Outdoor AM covers

[bazzabee]

Hi all,

As I am now the proud owner of a Vantage, I was pondering whether to get an outdoor cover when I'm forced to park it in a Central London street.

I have a secured underground carpark to keep the car when I'm at home, but when visiting friends / dropping off lady friends and parking on the street I have been tempted to purchase a cover to make it more cumbersome to vandalise my car should a local hood rat get the urge.

Has anyone bought a decent one in the past?

The official one is £300, but this website is doing it for £141
http://www.astonparts.co.uk/acatalog/Aston_Martin_...

Has anyone got any experience in this arena?

Thanks
BB

[V8 Animal]

Found this for you
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/All-weather-Bespoke-cove...

[Jockman]

bazzabee said:

Hi all,

Has anyone bought a decent one in the past?

The official one is £300, but this website is doing it for £141
http://www.astonparts.co.uk/acatalog/Aston_Martin_...

Has anyone got any experience in this arena?

Thanks
BB

Barry the one on your site does not look like it has enough layers - you need the inside layer to be of a quality similar to that of a baby's bum. Investigate further rather than risking faint scratches in the paintwork.

The one on ebay looks better, though I'm sure my one has 4 layers.

Edit - http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a... for a couple more sites.

Edited by Jockman on Tuesday 4th October 16:39

[George H]

I've got the AM one. Works well, but the only problem I have had with it is when it is very windy, it has a habit of lifting the front of the cover. I found it half way up the bonnet one morning, luckily it didn't scratch it. Ideally it needs a strap running along the length of the car, to accompany the one that runs across the width. Other than that, never had a problem. Even comes in a nice AM branded bag

[JohnG1]

bazzabee said:

Hi all,

As I am now the proud owner of a Vantage, I was pondering whether to get an outdoor cover when I'm forced to park it in a Central London street.

I have a secured underground carpark to keep the car when I'm at home, but when visiting friends / dropping off lady friends and parking on the street I have been tempted to purchase a cover to make it more cumbersome to vandalise my car should a local hood rat get the urge.

Has anyone bought a decent one in the past?

The official one is £300, but this website is doing it for £141
http://www.astonparts.co.uk/acatalog/Aston_Martin_...

Has anyone got any experience in this arena?

Thanks
BB

I don't think you need one. Park an Aston and you get love. Park a Porsche and you have parentage questioned.

Really - the cover will probably make people more curious.

Relax and enjoy it!

[E31Shrew]

Good friend of mine owns Classic Additions who I believe are official suppliers to Aston. May be worth a call as I'm sure he'll be only too happy to give you advice. www.classicadditions.co.uk Ask for Adrian

[Jockman]

George H said:

I've got the AM one. Works well, but the only problem I have had with it is when it is very windy, it has a habit of lifting the front of the cover. I found it half way up the bonnet one morning, luckily it didn't scratch it. Ideally it needs a strap running along the length of the car, to accompany the one that runs across the width. Other than that, never had a problem. Even comes in a nice AM branded bag

Hey Georgeous, I got the one from the company in my hyperlink thread - not AM branded but very good quality - inclusive of 6 attached toggle eyes with three straps.

I usually use the 2 toggle eyes either side of the bonnet and the 2 either side of the boot to clamp the cover in. The two underneath the doors are a bit overkill.

The bag is excellent and the inside of the cover feels as velvety as the car roof interior.

I don't use the cover for security reasons, only to protect against snow and ice / frost

[George H]

Jockman said:

Hey Georgeous, I got the one from the company in my hyperlink thread - not AM branded but very good quality - inclusive of 6 attached toggle eyes with three straps.

I usually use the 2 toggle eyes either side of the bonnet and the 2 either side of the boot to clamp the cover in. The two underneath the doors are a bit overkill.

The bag is excellent and the inside of the cover feels as velvety as the car roof interior.

I don't use the cover for security reasons, only to protect against snow and ice / frost

Toggle eyes? How do they work? Do you need to open the bonnet/boot and then close it on them? Mine has elastic at the front and back so it tucks under the bumpers, and then a strap across the width in the middle of the car. Could do with either a strap between the front/back of the car and the wheels though, might stop the issue I described above.

Mine doesn't feel right velvety compared to the roof lining, it is fairly smooth though. It looks like this on the inside:

The outside of it is similar, but a bit darker colour, and doesn't feel as smooth.

I do like how you can get the one you have in different colours, but no way am I getting another after this one cost me £320!

[Jockman]

George H said:

Toggle eyes? How do they work? Do you need to open the bonnet/boot and then close it on them? Mine has elastic at the front and back so it tucks under the bumpers...

The eyes are simply for threading through the straps across the front, the middle and the rear (at ground level under the bumpers / sills), in lieu of elastication. Your elastication is obviously not strong enough for severe windy conditions, though I think you have a high quality cover nonetheless.

No sure why a picture of your underpants should in any way make me feel more enlightened

[George H]

Jockman said:

The eyes are simply for threading through the straps across the front, the middle and the rear (at ground level under the bumpers / sills), in lieu of elastication. Your elastication is obviously not strong enough for severe windy conditions, though I think you have a high quality cover nonetheless.

No sure why a picture of your underpants should in any way make me feel more enlightened

Since you said your cover was all velvety I was disappointed with the poor looking finish of mine. Though I will admit, it is a piss poor attempt at a photo, I was just trying to capture the detail of it!

I think the elastic would be more than enough if I didn't live in a very windy place.