Go Back   986 Forum - The Community for Porsche Boxster & Cayman Owners > Porsche Boxster & Cayman Forums > Boxster General Discussions

Post Reply
 
LinkBack Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 08-12-2018, 07:36 PM   #1
Registered User
 
Join Date: Dec 2016
Location: California
Posts: 71
car covers?

Hi,
My boxster sits outside during the day and I'm going to purchase a cover to protect it from the damaging rays of the sun. Any ideas on what i should get?
Thanks

boxsterboxster is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-13-2018, 03:48 AM   #2
"50 Years of 550 Spyder"
 
10/10ths's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2015
Location: The Road
Posts: 918
Check out the guide on the Covercraft web site.
__________________
550 SE #310---"It's more fun to drive a slow car fast, than a fast car slow."
10/10ths is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-13-2018, 05:01 AM   #3
RWP
Registered User
 
Join Date: May 2007
Location: Atlanta
Posts: 2
Second the recommendation for Covercraft.

One consideration...if you are going to use and then remove the cover on a daily basis, do not get one of the very heavy multi-layer covers. I have all weather covers for my Mini, Z3, Cayman and 530 (vehicles may get rotated out of garage) and I don't use them as often as I should since they are somewhat heavy and take up storage space. Most manufacturers make covers designed for "light duty" daily use.

Also, you may check eBay for cover vendors. I did get a custom cover for my 530 (150k, 17 years old, so not critical) from eBay. The patterns used nowadays seem to be universally a good fit. This cover fits perfectly, is 3 layer, lightweight, and was about $100.
RWP is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-13-2018, 01:30 PM   #4
Registered User
 
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: Arlington Heights, IL
Posts: 1,561
Never cover a dirty car.

Instead buy a sun shade from Walmart for dash protection, and use high quality products like Aerospace 303 on your rubber and vinyl. Zaino Z10 on your leather. Ragg Togg on the cabriolet. And a high quality nano/ceramic coating on your paint. This strategy would better serve you and the car.

Taking a cover on & off the car will only give you scratches and a dirty cover, and draw unecessary attention to your car.
Flavor 987S is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-13-2018, 01:45 PM   #5
Registered User
 
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: Arlington Heights, IL
Posts: 1,561
Try to find a cover like this one that I sold about 5 years ago:

http://986forum.com/forums/boxster-cayman-parts-sale-wanted/48032-fs-cabriolet-top-cover.html
Flavor 987S is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-13-2018, 06:44 PM   #6
There Is No Substitute.
 
rick3000's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2007
Location: West Coast
Posts: 3,253
Garage
Quote:
Originally Posted by Flavor 987S View Post
Never cover a dirty car.

Instead buy a sun shade from Walmart for dash protection, and use high quality products like Aerospace 303 on your rubber and vinyl. Zaino Z10 on your leather. Ragg Togg on the cabriolet. And a high quality nano/ceramic coating on your paint. This strategy would better serve you and the car.

Taking a cover on & off the car will only give you scratches and a dirty cover, and draw unecessary attention to your car.
This is the best advice, unless you wash the car everyday before putting the cover on you will do more harm than good installing any cover on even a slightly dirty car because the cover will spend the whole day grinding any trapped dirt into the paint. You are better off spending the same amount of time you would putting the cover on and off daily to wax it once a week, and using a dash shade daily.
__________________
1999 Ocean Blue Metallic Boxster - blueboxster.com
rick3000 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-13-2018, 08:15 PM   #7
Certified Boxster Addict
 
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: Los Angeles
Posts: 7,669
I use a cover on my Boxster and 911. There are a lot of options (materials, thickness, reflectivity, water proof, etc) so you'll need to decide what exactly you want the cover to do first and then select the type of cover to meet those needs. Also, you tend to get what you pay for in a cover so expect to pay a fairly decent amount of money for a good cover.

For example, I have the factory cover for the Boxster (which is nicely lined with a felt like material but it isn't really weatherproof) whereas my 911 cover is a shiny reflective material with no lining but is generally waterproof.

Neither of these cars are concours condition so even if they were to suffer from a little bit of clear coat scratching it definitely won't keep me up at night.
__________________
1999 996 C2 - sold - bought back - sold for more
1997 Spec Boxster BSR #254
1979 911 SC
POC Licensed DE/TT Instructor

Last edited by thstone; 08-13-2018 at 08:17 PM.
thstone is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-14-2018, 07:16 PM   #8
Registered User
 
Join Date: Dec 2016
Location: California
Posts: 71
thats what i love about this sight, ask any question and get thoughtful replies that often lead in an entirely different direction. I'm thinking the dash cover idea is the way to go. Makes a ton of sense.
Thanks again,
boxsterboxster
boxsterboxster is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-15-2018, 09:30 AM   #9
Registered User
 
Ciao's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2015
Location: Denver
Posts: 866
Garage
Apply a good quality wax followed by a polish to protect it from the elements
__________________
5280 Cruising @High Altitude
Seal Gray & K&N Filter
Ciao is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-15-2018, 10:09 AM   #10
1998 Boxster Silver/Red
 
Join Date: Sep 2017
Location: 92262
Posts: 2,915
And... have the windshield tinted. ~$100.
__________________
1998 Porsche Boxster
Starter986 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-15-2018, 08:56 PM   #11
Registered User
 
Join Date: Feb 2017
Location: CO
Posts: 989
If you have brand spanking new paint, a ceramic coat might be worth it. Old, somewhat tired paint, not so much. If your car lives outside it’s certainly not pristine most likely anyway. As others have mentioned covercraft has good options, Porsche Tech has a couple too. If you are worried about your paint, and you just have dust etc, a Cali duster is an easy quick way to wipe it off before covering. Some will poo poo this idea saying it will ruin the paint. It won’t. Again, if your paint is concourse quality your car probably isn’t living outside. Another good, and fast option is a quick detailer product. I use Maguiars products. Takes about 5 minutes to do a quick once over. (After a good wax) Cover it up. Call it good.

Geof3 is offline   Reply With Quote
Post Reply


Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is On
Trackbacks are On
Pingbacks are On
Refbacks are On




All times are GMT -8. The time now is 12:30 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.7
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.
Content Relevant URLs by vBSEO 3.6.0
Copyright 2024 Pelican Parts, LLC - Posts may be archived for display on the Pelican Parts Website -    DMCA Registered Agent Contact Page