Having never owned a convertible before I did a bit of research before buying mine. The average life expectancy of a convertible top is 5-7 years. Vinyl tops are less at 3-5 years. This comes from several convertible top manufacturers.
If something should fail on my top on my almost 9 year old car, guess what, I got several years of basically free time out of it!
I cannot believe people keep throwing around lawsuit this and lawsuit that over failure of something that is beyond its normal life expectancy!
Hate me if you want, but top failure is a risk you take when owning a convertible that is older than 5 years. The blame cannot be placed on anybody but yourself. Can't accept the risks? Buy a brand new convertible or top and enjoy it for 5 years then replace it. Don't want to do that? Don't buy a convertible!
The time has come to accept responsibility for your own decisions.