Car cover and leaving car for winter?

Hi,

I dont plan to use my mark 1 during the winter so was after some advise.

I dont have a garage to store the car in so what would be the best way to leave the car over the winter?

Under a car cover? Any recomendations? What covers have you guys used?

Car would be left on a grass driveway, in gear and handbrake off.

Cheers,

Hi ,like you i dont have a garage and i bought a storm force cover and to be honest its not good, does nt fit that well

Try to start it up every week or so, and give it a little drive around every other time you start it. Otherwise things will rust, seize or malfunction especially during winter. Also bear in mind the battery will be affected by the cold, if its not regularly used and it drains below a certain level, for any longer than half a day or so, it will be permanently damaged and need replacement.

covers can wear against yer paint with wind, also covers can trap damp especially with grass below, TBH i would give it a good polish and then a wax and just leave it outside :redfaced:  8)I used a cover in 2008 and i reckon it caused more damage than without, but saying that it was a £30 argos cover

I store a few of my cars under covers and they survive fine, nowhere near as good as a garage, but a million times better than no cover.

I have a variety of covers, if you're after a cheap shower cover then you can't beat the middle of the range argos cover.
If you love your car then I'd buy a proper tailored cover. Not sure on the make if mine as it came with my merc. It's awesome and has a breath flap in the front.

One thing I must add is what ever cover you chose will kind of be pointless if you are parking it on grass. The constant dampness will kill yours car.

Halfords do a 3 layer breathable cover, its expensive at £50 (but only £20 more then argos rubbish) for the small one but is a perfect fit and is the only cover i have found to A) not damage the paintwok, B) keep the car dry and C) not trap moisture!… those single ply tent material rubbish or any other plastic sheet stuff you can buy is a defo no go!, water gets trapped behind them and eventually makes your car look like its entering a wet T-short competition!

SoundillusioN said

Halfords do a 3 layer breathable cover, its expensive at £50 (but only £20 more then argos rubbish) for the small one but is a perfect fit and is the only cover i have found to A) not damage the paintwok, B) keep the car dry and C) not trap moisture!… those single ply tent material rubbish or any other plastic sheet stuff you can buy is a defo no go!, water gets trapped behind them and eventually makes your car look like its entering a wet T-short competition!

Cheers for all the advice guys,

Will probally check out the one mentioned above from Halfords

Would NEVER put a cover over a car outside it WILL damage the paint, Best thing to do is Wax and pollish, then cover Everything in WD40 (and i mean everything engine disks door shuts underside suspension ect) 6 months later after a day of proper cleaning it will look just as mint as when you parked it up

Actually, I think I did more damage to mine by leaving it idle for five months. Obviously the battery went flat, but I was living on a snowy mountain and my car was down in the valley so I couldn't get to it regularly to start etc.

I had to feather the brakes once I did get it started again, and although the cover kept the rain out (leaky passenger side), I don't think it provided any other protection, nor caused any problems.

If it's fuel injected, consider using fuel injector cleaner soon after running your car again, as I suspect one of mine clogged up after not being used for such a long time.

i cover mine in one of them from halfrauds but if its a nice dry day i take it off and wash her again and let it breathe for a while then stick the cover back on, if you put the cover on and leave it for months i'm sure there would be some kind of damp effect ..