Should I use a car cover during the winter?

[Chogokin]

Even better, just do it yourself. You can buy all of the tools and materials you need for less than one decent detailing. Of course a large portion of my garage is taken over with car detailing crap, so if you don't have a garage, this is even less appealing.

I bought a small electric polisher from Amazon. I do small portions of the car at a time. It doesn't need to take up a lot of space.

This is from the first pass.

 

[bentin]

Ain't no of got time for that. But seriously, Id rather pay someone.

You know what they say. So few of “professional” detailers really do it right.

 

[Strange Mud]

I wouldn't use on for a daily. The taking on/off will cause more damage unless the car is clean. I use them inside for winter storage just to keep dust off when I work in it

 

[Maiden69]

Anything that touches the paint will create marring... and those covers, even the most expensive ones will scratch the paint. There is no way to "dust" the paint correctly without using a rinse-less medium. Not even the so call "detailing sprays" as almost all of them contain fillers to cover the micro-scratches you will create while using them. Snow is not going to damage your paint, prep your car before winter, use a sealant or have your car ceramic coated which will reduce the amount of crap that sticks to your pain and act as a sacrificial layer so your paint don't take the beating.

 

[sbarrett4]

It would be a huge pain if you were to take the cover on and off every day. It would be a process to remove and put on twice a day. You would have to clean the car before putting the cover on to avoid scratching the car. I used a cover sparingly over the summer where my car would sit out side for a couple days...and even cleaning the car before putting the cover on...I would still find scratches on the car.

Its really not that bad. Takes 5 minutes. Haven't noticed any scratches specifically from the cover on my black GTI for 6 years.

 

[bentin]

Its really not that bad. Takes 5 minutes. Haven't noticed any scratches specifically from the cover on my black GTI for 6 years.

Oh, you've got them, but if you don't notice, carry on. My wife gets tired of me pointing out cars with swirl marks, like it's some sort of surprise.

 

[bentin]

I bought a small electric polisher from Amazon. I do small portions of the car at a time. It doesn't need to take up a lot of space.

This is from the first pass.

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You know, even with both a rotary and random orbital, a few dozen different pads and an absurd amount of polishes, I struggle to get those stupid black panels much better than that, and they seem to revert back to looking like your first image in a few months. I have an ancient bottle of Klasse AIO that is only used on the b pillars of all of our cars, for some reason it seems to hold up better than any wax, synthetic or ceramic coating. I suppose the smart thing to do would be to have those things ppf'ed when I get the windows tinted on my new car. I dislike PPF on the actual paint, but wouldn't mind it there and honestly, around the goofball sunroof surround. Dammit, new car gets more expensive every day. Painted front reflectors, new wheels, MIlltek exhaust, new shift knob, hidden hitch, ceramic tint and now random ppf, crap...

 

[TheJokker]

I live out in the country and woods surround my property. I have used a car cover for almost 5 years now. It's not perfect but it will offer far more protection than nothing. I take off the cover the exact same way every time and put on the cover on the same way every time and it takes me about 2 minutes. I literally can do it in the dark because I follow the same routine.

The guys who have pointed out the problems with using a cover are exactly right. But if the car is not covered it is going to get baked and bleached by the sun in the summer and on windy days it is going to get slightly sandblasted by dirt and sand. After five years a car that has been protected by a cover will look much newer than a car left out in the elements.

The cover will get dirty from use but I wash my cover and car about once a month and my car still looks great. If you do not have a garage it is a great option.

 

[bentin]

I live out in the country and woods surround my property. I have used a car cover for almost 5 years now. It's not perfect but it will offer far more protection than nothing. I take off the cover the exact same way every time and put on the cover on the same way every time and it takes me about 2 minutes. I literally can do it in the dark because I follow the same routine.

The guys who have pointed out the problems with using a cover are exactly right. But if the car is not covered it is going to get baked and bleached by the sun in the summer and on windy days it is going to get slightly sandblasted by dirt and sand. After five years a car that has been protected by a cover will look much newer than a car left out in the elements.

The cover will get dirty from use but I wash my cover and car about once a month and my car still looks great. If you do not have a garage it is a great option.

Could you use an EZ Up cover instead? Doesn't provide quite as much protection, but raises the overall ire of your neighbors greatly.

 

[TheJokker]

Could you use an EZ Up cover instead? Doesn't provide quite as much protection, but raises the overall ire of your neighbors greatly.

There are going to be days and nights when that will blow away... The car is not going to be inside all the time.

 

[bentin]

There are going to be days and nights when that will blow away... The car is not going to be inside all the time.

Wouldn’t those be days you wouldn’t really want to use the car cover too though?

 

[TheJokker]

Wouldn’t those be days you wouldn’t really want to use the car cover too though?

I live in Florida and there have been days in the past 5 years when storms came through with 50+ mph winds and it never blew my cover off.

 

[Chogokin]

You know, even with both a rotary and random orbital, a few dozen different pads and an absurd amount of polishes, I struggle to get those stupid black panels much better than that, and they seem to revert back to looking like your first image in a few months. I have an ancient bottle of Klasse AIO that is only used on the b pillars of all of our cars, for some reason it seems to hold up better than any wax, synthetic or ceramic coating. I suppose the smart thing to do would be to have those things ppf'ed when I get the windows tinted on my new car. I dislike PPF on the actual paint, but wouldn't mind it there and honestly, around the goofball sunroof surround. Dammit, new car gets more expensive every day. Painted front reflectors, new wheels, MIlltek exhaust, new shift knob, hidden hitch, ceramic tint and now random ppf, crap...

Lol...mine got scratches just by looking at the car with a side eye. I think I'm going to get it vinyl wrapped. The Mk6 uses a flat paint...the gloss looks nice on the Mk7...but it can scratch just by breathing on it.