Car Covers, advice appreciated
 

Evening, ladies and gents. Winter's rolling around, and I need a good quality car cover for the lady (newest member of the family, hasn't quite earned a space in the garage yet), and I am pretty much deciding between these two:

Boxster Silverguard Plus Cover
Boxster Silverguard Plus Cover - All Weather:Porsche Parts & Porsche Accessories - Wholesale Porsche Parts & Tequipment - Cayman Panamera Cayenn

Covecraft Noah Car Cover
1997 Porsche Boxster Noah Car Cover - 950+ Reviews on Custom Covercraft Noah Car Covers & Best Prices - Videos & Installs

The cost between the two is basically the same since Suncoast charges enough shipping to make the pricese equal, and I know one is meant specifically for the car. So I'd like to hear some experience from folks who store their vehicle outdoors (I expect there aren't likely to be many of you).

Being in CT, I experience all four seasons, and none of them are nice about it. I pretty much cover the car whenever it's not being daily driven to protect it from both the sun and any bad weather that may come around. Unfortunately, the cover I had previously did not last (I got what I paid for). The elastic stretched, it tore, and it didn't do much to repel a lot of moisture, and even bled some of its blue color onto my old top. I certainly don't want this happening to my new top or any other part of the car, and would like to keep as much moisture away as possible. The old cover was better than nothing, but it was far from good.

If anyone has any alternatives that they use that are more cost effective and just as protective, please share. :)

Thanks in advance.

Using a Covercraft Evolution. Worked OK for 2 years, but now needs to have some water repellant applied going into the 3rd winter. Will apply some Aerospace 303 when I get the chance to get to the marine supply store.
Did the spreadsheet work for you?

Thanks Spinnaker, I'll have a look at that one, too. Does it hold up ok with snow, too?

I must have missed your e-mail amongst some others, I just looked back and saw it there. I'll check it out tonight and see what I get. Thanks for that.

Last November. Probably don't get as much snow as you do. Some winters we don't have any in the city.

For what it's worth, prior to the body kit install, I used a similar Porsche oem cover on my vehicle. And, quite honestly, I thought it was a bit harsh on the finish . The exterior of the cover was great in terms of protecting the vehicle from moisture, dust and debris ect.. However, there seemed to a lack of underlying soft material - necessary to protect key areas of the body from chafe .

The Covercraft Evolution has a soft white liner on the inside that works great, except it leaves white fuzz on the convertible top. I never put the cover on if the car is dirty to keep abrasive particles from getting imbedded into the lining and scuffing the finish. I get a lot of comments about how shiny the car is, and a lot of the non-Porsche people think the 12 year old car is new, even with 108k on it! Everone knows that a dark color car shows everything.
If the car is dirty, I wash it before putting the cover over it. Only wax it twice a year, once in the Spring, and once in the Fall.

I used a Noah cover daily for about 3 years, then it started to disintegrate. The Noah are expensive but work well. They have a soft lining, keep water out while not trapping moisture. Reckon spending more than $200 every 3 years for a custom fitted cover. I switched to a non-fitted Noah cover that Costco had on sale for $30(!) last year.
Stay away from the fully watertight covers. They trap moisture underneath and your car will rot away.

Thanks everybody. I took a look at the Evolution cover vs. Noah, and I don't think I'd be losing out on much by saving myself $30 or so with the Evolution over the Noah. Thanks for the advice with the OEM cover, Johnny, I think my car's suffered enough scratches prior to my ownership.

It seems like a lot of money to drop in one shot, but in the long having to replace this over a period of a few years at a time would equal a set of tires after maybe 10 years, so it doesn't seem that bad considering tires would be getting replaced more frequently at higher cost.

And yes, Spinnaker, we got way more snow than that in February. Try adding another 2 feet or so on top of that. The snow's height on top of the car made it approach the height of the Jeep Liberty, when normally you can barely see the roof of the car from the height of the Jeep.

I used a Noah cover on a previous black car. You really can't use it unless the car has been just washed and dryed. If you get the inside of the cover dirty you'll be marring/scratching the finish. I would suggest using Optimum No Rinse (1 ounce in 1 gallon of water) for a thorough wipe down and buffing before covering the car. Kind of a hassle.

Can't you find somewhere to store the car indoors? Surely there must be space available for rent. I'd think every critter would be looking at your car as a nesting/shelter spot.

that's not really something I'm budgeting for right now, jmatta. My sister has a Boxster as well, and she and her fiancee have been looking for a place to store their cars and split the cost with a few other people. If that materializes (and I can still go in there and get the car to drive it whenever I want), then I'll do that.

As for critters, I definitely want a cover again because, besides weather concerns and dive-bombing birds, every once in a while I find a few animal (cat-looking) hairs on the top. And if I catch one of the neighborhood cats on my roof it's gonna be messy. I'm also considering doing what someone suggested and cutting foam inserts for the side intakes. The car stays locked, and having the lighter adapter for my maintainer means the frunk is not open and inviting since I can close the door with everything plugged in. Overall I'm not too concerned with them getting in anywhere...I just don't want those cats tearing up my new top.