Are Car Covers Any Good for Protecting Automotive Paint?

You don’t see them much on the street. No one takes the time to really do this with their daily drivers when they park to go in the bank, or run into the supermarket, but the selection and materials used for car covers may lead you to believe otherwise. Of course we see car covers mostly being used in movies, protecting whatever prized automobile lay underneath. Plus it gives a dramatic effect when it’s pulled off suddenly, reveling the mystery behind the curtain.


How many people now, in real life, use car covers?


I’m not saying that there aren’t a million reasons to use one – okay, maybe not quite a million. Sure, they protect your car from birds, cats, dogs, or whatever other stray beasties that may poop on, walk on, or jump on your vehicle (my dog is particularly fond of chewing on bumpers). And they give protections against the neighborhood kids.

Most everyone knows how irritating a good old fashioned egging can be, and what it can do to your paint job. But, let’s face it, after a eight or ten hour day, the last thing you want to do is haul you and your belonging out of the car into the house, go back outside, dig it out from the back hatch area or trunk, and struggle with a tightly fitted, rather thick, woven wonder of added car protection – especially in any sort of weather. There are people that do.

Avid auto enthusiasts that prize their “prized possessions” use car covers every day, everywhere they go. I once had a neighbor that covered his car at home, then at work, removing the cover during his lunch break and replacing it when he returned to work. Talk about obsessed. This person however, had a Mazda Miata with an impeccable paint job.

There wasn’t a single scratch on that car. I believe he waxed it every week and I’m surprised that the paint didn’t rub right off.

I guess it could be a rather indispensible measure to take should you own a project car, or something rather rare and in mint condition that you don’t drive very often. And I can definitely see the need of boat, RV, or ATV covers. But I am just surprised to find car covers available for nearly every make and model of vehicles used for daily driving. Perhaps we’ve become a lazy society that adopted more of a use “it and toss it” mentality, but it really seems like if your that concerned about keeping the exterior of your car protected, you’d just park it in the garage! That seems to be a logical step, although there will always be dust in the air in the garage. For those that want the best in protection and that are always looking to prevent even that minor scratch, a car cover even in the garage is a great idea.


Preventing dust from accumulating on the exterior of an automobile can be a great way to preserve that showroom shine and keep your automobile in prestine condition.


Jason Laniera writes on a wide range of automotive topics such as buy here pay here car lots and others.