Pesky hood and trunk lids....

THis is really not a big deal but..... I want to baby my CS and so when I close either the hood or the trunk lids....I try to do so softly. My luck, if I slam it with the palm of my hand....I will put a dent in the sheet metal. My problem is that the lids will seemingly close the first attempt, then I will get in the car and buckle up and drive off....only to hear warnings that the lid is still open. So I have to pull off the road and close it again. To solve this, I have been pushing harder on the lids, which does work. But I feel like I have to put too much force for my comfort level. For comparision, my 04 BMW 330i never had these issues. Both lids would shut just by dropping them under their own weight. Is this due to the CS beign made of lighter guage material, or lighter design ....or is it the latch style? Or am I just neurotic and crazy. Is this annoying anyone else?

For me, on the front, a good, firm push on the Porsche badge to set the latch works just fine. Although I have accidentally opened the front with the key button, this can't happen when you are driving.

There have been several discussions on how to properly close a Porsche's front and rear "lids" that you might find useful. Here is one: http://www.planet-9.com/showthread.php?t=7431&highlight=close+trunk and here is another: http://www.planet-9.com/showthread.php?t=1475&highlight=close+trunk

Salesman that sold me the car said NOT to push on the Porsche badge to close the front--they will break. Use both hands and push down on metal on both sides of the badge instead...

I stand corrected! Just as an aside - has anyone actually seen or reliably heard of a lid being dented by closing it using an improper procedure?

ditto i was told the same thing...the new cayman hoods are aluminum and as such will be more likely to dent if you use the badge..as far as i know its the only porsche that is to be handled with two hands when closing the hood...the trunk of course is much heftier..

I close the lid in the front with both hands on each right and left corner, seems to work fine.

Don't you wish that Porsche would install one of those nifty soft drop electric latches that they've been using on Lincolns and Cadilacs for 20 years now? You know, the ones where you drop the trunk just enough to touch the latch, and then the electric latch slowly pulls the trunk tightly closed. I am seeing an aftermarket opportunity here........

Most of you are right on. You may get a few finger prints on your hood, but you can wipe those off, but you can not wipe those dents away. My best guess is that you want to spread the force out as much as possible, so I fully entend my figers to cover as much area as possible. Do not press on the hood crest unless you want a concave hood badge. I have seen many of those that were destroyed. You can also crack the glass in the crest.

A side problem is that if you close the hood by pushing on the badge, it will work loose. That happened on my 2000 Boxster S. I close mine by pushing just below the badge, in the center where the latch is.

Me too. I can't believe it took this many posts for someone to post that. One look at the hood is all it takes. That's where the latch is attached, so that's where I push. it's not going to dent if you're pushing on the center of resistance. Same for the back. Center, below the script.

I dont have the manual in front of me to double check but I remember it having directions on how to properly close both the trunk and hood.

Pg 148 of the owner's manual: Closing front and rear luggage compartment lid. - Lower the lid and close it. - Push the lid closed with the palm of your hand in the area of the lock. Check that the lid has correctly engaged the lock. I'd like to point out that this is the opposite of both a salesman and an independent (but Porsche-trained) mechanic who both told me to use the back of my hands on each corner of the hood. That makes no sense to me - I'll stick to the method in the manual.

Actually, the latch is a pass and catch device: it overshoots the closed position and does not stop until the lateral rubber lugs prevent final downthrust. Thus, regardless of what the manual says, it is more reasonable to hold both hands towards the outboard area of the hood, in the region of the stops and press firmly downward. I've never had a problem closing the hood in this manner.

Swancoat: You have made a good point, but consider this. The hood up/down level for the front lip of the hood is determined by the vertical adjustment of the big wire hook in the hood itself. As you close the hood, one gets the impression that there is an over-ride where the hood presses against the widespread gasketing and ultimately the rubber stops. I envision more danger for deformation of the aluminum sheeting by applying point force versus a more distributed force with two hands. Just my two cents.

The simplest method is to sit on the hood with butt cheeks on either side of the badge thereby assuring maximum coverage and distribution of weight. For men, pulling your pants down in order to use this method is NOT recommended.