Thoughts on Car Covers? Disposable vs. California Car Cover/Covercraft (1 Viewer)

[jebb]

I've had a $50 car cover on my FJ62 for about the past year. It's starting to rip apart so I need to replace it. I live in Southern California, and I'm mainly worried about sun damage and protection from the resin that my neighbor's trees drip onto vehicles in my driveway.

I was thinking about ordering a quality cover that would hopefully last longer than a year, but the covers absorb a lot of abuse, dirt, grime etc. I'm not totally convinced that for my usecase, I'll actually want to be covering my cruiser with a cover that has nine years of grime built up on it, and they certainly don't seem easy to clean.

Thoughts on these? Feels bad to buy something knowing it's going in the trash in ~12 months, but I'm not sure these $500 CCC covers are worth the money.

 

[OSS]

I never used a cover on my 60 for 29 years and it was always kept outdoors close to the beach so there was always dew every morning. Never parked it under a sap tree though. Then the last year I owned it (7 months actually) I wasn't driving it and had it stored a few blocks from the ocean outdoors. Heavy salt dew every morning.
The person renting me a spot to store my cruiser had a Jeep Comanchee which is almost the same size & type of vehicle as the FJ60 ... and she had a factory Jeeo car cover for it she never used - She let me use it on my cruiser.

Every two weeks I'd visit my cruiser to run the engine and I was really pleased with how well the cover protected the paint. Even on dewey mornings ;like every morning) the car was dry under the cover. Also no dirt accumulated on the paint while under the cover. Car was clean.

That's my experience with a car cover (it was a good one I think made by California Covers) and I was very impressed. It really makes a big difference protecting the car

 

[gregnash]

Yeah I hate leaving any vehicle under a tree that saps, makes it stupidly hard to clean when the time comes. Actually just had to Goo Gone my hood on the 60 because apparently I parked somewhere and had two nice quarter sized drops on my hood along with a few other smaller ones.

Anyways, for the CoverCraft sunshade I thought they had like a 5yr or even lifetime warranty? I would check their website and see. I have had one since the spring of this year and while pricey, they seem very well made but can see how multiple opening/closing would wear it out quickly.

For the cover, like anything else, you will get what you pay for when purchasing. I have had buddies that store their classic cars in dank garages or barns and pulling the cover off after the vehicle sitting for an extended period of time has always seemed to yield great results. But everyone's usecase is a bit different. My FIL has his chevelle under one constantly and it seems to do a great job of protecting the paint and overall quality of the vehicle.

 

[Willard]

Have never used one on my 60 but had them on other cars.
Really does protect the paint and the vehicle overall.

I will be buying one for my 60 as it will need to be outside part of the winter.