Outdoor Elise Car Covers?

[soulkid555]

I have no garage.

Are the ourdoor covers much use? i.e. do they protect the car just as well as if it were in a garage?

I presume before I cover the car, it must be spotless and dry?

[limpsfield]

I thought about it but in the end never bothered. My car is 50/50 outside/garaged.

My understanding is it has to be clean when it goes undercover or there is the risk of scratching. If it was going to be laid up for a long time then worth it, but for me too much hassle.

[soulkid555]

Given that the Elise is carbon fibre..the body will not rust..

I just want to keep the car in as good condition as I can.

I will be driving it about 4 days per week. (2 days during the week and all weekend )

[otolith]

Glass fibre, not carbon.

There are some issues with blistering of paint on cars kept outside, and covers don't seem to prevent it. There is another issue which may be helped, which is that they often leak. I'm considering a shower cap for that reason.

[bogie]

www.carcoversuk.com - they give discount for club members

they are great, for winter use, if you leave it days during snow etc ...but not what you want to be putting on/off 2x a day really

get a showercape, the type with engine cover flap etc - they are really handy and save defrosting in the morning if you have a daily driver

[jondude]

I think this may be an area where you do get what you pay for....

I have typically bought the cheap and cheerful covers, then seen them blown off the car within minutes of windy weather. You must then spend time fastening the cover with straps but it will still balloon and flap as even small universal car covers dwarf the Elise.

But such covers do help. They keep cats off (due to the flapping and ballooning) and tree sap, bird sh-ite etc.

And at around 15 quid a pop, a lot, lot cheaper than tailor made ones. But I would hope the expensive ones fit more snugly, really are breathable (all the cheapos say they are but are not) and longer lasting. (The aerial soon pierces holes in the cheap covers, then the flapping rips the cover to shreds).

I need the cover to keep cats off and for when I have the car out of the garage for extended periods (summer!) so don't mind using the cheap Argos efforts. They also give the impression the car underneath must be a cheap wreck, which is good, too!

If it really was all I had to protect the car I'd consider better quality, but only if I could be sure it wouldn't flap and fart about. And I am not convinced these 250 quid covers can guarantee that without the above time consuming work with straps.

If you don't have an issue with cats or loads of trees/birds nearby, I'd leave it uncovered and just wash and rinse the car once a week.

[Speckle]

www.specialisedcarcovers.com

I had one of these for my Elise and now for my Exige which is kept outside. They are absolutely brilliant and completely weatherproof. Not cheap but, well worth in imo.

Bit of a faff to take off and fold up if you're going to be using the car every day though as they're reasonably heavy duty...

[zebra]

Bought Stormforce from Cover Zone a few months back for the Mrs' new Elise; cost £161. Comes with straps although it is a pretty snug fit so only pillows in really bad wind [no gags please]. The covers are also breathable so no issues putting them back on a wet car.

[soulkid555]

Thanks for all the helpful replies and great info..

[tentative]

Something else which you may not have considered. I kept my Elise covered parked on a London backroad (where there was competition for parking spaces). Having the cover meant that on two occasions when people knocked into the car when parking there own they probably weren't able to see the cracks they'd put in the carbon fibre....

Gives people an excuse to say they didn't see the damage they had caused and drive away feeling (a little) less guilty.

[Stu_00]

I think some of you wish it was "Carbon Fibre" - thats more for the likes of Pagani lol

I would say Car cover is only good for long amounts of time...

[LivinLaVidaLotus]

bogie said:

www.carcoversuk.com - they give discount for club members

they are great, for winter use, if you leave it days during snow etc ...but not what you want to be putting on/off 2x a day really

get a showercape, the type with engine cover flap etc - they are really handy and save defrosting in the morning if you have a daily driver

I'll second this, but I use mine every day - only takes 30 seconds to get off and I can have it back on before the immobiliser kicks in - so it doesn't take long to put on once you've had a few goes and got your technique right. There hasn't been a night where mine hasn't been covered up in the 3 years since I got it.

[zebra]

Stu_00 said:

I think some of you wish it was "Carbon Fibre" - thats more for the likes of Pagani lol

I would say Car cover is only good for long amounts of time...

Unless you live underneath pine trees that drop resin throughout the year and ruin soft tops as well entire flocks of birds that love to deposit the entire contents of their bowels on any car on our drive, oh yeah and the cats that leave scratches on cars as they jump on top to keep warm after you've pulled up for the night, etc, etc, etc

We love our car cover!

[zebra]

Stu_00 said:

I think some of you wish it was "Carbon Fibre" - thats more for the likes of Pagani lol

I would say Car cover is only good for long amounts of time...

Unless you live underneath pine trees that drop resin throughout the year and ruin soft tops as well entire flocks of birds that love to deposit the entire contents of their bowels on any car on our drive, oh yeah and the cats that leave scratches on cars as they jump on top to keep warm after you've pulled up for the night, etc, etc, etc

We love our car cover!

[Fatrat]

LivinLaVidaLotus said:

bogie said:

www.carcoversuk.com - they give discount for club members

they are great, for winter use, if you leave it days during snow etc ...but not what you want to be putting on/off 2x a day really

get a showercape, the type with engine cover flap etc - they are really handy and save defrosting in the morning if you have a daily driver

I'll second this, but I use mine every day - only takes 30 seconds to get off and I can have it back on before the immobiliser kicks in - so it doesn't take long to put on once you've had a few goes and got your technique right. There hasn't been a night where mine hasn't been covered up in the 3 years since I got it.

LLVL

I've looked at the website. Do the straps run under the car? Is it really that quick to get on and off and what about the paintwork? I thought that unless the car was absolutely clean there was a risk of the paintwork being scratched?

[LivinLaVidaLotus]

Straps run under the car - you develop a good knack at throwing them under from one side to the other

It is better if the paintwork is clean, but I've never let it be an issue - sure I've got a few very light surface marks (nothing major and nothing worse then most people would get from washing it with a sponge). At the end of the day, a few very light marks that can be buffed out if I wanted are much better than:

1) Bird crap
2) Cats scratching the paintwork (using car as scratching post and sliding down off of it when they've been on the roof), and before anyone says they don't do that, I've seen them do it to mine - got a scratch where one was jumping down via the front and scratched the paintwork.
3) Being covered in 3" of snow

Edited by LivinLaVidaLotus on Wednesday 15th September 13:43

[zebra]

LivinLaVidaLotus said:

3) Being covered in 3" of snow

You must live in the south _ that's tropical weather for me in Northumberland.

[Fatrat]

What you mean this kind of tropical?????..................

[/URL]

[bogie]

re straps - I only used the front and rear ones (not middle) mostly

scratching car ...if you are sensible this isnt an issue, you will scratch it more yourself when polishing than the cover will do, if you are careful

...so naturally if the car has 2 weeks of crud all over it, you wont just repeatedly take the cover on and off 3 times a day...at least try to make sure its not completely filthy

personally, I only used to use mine in winter (saves defrost time) or when I went away for more than a day or two, without using the car. Occasionally if I wanted to keep it clean for a special event, I would clean it then use the cover

[Chimjunkie]

Mines a covercraft. Makes the car look dirty in an unreveiling sexual way!

Find it really useful for when the car has been cleaned and wont be used for a few days. I can just remove the cover and the car is as clean as when i left it.