! I called the factory and they said that they hadn't quite fixed the problem, but now they had and asked if I wanted another top! I declined and took a refund instead.
Note from Gerry at Duetto Motors:
Unfortunately, the manufacturer had a defective run of
tops. The problem has since been solved. We tried very hard to take care of
Jacob, including paying for all of his installation costs and refunding him
in full at his request. We make every effort to take care of all of our customers
and to provide high quality products that we stand behind.
Applicable to: '90 - '97 1.6 liter 1.8 liter
Black ColorFast Top with Glass Rear Window
This top is beautiful! It is the same fabric used on BMW and Mercedes convertible tops and you can tell! People stop me in traffic to compliment me and ask me where I got it. My husband and I put it on ourselves, and it took 8 hours, but that was due to lack of equipment on our part, not bad directions or anything. Gerry at Duetto Motors is awesome to work with, and the top is totally worth $500. It makes more difference on my car than my $1000 racing rims and tires. I would highly recommend Duetto Motors to anyone looking for Miata parts, and definitely believe that having a high quality cloth top is worth the extra money.
Over 30 minutes to remove completely
Applicable to: '90 - '97 1.6 liter
90-97 Black Vinyl glassfold no-zip top
The top arrive on time, and looked great. It was replacing my original 10 year old top, that had gone through two plasic windows. I opted for the no zip window for that clean one piece look. I has it professionally installed, and it looks great, no wrinkles.
Love the glass window, and ease of lowering. I should have done this years ago!
Over 30 minutes to remove completely
Applicable to: '90 - '97 1.6 liter 1.8 liter
Duetto Motors glass top for $349.00
Installed it on my 1996 M1. At first I was a bit apprehensive about taking on the installation all by myself. I downloaded Chris Lambert's instructions featured on miata.net. The instructions though sparse, were excelent. They guided me step by step on what I thought would be a very daunting task.
I have no other experience with any other top out there like a Robbins for example. And while not the same quality as the factory top I removed, it can't be beat for the price. The fit was good, and tight as a drum. the only problem I have now, is that I can't just unlatch the top and push the top down spur-of-the-moment like I used to. and yes, I do know that even the plastic window should be unziped before lowering the top. Overall, a great value!
Over 30 minutes to remove completely
Applicable to '90 - '97
Duetto Cloth top with glass window. Burgundy color. $530 from Duetto
I installed this top myself using the instructions found in Duetto's site and the 'Garage' section. Old top removal is fairly easy if you don't have to save the top (ie. if you can just cut into the top). Also, when wrapping the new top over the front bow, make sure the stitched up section completely goes under the edge of the top bow, and then glue it there good.
The fit is very good. All the punched holes lined up, and the top is reasonably taut. The color is kind of a blood red burgundy- too dark to really match the factory red paint, but nonetheless it really sets my red miata apart from the other 2.1 zillion red miatas on the road.
Problems 1. the back window zipper is very hard to zip back up because it's not pinned down- you have to grip the zipper end with one hand and zip with the other, meanwhile your third hand should be supporting the glass window. 2. the overlapped section directly above the latches tends to bunch up- this really pinches the outer rubber seal! The stock top uses a thinner vinyl material here for this reason.
Over 30 minutes to remove completely
Applicable to '90 - '97 1.6 liter 1.8 liter
Vinyl roof with plastic rear screen, without rain rail
I fitted this myself. It went on great; very good quality, with a much better zip than the original. Make sure you get the fitting instructions prepared by Duetto. They are very comprehensive, and are pretty much all you need. Took me a weekend working on my own, and interuppted by bad weather (no garage) to fit this up. Really spruces the car up! The price of this roof is excellent, and much lower than other quality hoods on the market. Buy it!
Replacement vinyl top with glass rear window
Excellent product well built and at a reasonable price. Price was the main purchasing factor. Installation was difficult for a first timer but definitely a do-it-yourself project. The product doesn't come with any instructions so I found a good article in the tech section. Unfortunately, it left out a couple of fine points that would have made it a lot easier. Removal turned out to be easier than installation using a screwdriver, plastic clip remover for the carpeting, and a drill to remove several rivets. The toughest part was moving the rain rail from one top to the other and getting it lined up properly. The new top came with holes for the bolts but not for the rain rail attachment. If I had to do it again, I would definitely spend the extra few bucks and get a rain rail already attached just to save the hastle. Putting the top back on proved to be a hastle getting it lined up in such tight spots but with another person, is possible for the novice. The top fits like a glove and is very sharp with the glass <review cut off>
Tan vinyl top, glass window. No rain-rail included.
Installed over the memorial-day weekend, used Instrucions from Miata.net. Product came in about a week before it was promised. Looked good in the box. Three days later, looked real good on my car. Not a job for the faint of heart, but do-able. Re-using the rain rail was the hardest part. Lot of work there, but worth the $100 price saving. The only problem I had, was that the factory uses a non-standard rivet size, so when I go to rivet the top back on, I had to bore the rivet-holes out a little bit to get the 5mm rivets to fit. 3mm were WAY too small. All in all I am very happy with the product, and would recomend it to others. This is a lot of work though...
Vinyl replacement top with plastic backlight.
Purchased the Duetto top because of the price and the reputation of the company.
My initial installer turned out to be incompetent. They couldn't guarantee that water would not leak into the trunk unless the top that I ordered came with a rain rail pre-attached. That convinced me to go elsewhere.
At least they were able to steer me to a more qualified shop.
The shop that did install my replacement top, Quality Auto Trim (Troy, MI) was warning me that they had some bad experiences with non OEM or non Robbins tops. In fact he warned me that he could not guarantee that the top would fit perfectly.
When I picked up the car, the installer was raving about the quality of the fit and finish. He should know! I ran into my Mazda service advisor while at the shop. It seems that Quality does the bulk of the top replacements and reupholstering for the local auto mall.
I left quite pleased not only because of the speed and quality of the install, but because the top is better than factory in every way.
Thank you Duetto!
Just wanted to add that when the first shop brought up the rain rail issue, I called Duetto with the idea of exchanging the top. The individual that I did speak to reassured me about the quality of the top but did offer to exchange it for me. "I can sell you a Robbins. It's more $$$ and I make make more $$$ selling them, but we have sold much more Duetto tops and I have not heard of any complaints. There are individuals out there that installed the top themselves, problem free. Try looking for a more qualified installer."
Glad I took his advice.
Vinyl top with plastic window
The top is of very good quality with a 5 year warranty. An inexpensive top with no compromise in workmanship. I did not receive any instructions with the top though. I do not know if that is customary, but they would have helped. After about a week, I am very happy with the fit and look of the top. At $260.00, well worth the price.
It took me about 4 hours to put on. I used instructions on installing a top from Miata.net and found some steps missing. I would recommend putting one's own top on and save some money.
| Back to Product Reviews | 26 September, 2008 |
| [Home] - [FAQ] - [Search] - [Sponsors] - [Forums] |
| [Garage] - [Clubs] - [Contact Us] - [Disclosures] - [More...] |
Copyright
©1994-2024, Eunos Communications LLC
|