AnthonyMJ

I'm in sunny Florida. That means hot sun beating down on the car, interspersed by pollen blooms, bird droppings, and rusty water from the neighbor's sprinkler. Since I don't have a garage to use, I'm thinking about getting an outdoor car cover for my ES. Any experience with them? Any recommendation? Any warnings? TIA.

tmf2004

iTrader: (15)

You can check ebay and Amazon. I've been looking also and found a few on ebay. Multiple layer padding with UV protection.

cdmn

I've heard that car covers are bad for paint since they cause scratches. Any truth to that?

AnthonyMJ

The better ones are lined with a soft fleece or microfiber fabric.

tarm

Still if you put the cover over a surface that has any dry dirt particles I think you are still looking at scratches. Would any wipe a dry dirty car down with a dry microfiber cloth? But you have to weigh the different issues not having it vs having it. sun bird drop iron water vs possible hopefully light scratches, cost of cover and cleaning it, time to put on and pull off with each use etc. Only you can decide. Me if I owned a house with a driveway but no garage I would build a basic covered car port for a couple grand. Doubt the portable tent ones would stand up to Florida summer thunder storms when they really kick up the wind gusts.

AnthonyMJ

As a former detailer, I keep a fairly immaculate car. Thought about the tents and a carport, even a pergola - but they only protect from above. Plus, the neighbors would have a hissy-fit.

UDel

Car covers scratch the clear but that is not necessarily "bad for the paint" or a reason you should not use them as the clear is going to get scratched by other means throughout the life of the car anyway. Getting a few scratches from the car cover, mainly trunk area is still better then the car baking in the hot sun all day, getting bird crap all over it, acid rain, hit with hail, etc. The so called scratchless car covers don't work, I got one with the felt lining on the inside and it still scratches my car. Every now and then I will use it but they are kind of a pain to keep putting on and taking off and the scratches on a black car are really annoying.

Beachtyme

iTrader: (1)

https://www.carcoverstore.com/lexus/es350/2019

Found the above with a quick search, not sure if Lexus offers an OEM cover for your car?

cdmn

And if they are scratches in the clear coat wouldn't a good paint correction be able to remove those?

AnthonyMJ

Absolutely.