I have a really nice cover. I am debating if I should cover the car. It will help keep the dust off the car but do I really need to keep the dust off? Or will the cover scratch the dust into the car? Any car collectors out there... what would you do? What is the safest way to maintain a vehicle over the years?

I hardly drive the crossfire. I take it out once every couple weeks just to give it a good run. It sits in my garage which is pretty air tight. I bought the cover when my car was in a different garage. The cover was more to prevent dings since there was a lot of activity in that garage. Now my car is protected back home in my garage and I don't worry about dings. I kept using the cover anyway because I already had one. But now I am starting to worry that the cover will just scratch the dust into the paint. Is it best to let the car collect the dust and then wash it off? Or use a california duster after each drive and cover the car?

 

Dude. It's BLACK.
Who cares!

 

If it weren't BLACK I'd say let her breathe!
No cover or get this LINKY

 

My car being black is the problem. Black shows everything!

 

When I was driving the Miata I kept the Crossfire in the garage and under it's cover. I had a breathable cover which still allowed dust in, so it really didn't do anything.

I know some people swear by the california dusters but I just can't get through the mindset of dragging dust over the car. Afterall a California Duster is just a mop with wax on it :-/

 

My cover is one of those dustop covers. It does an excellent job keeping dust out.

 

Nice car cover, but the guy wiped up the road with it. Hopefully, little stones won't get all over the car. Scratch, scratch.

Tom G

 

fwiw i have a cali car cover with a fleece lining. i use it all the time in my garage and never scratches. it keeps the dust off my car and anythin g that might get brushed against it as i use the garage

btw nick i have a cali duster also and it works great!! use it lightly to remove the surface dust.

 

If your garage is pretty dust free, skip the cover. I drive my Crossfire about as much as you drive yours, from the sound of it. Yes, it gets a little bit of dust on it, but I just use a bit of Meguiar's Ultimate Quik Detailer and a couple of microfiber towels to clean it up. Just a couple pulls of the trigger to spray onto a panel, then wipe with a good microfiber folded in 1/4's, then flip to the dry side of the towel for a final wipe. Continue around the car like this, refolding the towel as needed. Do this rather than the Cali duster and your car will be happy for a long, long time.

 

Good point! Use a detail spray and microfiber towel to remove dust and particles. That should not scratch the paint right? Better than a california dustor mop?

 

I do it all the time with my Crossfire and my daily driver. If my daily driver can take it without scratching, it ain't hurting the Crossfire. I say that because the DD gets far "dirtier" than the Crossfire. Besides, I spent 20 hours rotary buffing the paint on the Crossfire to get it where I wanted it (it was a mess when I picked it up from the dealer - a 2005MY car purchased new in 2007!). No way I'm letting all that work go for naught.

 

BUT WAIT! THERE'S MORE!

You sound like a commercial Mike!

 

Just making sure it's done right, is all. I don't care so much what product anyone uses, but if you use any of them wrong in this context you're going to run into trouble - and it won't be the product's fault.

 

I store my two Crossies and my A6 in the garage under el-cheapo covers from Walmart and there is no problems with scratches. Less dust on their dear little skins and less need to wash/wax. There's no wind in the garage to cause flapping and imperceptible scratching. Of course, graphite is an easy to maintain color that looks better than any other color.