I love driving with the top down - in fact it's one of the reasons I bought my XK8. I live in a mild climate, and any day that's not raining, the top goes down.
Can all that down-and-up be bad for the top system? I was thinking about just leaving the top down and using a car cover - until I did some research here and learned about the issues with car covers and paint damage.
I don't have an indoor garage, only a carport. So for now I'll continue to raise the top each evening.

How often do you go topless, and what do you do about leaving the top down or putting it up?

 

I've seen in previous threads the opinion relayed that leaving the top down can make the creases in the folded top more prominent than they would be if it were kept up when the car is not in use. When I first got my car, because of all of the talk about the green shower, I figured that the less frequently that I put the top up and down the better. The problem is that some of what I read says that you should not use a waterproof cover on the car because of the humidity that can remain under it can damage the paint if it stays there for a long time (water spots?) so you are supposed to use a cover that breathes. I bought one of those and used it and the dust and pollen would go through it and the car and the inside of the car would be dirty when I took the cover off. Mind you, my car is not a daily driver, so I might be taking the top off once every week or two. I think that they make some covers that just cover the interior of the car, but, because of the creasing issue, I just put it up when I am not going to use the car for a while. Oh, and then there was also the time when I came in late one night and decided to leave the top down because I was going to drive it the next morning. A friendly neighborhood cat decided that this was an opportunity that he could not miss and decided that the convertible cover was a great place to sleep and sharpen his claws. I was glad that he did not decide to relieve himself on my leather seats or claw them up as well.

 

My wife hits the top down button every time she exits the garage. I wouldn't be to concerned about how often it is cycled. I would recommend for longevity you look at installing the pressure relief valve for the pump. One of the members of the forum designed and built it.Gus sells it on line and the install is a breeze. He is also willing to jump in if you have a queation.
Gus Glikas at JagRepair.com - Jaguar Repair Information Resource

 

I would also recommend the pressure relief valve. After getting the "Green Shower" and removing all of the interior to replace the top latch hose, I installed and adjusted the valve to just enough pressure to lock the top in place.

The system's pump was designed with way more "horsepower" and over-pressurizes or when the top goes up and latches or "dead-heads".

I leave my top up to keep the creases away and to keep dust off the seats.

 

I put my top down in the spring and back up in the fall. I use an interior cover.

 

I go top down every morning. My kids are now 11 and 13 and it's much easier to take them to school that way. I then put it up then or after I get to work 20 minutes away depending on the weather. I would plus one the relief valve. I also swapped out the hoses and cylinder just to be safe. The other thing I use is the remote opener that thejagwrangler.com sells. Easy to install and makes putting the top up and down much easier.

 

how much is the relief valve kit. Not seeing price at the link given above.

 

Send me an email and I will send you the info on the LSI valve.

Gus
www.jagrepair.com

 

Go out side, look around, nice day, top down. Get to where you're going, look around, still nice, top down. Go home, park the car....top up

 

It will be mid-Autumn on Sunday, September 27 this year, and time to go around top down when the weather gets below 25 degrees Celcius or 77 degrees F, unless it rains ... The weather here is just so mild most of the year except the summer months which you simply cannot bear the heat and humidity and must drive top up with air-conditioning full on.

 

My wife and I just got back from an 800 mile, 4 day road trip in our 2003 XKR convertible. Just before we left I installed the LSI pressure reducer which I purchased from Gus. The weather was perfect, so the top was down for most of those 800 miles. Since we had lots of "traveling" equipment with us, we would raise the top if we parked the car where we couldn't keep an eye on it. We probably put 25 up/down cycles on the top during those 4 days. When we got home I noticed some discoloration on both sides of the top in a line running from a point just aft of the rear side window to the upper corner of the rear window. I haven't tried to clean it yet - hopefully these are not wear marks from the top rubbing on something.

 

unless it is raining, below 45F or parked somewhere I do not have visibility of her, top is down.

 

I put my top down in May and it is still down.

I will probably put it back up in another 2 or 3 weeks. I keep the car in a garage and generally check the weather before I take it to work or anywhere I will be gone for more than a half hour.

 

I only use my car in good weather, so the top is pretty much down from May to September, but goes up if I stop to shop somewhere. It's always garaged so I don't have to worry about leaving it down when I'm home.

I suspect it does increase the visibility of creases by leaving it down for long periods, but since I'm usually looking at the car with the top down I don't notice!

If you are planning to show the car then I'd worry more about keeping the creases out.

I wasn't aware of the pressure relieve valve, may have to get in touch with Gus on that!