Elise kept outdoors

[carspath]

I would love to get an Elise , but would not have garage space for it.

I live close to the sea on the South Coast , so experience strong winds , but am far enough away for sea spray NOT to be a problem.

Renting garage space is not an option.

Do any/many of you keep an Elise outside ?

Are breathable car covers likely to cause more damage than good ?

Are these car covers likely to stay on in 50mph winds ? , and if so which brands have you had positive direct experiences with ?

Are hard tops or shower caps more suitable for the issues I have described above ?

Thank you in anticipation of constructive advice

[anonymous-user]

I kept an Elise outside under a breathable cover for 2 years with no issues.
Put a hard top on but that was more because it looked cool

[carspath]

Thanks Kierek.

What brand of breathable car cover did you use ?

Thank you

[kambites]

If you're going to keep it outdoors I'd strongly recommend getting a car with air conditioning to demist the windscreen and generally stop the interior getting damp.

Otherwise they're fine kept outside really. The last persistent leak was fixed in MY04 (the addition of some little cups to catch drips at the top fo the A-pillars). If you intend to use it all year round you might find you tend to get ice on the inside of the windscreen in the winter which is a pain to clear but again air-conditioning will help mitigate it by keeping the interior drier.

I've never bothered with a cover. I don't really see what purpose it would serve.

Edited by kambites on Saturday 3rd November 10:44

[Venisonpie]

Mine lives outside and is just fine as per any other modern car (2014 model). I wash it every Saturday morning and it looks as fresh as when I bought it in May from a garaged keeper. Do it, they're ace little cars.
Would agree on the air con comment though.

[MrC986]

I'm sure it would have been redesigned by now, though I had an 02 Elise from new for a year or two & whilst it lived in a garage, it did develop once an alarm fault once when parked up for an extended period in very heavy rain when the siren got wet (presumed to be a poorly sited siren box).

As for car covers, the likes of Covercraft do suitable breathable products, though be warned that you need a tight fit to prevent undue "flapping" in windy weather. You will get some very slightly marking on the parts of the bodywork where it's a tight fit & they advise not to put a cover on a dirty car etc, (Google "car covers" as there's lots of advice, though some products claim it's ok to apply to wet cars).

[Tickle]

I bought a cover for when moving house, Specialised one. The cover was very good; fit, fastenings and material. The cover was just to tide me over until the garage was cleared in the new house, only a few weeks in the end.

I should add, my car is a weekend car so I could always wash it properly before putting the cover on. I wouldn't like to put the cover on a dirty car living outside. Even though the fitted covers are good, they still flap with wind, not great for your paint if the car is dirty.

If you are getting an S1, the hardtop probably leaks more than the soft-top. A shower cape is probably the best solution over the soft-top, least you could take the roof off if you so wish.

[ludo]

My S1 lives outside all year round, and drive it more or less everyday, not been a problem. It does have a hard-top, the window seals are not great, but not had any leaks.

[Bispal]

Kept my S1 outside under a specialised cover and that was fine. If it rains without a cover you can get water ingress at top of windows.

[Dift]

All my Elise (S2 K series, S2 Honda and Europa) have lived outside. Never garaged, no issues at all. Would do it again in a heartbeat.
I would ensure you set the window seals up well (or just get a short roof S2 )

[RTB]

I kept my Elise S2 and Exige 190 outside through hard northern winters and ended up with paint bubbling on both. Not sure if a garage would have prevented it or not. Make sure your roof fits well. I had a shower cape for the S2 Elise which kept the weather out of the cabin.

My Exige is now in a garage and it seems much happier. Although if I had to store it outside I probably would do, it had no impact on the reliability of it.

[jondude]

Only real issue with parking outside is...other parkers. Try not to park where you know people will be reversing to park alongside you.

[otolith]

Mine lives outside.

The two things which can be an issue are that the roofs are not always leakproof, and that the paintwork sometimes blisters as a result of moisture in the fibreglass going through freeze/thaw cycles.

I had to get my door resprayed, twice. The second time seems to have worked.

[carspath]

Thank you for all your replies

On the strength of these , I went to see an Elise last Sat , and am off to see an Exige tomorrow .

1) Where can I get a shower cape from ?
Will a shower cape flap around in strong wind , or are there tight attachment cables that prevent flapping ?
Can a cape be used on a Exige S2 ?
Is there a particular brand of cape that is recommended ?

2) is there a brand of Breathable outside car cover that you can recommend from personal experience ?

Thanks for all your help

[p4cks]

I had a VX220 for over ten years and never had any problems whatsoever when it was parked outside

You'll be fine

[dgr]

Eliseparts supplied my S2 shower cape many years ago. I use it to keep some shade and let some air flow through when parking with the roof off on sunny days. It’s actually quicker to fit the S2 soft top! I wouldn’t use it with a hardtop or in a strong wind. Getting the windows properly adjusted to fit with the roof helps a lot to reduce any leakage.

Specialised have a good reputation for covers, https://www.specialisedcovers.com/car-covers/

[RTB]

dgr said:

I use it to keep some shade and let some air flow through when parking with the roof off on sunny days.

I used to do that with my S2 (long roof) Elise. I came back after a brief but heavy downpour to find the cape had filled up with liters of water and was sagging into the cabin. I ended up going into a kitchen-ware shop to buy a plastic jug so I could gently bail out the shower cape.

After that I used to prop a bit of stick in the middle so the water would run off.....

[anonymous-user]

carspath said:

Thank you for all your replies

On the strength of these , I went to see an Elise last Sat , and am off to see an Exige tomorrow .

1) Where can I get a shower cape from ?
Will a shower cape flap around in strong wind , or are there tight attachment cables that prevent flapping ?
Can a cape be used on a Exige S2 ?
Is there a particular brand of cape that is recommended ?

2) is there a brand of Breathable outside car cover that you can recommend from personal experience ?

Thanks for all your help

My cover was from classicadditions.com

Maybe nothing in it but I preferred a full cover as it protected the car from uv fading

[otolith]

A cape will prevent water ingress.

It's not clear that a cover will prevent blistering, and a cover on a dirty car can scratch it when the wind moves it.

The prevalence of blistering appears to vary between models, depending on the panel manufacturing process. Doesn't seem to affect Exiges often. Don't know about VX.