You are twisting my words.
Read my original post. I never said I wanted a free top, though that would be nice, I was sure that wouldn't happen.
My point was/is if the life span of this top is only 3 years I don't want another one. I am not willing to shell out another $600 for a product I, as a consumer, feel is poor quality. If they would have made a better offer I may have bought another top from them to give it another try. But it appears that is not going to happen. And they didn't offer me "their cost" they offered "dealer cost" So they loose nothing in this, the dealer is the only one loosing a profit.

That crap about the warranty period being the life expectancy of a product?
I have a $3,000 TV that had a one year warranty, I assure you that ALL consumers EXPECT a $3,000 TV to last more than a year.
I fully expected my truck to out last the warranty, and it has.
I believe consumers expect to make out of warranty repair to keep a product for extended periods, but they don't expect short term total product failure.

But again if you READ my post I was asking what the life span of these tops are. I see reviews on tops but I all the reviews are about the purchase, the install, the dealer, nothing about how it holds up after a few years.

The down and dirty is as a CONSUMER I get to make choices, I get to decide when and where to spend my money. "I" as a consumer get to make the decision as to whether I feel I got my moneys worth, not the dealer or the manufacture. At this point though I WILL be buying more trucks... none of them will have a Fold-a-cover. So if that is Fold-a-cover's plan... it worked.

 

What exactly does the deal I give one person, say a repeat customer that has done business with me for years compared to another, someone that is in the store for the first time, have to do with this conversation at all. How is asking him to pay the shipping screwing him. This is an oversized box and has to go common courier not UPS/FedEx. Heck I sell fishing tackle here as well and a lifetime warranty fishing rod the sells from $150-$400 comes in under warranty then the customer pays the shipping on the replacement usually $20.

 

Sorry, Beast - I hate to jump on the bandwagon, but I have to partially disagree with your statement and agree with OP.

Let's take your statement above - that a warranty is the "accepted/expected life of the product". So - when Ford had a drivetrain warranty of only 36k miles, if everybody's engine crapped out at 37k, it should be accepted? That logic doesn't quite make sense. If all of their engines took a crap just after the warranty was out - or even at 75k - all hell would break loose - agree? Ford's rep would be tarnished, and people would be screaming NOT TO buy Ford products because their engines only last 37k, etc. Truly - an engine should be expected to last beyond 75k - even 100k+.

I agree with OP that after spending probably close to $700 on the lid, that it shouldn't be sagging like that. I have an Advance Cover, and after 4 years and two trucks, it's leaking a little more than when new, some seals are cracking, etc - that is to be expected/accepted with aging. However, if the thing structurally failed as it sounds OP's cover may have, I'd be pissed, too.

One has the right to reasonably expect a $700 cover to last more than a year (warranty period) or even four years. If the company makes these things to fail like this, setting a life span on them. I think that's bad business practice, and it would hurt them more than help them get more business. If my Advance Cover failed structurally after 4 years, I wouldn't buy another one, and would advise others not to, as well.

That's my .04 (and then some).

 

Well worded. That is exactly what I was trying to get across. You put it much more tactfully than I did.

 

That would be a good argument if the cover had failed at 13-15 months but he got 4 times the warranty period out of the cover. So to follow your reasoning Ford should replace any thing that goes wrong on their vehicles up to 144,000 miles even though they only have a 36,000 mile warranty. What I am saying is you can't really complain when you get 4 times the warranty period out of a product.

 

I did not say that he should be handed a new cover - did I? I gave an example using your own words - true? I don't want to get into a pissing contest with you. Let's put the "warranty period" aside - humor me...

If you had bought a cover for $500-700 and it failed structurally after 4 years - would you be pissed? Forget about minor stuff like fading, seals, etc. I think most people would, and rightfully so. These covers should be reasonably expected longer than that. You have to give the guy that much.

Kozmic - got pics? That would help everybody reading this, and perhaps even change some opinions one way or another.

 

Hey Kosmic - question...if I remember correctly, the Fold-A-Cover has exposed "waffle" construction underneath - no?

If so - can it be remedied by either riveting a piece of angle aluminum underneath to support it or disassembling it and use some contact cement on it to re-bond it?

The angle aluminum may not be as pretty as you like, but it'll be underneath and unseen when not open.

 

I thought I would jump in (since I have pics) to say that the FoldACover does not have exposed waffle construction. It has dual powdercoated aluminum panels.

This is the LT model which I suggest you DON'T get. Get the G4 Elite model instead, it has a much lower profile lock system.

 

thanks, truckgasm. Do you know - did it used to?

I know one of them did when I bought my advance cover 4 years ago. It was that, along with plastic latch hardware that sent me towards Advance Cover.

 

I don't remember it ever having exposed waffling, but....maybe it did at sometime.

BTW, how has your Advance cover worked out? Any problems?

 

Overall, I'm very happy with the Advance Cover. I had a seal split (about 2") when I lifted the cover to open it with a bunch of snow on it and it was pretty cold out (probably 20s), and I get more water in it now than when new (it's 4 years old now) - it's not a flood by any stretch, but early on, it had very little get in. I think a couple of the seals may have gotten splits from folding, unfolding it, so it's not as water-tight as it used to be. But - it's been on two trucks, off and on countless times. I have always recommended it when people here are asking about folding hard covers, and still do.

In the first seal that split, I just squirted some permatex black silicone in there and it fixed it. I'll see if there are other places that need it.

I got mine (4 panel) from TruckAddons.com Even today, the original can still be had for $509 new.

Both the front and rear panels are lockable, and the front three panels can be stacked and secured on top of the 4th panel nearest the cab.

The front panel can also be opened independently near the front of the cab. I happen to like that better than the BakFlip, which leans up near the rear cab window. Others will like the function of the BakFlip better if they want more open bed space available w.o taking the cover off.

The Advance Cover truly is less than 5 min to put on and take off. It's light enough that I often jump off the tailgate to the ground with the cover in my hands - may not be the smartest thing to do - but I do.

 

Good info, thanks!

 

I had the 2-panel Advance cover on my 04 truck for 5 years. It did held up pretty good. But it did leak water near the front and rear since day one. I had it off many times too, since it was only 2 big panels, when you fold it in half, it still took up alot of bed space if you were trying to haul something big.

now I have the Bakflip HD cover on my new truck since March. So far it's working great with no leaks at all and it folds all the way up out of the way too, so I see no reason to ever really take it off. I'll see how it lasts durability-wise since I plan to have this truck for 5 to 7 years.

 

SteveVFX4,

Does the BakFlip have soft or hard panels? They appear to be soft panels in the video on their site, but they have a guy stand and sit on the panels.

I think we sort of hijacked the thread.

 

not sure about the plastic panel G2, but I have the HD and it has aluminum panels and they feel about the same as the panels on my old Advance cover except they are even thicker.