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What Is The Best Outdoor Car Cover For The Climate I Live In?

If you must keep your car outside, this article will help determine which type of cover is best for climates with mixed seasons, extreme sunlight, heavy winters, and more.
What Is The Best Outdoor Car Cover For The Climate I Live In?
Dusty Porsche 911

If you’re an auto enthusiast without a garage, seeing your beloved ride exposed to the elements can be painful. Warm climates have scorching sun that fades paint and cracks interior panels. Rainy climates lead to acid rain damage on paint, chrome, plastic trim, and rubber seals. Cold climates add the inconvenience of snow, along with icy rain that freezes your doors shut and forms a hard glaze on glass surfaces.

There’s more. Airborne dirt is everywhere – which becomes mud that stains and discolors. Throw in: falling debris, tree sap, autumn leaves in every nook and cranny, filth from pollen, and seeds which clog drain tubes and cause water leaks. It’s a mess!

Variety Of Outdoor Car Covers

You need not put up with these things! Car covers purpose-built for outdoor use can literally serve as a portable, year-round garage that travels with you everywhere. Because we know the satisfaction and inner peace that comes when your vehicle is properly protected, we offer a variety of outdoor car covers that shield your ride from the above-mentioned horrors.

Durable Water Repellent Fabric

Outdoor covers are designed to resist water penetration from above, not completely prevent water from getting through. If they were truly waterproof, moisture coming from under the ground becomes trapped below the cover – causing mildew and, ultimately, corrosion of body panels. Therefore, all outdoor covers must breathe to some extent.

The fact is - any water that does permeate will evaporate quickly thanks to perforated cover designs that release moisture, not trap it. Consequentially, outdoor car covers will begin to dry virtually as soon as precipitation ends. Vehicle surfaces underneath will be left dry as well.

What does not get through outdoor covers is dirt and other debris, thanks to multiple layered construction. Should grime begin to accumulate on top of the cover as time passes, most of the covers we sell are washable: either by machine (commercial duty) or by hand (while on the car). Check for specifics in the details for each cover.

Elastic Edging Along Bottom Perimeters Of Cover
Unless otherwise noted, all covers we sell feature elastic edging along bottom perimeters to keep things snug.

All covers we offer can be ordered with a tote bag sized specially for easy storage and transport, along with a lock and cable kit to keep the cover from blowing off the vehicle. These items may be standard or extra cost depending on the specific cover you choose – this will be detailed on each of our product pages.

Lock And Cable Kit For Outdoor Car Cover
Most outdoor car covers we sell can be ordered with a lock and cable kit to keep them secured in high winds.

Vehicle Specific Vs. Universal Fit Covers

We have both custom-fit (“vehicle-specific”) and universal-fit car covers. Our related article Should I Get A Custom-Fit or Universal Car Cover discusses these types more in depth. In this article, we will stick with the custom-fit ones. Whichever type you select, your cover will feature sturdy elastic around its entire bottom perimeter to ensure it clings as snugly as possible to your vehicle on all sides.

Vehicle Specific/Universal Fit Covers Options

All-Weather Car Covers

For best value, we’ll start with Covercraft’s Block-It 380 Custom Car Cover – a medium weight cover which provides excellent resistance to rain along with good protection against dust, snow, UV rays, and dings. And if you’ve got a 1976-present Jeep CJ/Wrangler, the Smittybilt Car Cover and Crown 3-layer Full Car Cover are sized specifically for these 4x4s.

Gray Smittybilt Car Cover
The Smittybilt Car Cover.
Coverking Coverbond 4 Custom Car Cover
The Coverking Coverbond 4 Custom Car Cover.

Moving up to heavier weight covers that offer even more resistance to rain, dirt, and dings, we’ve got the Covercraft 4-layer Evolution Car Cover, Covercraft 4-layer NOAH Car Cover, Coverking 4-layer Coverbond Custom Car Cover, EMPI 4-layer Deluxe Gray Car Cover (classic VW Beetles, Squarebacks, and Karmann Ghias), and Rampage Custom-Fit 4-Layer Breathable Car Cover (Ford Broncos, Jeeps, and other select models).

Coverking 5-Layer Mosom Plus Custom Car Cover
The Coverking 5-layer Mosom Plus Custom Car Cover.

Coverking’s Mosom Plus Custom Car Cover offers the rare advantage of 5-layer construction, making it unparalleled when it comes to water resistance and ding protection.

Covers Designed For Extreme Weather Conditions

If you live in areas that see heavy rain and/or snow levels on a regular basis, we recommend a cover designed for “extreme” weather conditions. These are thicker in construction, with more layers (typically at least 4) that block ice and dirt deposits from working their way through, even when precipitation is coming down at its hardest.

Car Covered With Ice

For starters, Coverking’s Storm Proof Custom Car Cover is designed for the rainiest Northwest climates. It’s a thinner cover made from densely-woven microfiber material, providing solid protection from water, UV rays, bird droppings, etc. Because it’s on the thinner side, it offers less protection from dings or falling debris.

2-Tone Coverking Storm Proof Custom Car Cover
The Coverking Storm Proof Custom Car Cover, as shown in one of many optional 2-tone configurations.

Covercraft’s Weathershield HP Custom Car Cover offers an extremely high level of protection against heavy rain, snow, dirt/dust, tree sap, dings, and other hazards thanks to thick, dense construction. The cover is available with optional reflective edging, and can be selected in a variety of solid or 2-tone color choices.

Covers For Reflecting Intense Sunlight

If you have no choice but to park under the blazing sun, a cover designed to reflect the maximum amount of sunlight will keep your interior much cooler, and it will protect your paint from sun fade that occurs under the relentless onslaught of UV rays.

SUV Parked In Desert

If you live in such climates year-round (with no winter weather), we’ve got a choice of covers designed to prevent the highest level of UV intrusion. There’s Intro-Tech’s Intro-Guard Car Cover that features 2-layer construction with an aluminized polyurethane acrylic coating for sun reflection. This cover’s good for those who don’t need a high level of ding protection and prefer a thinner cover that takes less room to store.

Dark Blue Covercraft Ultratect Custom Car Cover
The Covercraft Ultra’tect Custom Car Cover.
Coverking Silverguard Plus Custom Car Cover
The Coverking Silverguard Plus Custom Car Cover.

Covercraft’s Sunbrella Car Cover and Coverking’s Silverguard Plus Custom Car Cover “no winter” covers provide more effective protection from dings and scratches while offering similar sun protection. As with all covers we sell, these are highly breathable to ensure no moisture gets trapped.

For those who do live in climates that see a mix of summer AND winter weather, we’ve got several sun-reflective covers that can effectively handle rain, snow, pollen, dirt, tree sap, and more. There’s the Covercraft Weathershield HD Custom Car Cover with silicone polymers that reflect sunlight and create a silky smooth finish. The outer layers of Covercraft’s Ultra’Tect Custom Car Cover and Reflect’Tect Custom Car Cover also feature coatings which reflect sunlight and protect the cover itself. Additionally, the SLP Gray Car Cover is designed with silver-coated urethane and fits 1993-2002 Camaros and Firebirds.

Outdoor car covers really are the solution if you’re without covered storage and need to protect your precious vehicle. We welcome any further questions to help you make a more informed purchase.

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