Weather and Car Cover Fundamentals

Summary: Paper or plastic? Those are your choices at the supermarket check out. Disposable or recyclable? Those are your choices when it comes to purchasing your car's next air filter. Please read on to learn about the differences between the two and how your decision can impact your car's performance, the environment, and your wallet.

Selecting a car cover for your truck, van, SUV, or passenger car is a matter of finding one that fits your car and going with that one, right? Well, there is a lot more to it than simply purchasing a car cover. Size does matter, but so do quality, durability, and price. Let's examine some of the fundamentals in selecting a car cover for vehicle. Car covers -- or weather covers as some prefer to call them -- have been successfully covering vehicles for several generations now thanks to the ingenious and persistent work of designers who properly measure each new model to make sure that every cover is custom fitted. One of the first companies to get started in the business was Covercraft, founded in 1965 in Southern California. Covercraft, like so many American success stories, was a two man operation that outfitted car covers for street rods, import makes including Porsche, and for the aftermarket supply network. The company boasts of having produced 55,000 styles of car covers for just about every make and model of vehicle on the road. There are other brands on the market; however Covercraft is dominant and favored by automobile wholesalers such as the Auto Parts Warehouse. When selecting your car cover, you will learn that a manufacturer can make several different car covers for one model. Basic covers offer limited protection from such hazards as bird excrement and flying debris while premium car covers offer extensive protection from the following:

Harmful and penetrating solar rays.

Moisture, including rain, snow, sleet, hail, and ice.

Flying debris and/or small impacts to the vehicle's body: dings, scratches.

Pollution, dirt, and dust.

Bird excrement, tree sap, etc. The top of the line car covers typically come with mirror pockets to give your vehicle the best fit. Most car covers are generally made of 1, 2, 3, or 4 layers of durable polypropylene [a thermoplastic polymer that is highly resistant to acid and chemical solvents]; more layers mean better protection for your vehicle from the above mentioned hazards. So, aren't weather covers for people who park their vehicles outside, hence the name? No, garaged vehicles are also subject to pollution and dirt; if you are interested in keeping your car looking showroom new than a car cover makes perfect sense. Prices can range from approximately $45 to just over $200 for a top of the line model. You can save money by purchasing from an online wholesaler who will obtain the car cover directly from the manufacturer, bypassing the middleman. Most car covers come with a warranty and should give your car years of protection for a small amount of money.