Will I Regret Selling Hardtop?

FadeToGray

FadeToGray

TJ Enthusiast
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I’m thinking about selling the gray hardtop from my LJ and using the money for some other mods I want to do.

I’d just use the soft top year round.

Living in New England I’m wondering if I’ll regret the decision.

Anyone else in a cold climate sell their hard top and then regret it?
 
Oh man, DO NOT sell your LJ hard top! Those things are extremely rare, hard to come by in good shape, and when you do find one, the are around $1500-$2000.

Finding a TJ hardtop is easy, and LJ hardtop not so much.

Living where you live, I would never in a million years sell my hardtop. I regretted it big time when I sold mine, and I’m only in Oregon. Sure enough I ended up buying another.
 
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It's a personal optinion, but I never liked or wanted a hardtop. I don't think they are warmer, or quieter, especially with a good quality sail cloth soft top. I never wanted to store it either, and didn't want to break it while wheeling.

If I bought a Jeep with a hardtop, it would get sold and a new soft top.
 
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I run 3 different tops depending on the season. Safari, factory soft top, and the factory hard top that came with my TJ. I will never get rid of the hard top, even though it gets used the least, and is my least favorite of the three. I was sure thankful I had it this past winter.
That being said, I am lucky to have a garage to hoist it to the ceiling most of the year. If I didn't have a place to store it, I would of sold it.
 
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The $1500 to $2000 Chris mentioned is probably right.

Based on that I'd sell it in a minute, or less if I got lucky. That's $1500 to $2000 for modifications.

My CJ in the 1990s never had a hard top and my current TJ never had one new and still doesn't even though the wife thinks we need one.

We made it through our first winter with no issues due to weather. The only time I kinda think about having a hard top is when I'm going to be parking in less than safe areas but that is pretty uncommon and if I'm really worried about it I just drive my truck instead.
 
I don't think I will....... but I've been thinking about selling mine + the trek top I had last year for a twill supertop. Mine doesn't get used much in the winter and I think the twill would be nice to have in the long drives to trail locations in the summer. The trektop is a bit loud....

Plus if I went down this road I'd already have the soft top on and be ready for spring vs. me waiting for a warm day to warm up the soft top and reinstalling it.
 
If I could actually get close to $2K for it, that makes it a tough decision for sure.
 
I don't regret selling my hardtop. Noise levels (decibels) were exactly the same. Warmed up just as fast with a soft top. The only thing I really I enjoyed was the ease of access to the rear.

$2k is a lot of dough to spend elsewhere.
 
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I love my hardtop and had a bad experience with a soft top. It was a Rampage piece of junk. But to get a good soft top I’d be out $1,000, which is almost the cost of a TJ hard top. Then 10 years later I’d have to cough up another $1,000 to replace it. So I’m a hardtop fan. I do think they are quieter too
 
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My LJ didn’t come with a hard top and I bought one aftermarket ($1600). In retrospect I think if I didn’t have it I wouldn’t miss it and whatever bug got in my mind would have subsided. However after having it now, it’s pretty much a requirement for my wife because we have two young kids she wants to hear in the back seat... I’m thinking there may not be a back seat for them soon ;)
 
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I also want to add that it’s my opinion that lots of TJ’s on the road with soft tops look ratty. The soft tops are worn, they’re torn, they’re discolored, windows are ugh and overall they make the whole Jeep look like crap. I’m sure I’ll get crap for this. 😱
 
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Here's my take -

Soft tops are really good on TJ's . If you had cj-5 and 7's, you know what I mean . You can live with them year round in most climates . In New Hampshire , I wouldn't sell it without talking to another owner there that runs one , and I'd think long and hard before selling one off a LJ .

And I have ridden in TJ's with hard tops (aftermarket namely) that we're louder than my soft top with full doors.

I had never had a hard top, and always wondered what I was missing..so I got one this winter.

It is very , very nice . It makes a TJ about as "car like " as you are going to get .

I love having the top down , that's what a Jeep is about to me , and I love the function and performance of the TJ soft tops .


At the same time , I have enjoyed my hard top so much I'm reluctant to take it off. It's 78° here tomorrow , and I know the soft top is good , and fast to take up and down ...and I'm dragging my feet to take it off.

I'm as confused as a woman trying to get dressed.

I hope it doesn't make my butt look big .
 
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AndyG said:
Here's my take -

Soft tops are really good on TJ's . If you had cj-5 and 7's, you know what I mean . You can live with them year round in most climates . In New Hampshire , I wouldn't sell it without talking to another owner there that runs one , and I'd think long and hard before selling one off a LJ .

And I have ridden in TJ's with hard tops (aftermarket namely) that we're louder than my soft top with full doors.

I had never had a hard top, and always wondered what I was missing..so I got one this winter.

It is very , very nice . It makes a TJ about as "car like " as you are going to get .

I love having the top down , that's what a Jeep is about to me , and I love the function and performance of the TJ soft tops .


At the same time , I have enjoyed my hard top so much I'm reluctant to take it off. It's 78° here tomorrow , and I know the soft top is good , and fast to take up and down ...and I'm dragging my feet to take it off.

I'm as confused as a woman trying to get dressed.

I hope it doesn't make my butt look big .
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If you have the space to store it and live it that much, and live in a state that has harsh winters, keep it and run both. I don’t daily drive my Jeep. Even if I did, our winters aren’t bad here. I don’t have a shop or land to store it. Mine is not in the best of shape either. So it’s going down the road.


Sounds like you need to keep and enjoy yours! If I had an LJ I might consider keeping it cause like Chris said....hard to find and not cheap.
 
AndyG said:
Here's my take -

Soft tops are really good on TJ's . If you had cj-5 and 7's, you know what I mean . You can live with them year round in most climates . In New Hampshire , I wouldn't sell it without talking to another owner there that runs one , and I'd think long and hard before selling one off a LJ .

And I have ridden in TJ's with hard tops (aftermarket namely) that we're louder than my soft top with full doors.

I had never had a hard top, and always wondered what I was missing..so I got one this winter.

It is very , very nice . It makes a TJ about as "car like " as you are going to get .

I love having the top down , that's what a Jeep is about to me , and I love the function and performance of the TJ soft tops .


At the same time , I have enjoyed my hard top so much I'm reluctant to take it off. It's 78° here tomorrow , and I know the soft top is good , and fast to take up and down ...and I'm dragging my feet to take it off.

I'm as confused as a woman trying to get dressed.

I hope it doesn't make my butt look big .
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4 of the last 5 Wranglers, 2 JKs & 3 TJs, have all had dual tops. Hard to argue against either. It's nice to button up the TJ for the winter with the hard top, but I always look forward to the switch in the spring. If I hadn't made a storage spot for the hard top, though, it would be gone. I drove the last TJ for years with no hard top, and never really missed it.
 
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glwood said:
4 of the last 5 Wranglers, 2 JKs & 3 TJs, have all had dual tops. Hard to argue against either. It's nice to button up the TJ for the winter with the hard top, but I always look forward to the switch in the spring. If I hadn't made a storage spot for the hard top, though, it would be gone. I drove the last TJ for years with no hard top, and never really missed it.
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Good post ..I think the soft tops are so good now that a hard top isn't the luxury item it was years ago , and I'm confident I could run a soft top year round and be fine .

It's nice to have both , and the soft top is waaaay smarter off road as well.

I'll pretty much take a Jeep any way I can .
 
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I run both. Never did put the hardtop on this winter, but there were times I considered it. I wouldn't sell mine since I've got the space for it, but if you don't have the space I'd for sure sell it and run the soft top full time.
 
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