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Old Nov 12, 2012 | 04:28 PM
  #17 (permalink)  
Mike-in-Orange's Avatar
Mike-in-Orange
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Joined: Jul 2007
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Default Re: Damage From AutoArmor Car Cover

I realize this post is 4 months old, but it seems to still have some life in it so I'll throw my couple of pennies into the mix.

First off, I've never been a fan of car covers for outdoor use on a vehicle I care about. Even with a true custom fit cover, if the wind whips up and continues to blow, you're going to get some rubbing of the cover on the car someplace, and that's never good for the paint no matter how clean the car was before the cover was installed. When the wind starts whipping up it can and will carry dust up between the car and cover and over time you're going to run into issues. Sort of like vinyl bras to protect the front of the car - I have one for my Crossfire but ONLY use it if I'm doing a very long drive or a track day. Leaving those things on long term, no matter how good they are, will ruin the paint in the long term.

I purchased a custom fit, high end, and pretty dang expensive car cover from one of the highly regarded cover manufacturers mentioned here, and I still got some paint damage on the car it was used on after leaving it on for an extended period of time with the car parked outside. I'm thinking about getting a light dust cover for the Crossfire because it's always in the garage and it does get dusty, but otherwise I'll never buy another car cover again. I just don't think they're worth it for long term, outdoor storage.

No need for me to address the gross lack of customer service provided by the vendors here - if they won't even respond there isn't much you can do except file a suit against them, but that's just going to be an expensive, protracted headache for you and probably not worth it in the long run.

But I don't think any of that damage is permanent - it just looks like some concentrated scuffing in the paint that should buff out with the help of a competent detailer. Unfortunately, those guys can be hard to find. And it doesn't help that every Crossfire I've ever worked on had very hard paint. That means an el cheapo detailer dude isn't going to be able to fix it. Someone who works only by hand and charges $99 for a "full service detail" is going to lightly apply a polish and wax, and that's like putting a band aid on a compound fracture.

ChopChop, if you'd like to discuss this in further detail, I'd be happy to assist in any way I can.
 
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