• Welcome to the Contour Enthusiasts Group, the best resource for the Ford Contour and Mercury Mystique.

    You can register to join the community.

Car cover: the lesser of 2 evils?

G

Guitarman19853

Hard-core CEG'er
Joined
May 21, 2005
Messages
1,305
Location
Pittsburgh, Pa
So i have a slight problem. My parking spot at my building is right next to a dirt construction yard. Whenever its dry out, all the dirt/dust that gets kicked up from the yard ends up on my car. last week i finished washing and waxing on monday at 6pm by the same time tuesday when i went to take my car somewhere, it had a layer of dirt/dust so thick i could write in it. so what should i do? i'm going to ask management of my building if i can move my spot if something comes available, but if i cant, i would ask if i can use a car cover.

my question is, would a car cover be worse for my paint than all the dirt on it? (who knows if any rocks or anything get kicked up. never seen anything, but i guess it could happen) i've heard of covers swirlig paint pretty bad and it would be taken on and off pretty frequently. naturally it would have to be an outdoor car cover. any other suggestions? warnings?

oh and one more thing, i cant stand my car dirty... so even if the dirt doesnt damage the paint, i'd rather put a car cover on it just to keep it clean (if it doesnt damage it)
 
i keep my 67 mustang in my parents garage with a car cover on it...and its got custom paint so i would say a car cover wont do damage as long as the car is clean...i guess the only issue would be if the car had debri on it and you covered it and then the wind picked up...thats the only scenario i can think of a car cover working in a negative way
 
you are going to have to wash the cover often. mine works great, but after a heavy rain the dirt comes through it.

just use a duster first before you cover the car an dyou should be fine and of course keep it waxed
 
IMHO , I think unless you're gonna wash the car each time you cover it , the cover will do MORE damage than just leaving it uncovered . If there's the slightest dirt under the cover , any wind/movement of the cover will scratch the car pretty badly . Fine scratches , mind you , but scratches nonetheless :( . Plus , I think if there's anything but fine dust , it will ruin a car duster in a heck of a hurry too :( .
 
Last edited:
i like to keep my car that clean anyways... i dont know... but would that scratch it more than a huge buildup of dust? i would imagine that it would get scratched just from washing that stuff of because of how much is there
 
I keep my car dirty. IN fact, don't shoot me, but I havent washed it since I bought it in 2004.


There is something to be said about the protective effects of dirt.
 
monsoon725 said:
I keep my car dirty. IN fact, don't shoot me, but I havent washed it since I bought it in 2004.


There is something to be said about the protective effects of dirt.
Click to expand...

The only thing that is protecting, is your chance of ever selling it in the future. :blackeye:

Guitarman- I would pass on the car cover. If you say you wash the car pretty often anyway, then what's the difference between covering it and not? I wouldn't put a cover on unless it has just been washed. I'd definitely have a talk with your complex manager about a new spot. I'd personally be inclined to move.

Mark
 
Too much work to keep your car clean and then covering it up. The best bet is to switch spots. Ask if you can trade spots with another tenant.
 
i had asked at the end of last year to have my spot changed this year and they told me that they couldnt. so i'm going to ask if i can switch if something opens up and then maybe move to a differenty lot at the semester... or just deal with it.
 
Y2KSVT said:
The only thing that is protecting, is your chance of ever selling it in the future. :blackeye:

Guitarman- I would pass on the car cover. If you say you wash the car pretty often anyway, then what's the difference between covering it and not? I wouldn't put a cover on unless it has just been washed. I'd definitely have a talk with your complex manager about a new spot. I'd personally be inclined to move.

Mark
Click to expand...

Im not selling it. Its been paid for since I bought it and intend on driving it into the ground.
 
I would suggest going out and spending $20 on a california car duster, that thing does wonders. I use it all the time after i've washed and waxed my car. Dust comes right off and your car looks like you've just washed, and it shines. Only thing that sucks is if it rains and you get water spots etc, then the duster doesn't always get that off. From what you described though a duster would be just fine for the time being.
 
CSVT_2004 said:
I would suggest going out and spending $20 on a california car duster, that thing does wonders. I use it all the time after i've washed and waxed my car. Dust comes right off and your car looks like you've just washed, and it shines. Only thing that sucks is if it rains and you get water spots etc, then the duster doesn't always get that off. From what you described though a duster would be just fine for the time being.
Click to expand...


I have one of those dusters and they do work well. I only use it after I wax the car. If I drive it I wash the car over and then use the duster. I feel that I will ruin the paint if I just dust the car through out the week with out washing it.
 
Ryan, take before and after shots of your clean/dirty car, and use that to help convince him. If he sees concrete (pun not intended:laugh: ) evidence, maybe he will rethink the issue. If not, try a ballbat.:laugh: Just kidding. Good luck man.
 
I myself have been using a cover for my car for about a year now and love it,I also wash clay and wax my car religiously(sp?) and for the most part i put the cover on after I wash the car.I really never put it on unless I have washed the car for the exception of a big snow storm or something of that kind.Guitarman,I think that if you can't get a new spot I would use a car cover for your car,that just makes more sense to me then to have it open for all the dust,dirt and rocks to hit it. just my 2cents!
 
Quick question, is the dust on your car always as bad as it was after your recent wash and wax? If you washed the car, then waxed it, but did not wash it again, you probably left the surface of the car charged by rubbing it with the buffing cloth, therefore attracting more dust particles than usual. Anytime I wax my cars and leave them without washing, they attract dust like crazy, even while garaged.

Anyway, I think the car duster is your solution here, like the other guys said. Clean the car and then you can maintain it by using the duster, probably once every couple of days. When the surface is nice and smooth (like after claybar/waxing) the dust will slide right off with the greatest of ease and it will look great for a while until the road grime and bird crap starts to build back up, etc. The nice thing is that if you keep up on the dusting, if a little annoying light sprinkling storm comes along (like the ridiculously high amount of these we get in AZ) after its done sprinkling/raining you can go out and towel the car off and it's good to go again.... softwater wash.
 
Guitarman19853 said:
i had asked at the end of last year to have my spot changed this year and they told me that they couldnt. so i'm going to ask if i can switch if something opens up and then maybe move to a differenty lot at the semester... or just deal with it.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I don't have to deal with much dirt on my campus, even though I'm in Kansas. I just have to deal with drunks. Oktoberfest was last weekend, and I now have three nice little scratches/dents on my driver's side door. Not that deep, but it looks like someone swiped it with a pitchfork. I swore quite loudly on Sunday when I found it.
 
2 options

1) move somewhere else
2) if you have a self storage place nearby,rent a a unit and keep your car there
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top