Cheap Car Cover Ideas

[IPreferDIY]

Since I work from home and use a driveway for parking, my 2000 MGM spends most of its time in the driveway collecting all kinds of surface annoyances. It wasn't until I saw someone mention car covers in another thread that I realized I could save myself a lot of hassle by getting one. Unfortunately, the really goods ones are expensive (and I would think deservedly so).

Being the cheap guy that I am, I've been looking into getting the cheapest car cover I can find. But, not surprisingly, the ones in the $20+ range are so cheap as to be a waste of time for my purposes (i.e. a year-round outdoor cover that would only come off maybe a few times per week). One idea that came to mind was to get a cheap one and put some kind of coating on it, kind of like those nitrile-dipped gloves (which have sometimes worked great for clearing snow and ice off my car BTW). But, apparently you don't want a complete barrier since moisture would get trapped underneath.

I saw a YouTube video with a guy using pieces of plastic drop cloth, but that stuff is too thin for me. I'm figuring 6mil vapor barrier and lots of duct tape would be suitable. For ~$30+, I could get enough vapor barrier for at least two cars. In order to allow air flow underneath, I'm figuring on using some of those swimming flotation "noodles" as spacers on the roof, hood, and trunk.

Any thoughts/ideas/suggestions?

[Mainemantom]

You can really do some damage to the paint if you use a bad car cover or put something under it that is not meant to be used. Your big problem is it will be outside. The cover will shift due to wind, unless it is tied down well. Even with a good car cover, being used outside destroys it fast. I have several covers. When the cover shifts, it rubs against the corners of the vehicle. Pretty soon that area will be down to bare metal. I tie down my cover tight at five locations. The covers are exact fit or semi exact fit. I do have one super cheap one that I will not use on my cars. I can sell it and it is still in the package. Pm me for details. One thing that might not damage the car would be those soft absorbent cloths that they sell at home shows. If you could get a big roll of that, lay it down first before putting the cheap cover on. The noodle idea would leave marks on the paint. Could even stick to the paint on a hot day.

[IPreferDIY]

I'm not too worried about the paint. I've got rust on my front fenders and stone chips on my hood, etc. My idea of a car wash is wiping my car down with a soapy cloth when it's raining out. Either that or hauling buckets of water outside. (My landlady doesn't have a place to connect a hose.) But, I can see how repetitive rubbing could cause problems. I guess one benefit of the roundy cars is the lack of sharp corners that would be particularly susceptible to that sort of thing. Sun isn't too much of an issue in my driveway. The big problems are the stuff from the trees in the spring and fall, the bird crap from spring to fall, and the snow and ice in the winter.

I'm figuring what I could do is get some cheap cotton sheets, wrap one edge around the noodles so the noodle material doesn't touch the paint, allow the sheets to protect the sides of the car, and join the noodles across the roof/hood/trunk with long dowels so the vapor barrier doesn't come into contact with those surfaces. Then have pieces of rope in reinforced holes in the vapor barrier and tie them to bricks on the ground. It would have to come off and go on at least once a week, but all of that sounds tolerable.

I suppose one potential issue is whether the amount of money and time would end up being pretty much the same if I had bought a good car cover in the first place.

[GM_Guy]

A cheap cover is going to be a moisture trap. Unless you are in tight city quarters, get one of those "portable" garage tents from Crappy Tire. You get airflow around the car, but keep nature off it.


Alex.

[IPreferDIY]

A cheap cover is going to be a moisture trap. Unless you are in tight city quarters, get one of those "portable" garage tents from Crappy Tire. You get airflow around the car, but keep nature off it.


Alex.

I've seen those but regarded them as too expensive. Then again, I was looking at them in terms of being able to do work on my car without having to worry about weather issues (eg. so I wouldn't have to wait for daytime winds to be low enough to do my J-mod on the driveway). It looks like one might be able to get one of the 'portable garages' for about the price of a really expensive car cover, so it might be worth it as a longer-term investment if it could be left up all the time. Probably the big issue around here would be some kind of municipal restriction. I'll have to look into that.

[AC75]

AliExpress has cheap covers if you don't mind ordering stuff from outside North America. They have a few under 30 bucks with free shipping. I've actually used the site myself and had no issues. For the price I'd take a chance.

http://www.aliexpress.com/item/4-3m-...920505030.html

http://www.aliexpress.com/item/New-S...280141490.html

[IPreferDIY]

AliExpress has cheap covers if you don't mind ordering stuff from outside North America. They have a few under 30 bucks with free shipping. I've actually used the site myself and had no issues. For the price I'd take a chance.

http://www.aliexpress.com/item/4-3m-...920505030.html

http://www.aliexpress.com/item/New-S...280141490.html

The second one looks like the typical cheap stuff you'd get around here. I can see from their photos what people mean in their reviews when they say it's see-through. The first one is awfully tempting though. It looks more like a shower curtain with a lining. It's the sort of thing I'd probably try if I could get it conveniently and see it first.

I'm going to go look at some pool noodles and 6mil vapor barrier later today (Wednesday). I think the vapor barrier is probably the best option in terms of toughness. I can't imagine it ever ripping. It's only 8.5ft wide, so it wouldn't wrap around the car, but I'm not too concerned about the sides. My primary concern is the stuff that ends up on the horizontal surfaces and windshield. The dowels are cheap enough, and the noodles should be too. And I have some ideas for putting some fabric where it needs to be to protect the paint. At least it would give me something to do while waiting for my next (and hopefully last) eye alignment surgery.

[GM_Guy]

Definately look into your city bylaws. Locally, these are considered temporary and as such exempt from any building codes.

Alex.

[IPreferDIY]

Didn't get around to calling the city today but scored some cheap vapor barrier. What Home Depot sells for $30 plus tax I got two for $20 total through Kijiji. Now I can experiment on the cheap. I might just get a cheap regular car cover and put the noodle/dowel structures and vapor barrier over that. Also got some free cinder blocks that someone was giving away. No 'rope under the car' bullshit for me.

[jaywish]

Thought about these?

https://colemans.com/shop/misc-milit...eid=8a340ce169

[IPreferDIY]

I like the idea, but >$70 is way too much for me, especially after finding out there won't be an eye alignment surgery this year. (The last one was in 2013, and my eye doctor made it clear that doing anything further would come with lots of risk, at least at this point.) Still a lot better than what I could get up here though:

http://www.herooutdoors.com/parachutes/

I had a look at a fabric store discount outlet that sells end cuts for cheap, so that's another option. I still have to figure out what type of material and how much of it.

Walmart happened to have pool noodles on sale starting today, ~4 2/3 feet long for $1.88 each. I ended up getting nine, figuring I'd need three for the roof, three for the hood, and two for the trunk (running side to side with the dowels front to back), plus a spare. I also got a couple of 4ft and 6ft dowels (1/2" thick) so I can try things out before buying more. The good thing about all this stuff is I can use it for other purposes if I go in a different direction.

For the noodles, I'm figuring if I can find someone with a sewing machine, I can fold over some fabric and make a long seam so that it becomes a long 'sleeve' that I can slide a noodle into. Since the sleeves would be removable, I could wash them if needed.

AFAIK, cotton would be the best choice for fabric to protect the paint. Does anyone know if other fabrics would be acceptable? I recall reading that one car cover had a cotton/polyester blend, which was fairly cheap at the fabric discount outlet.

Something that came to mind is whether water from the windshield plays any role in the rotting of the "bulkhead" parts of the frame. I know that the A/C evaporator is reputed to be the primary culprit, but both of my bulkheads are rotting. Does water from the windshield find it's way to those areas?

[IPreferDIY]

Further to Mainemantom's input, I'm getting a couple of 100% cotton blankets that I can use for noodle wrap. One of my credit card bills came with a $50 off voucher for a purchase from The Shopping Channel, and the only worthwhile products were the cotton blankets and a stainless steel watch with a limited lifetime warranty. (My fancy $10-20 watch just died after about 15 years.) The watchmaker recommends getting the battery changed by a professional working in a dust-free environment, so I'm willing to look for another $10-20 watch to avoid the hassle and expense.

The blankets are 5ft x 7.5ft, and one will provide enough material to cover nine noodles (assuming I go through with it). Here's a screen shot of part of the order showing the $50 discount:



I love it when things come together.

[DuceAnAHalf]

Cotton doesn't hold up well outside if it gets wet

[miamibob]

Probably pay off, in the long run, to simply get one or two covers off EBAY (perhaps about $50-75 each) and "call it a day"! Down here they last about a year to a year and change and then toss them and re-cover them. By the time you cobble together a "home made" solution it will probably cost the same or more and it will be more of a P.I.A. than using a real cover. There are covers even cheaper than what I mentioned but not sure how they will wear up in your climate.

[IPreferDIY]

The way I'm looking at it now, I'll have the covered noodles connected by dowels in three sections (on the roof, hood, and trunk), and then vapor barrier on top of that. The vapor barrier will extend down the front and back, and should extend down the sides about 1-2ft (and maybe more if taping on extra pieces would be worthwhile). I'll have ropes tied to cinder blocks holding the vapor barrier down at certain points. That should keep everything away from the horizontal surfaces, and also keep moisture away from the cotton, while still allowing airflow. The cotton would be removable and washable if it ever got soiled. Assuming all of that would work out, the next trick would be figuring out how to prevent the vapor barrier from rubbing against the sides of the car. I'll probably have to see what it looks like before trying to cross that bridge.

If it all works, it should last way longer than any car cover on the market, maybe even the rest of my lifetime. The big PITA would be taking it off and putting it back on once a week (at least during the particularly nasty periods when it's really needed), but it wouldn't be much more effort than a regular car cover.

The portable garage idea sounds great in theory, but it would look like a sore thumb in my neighborhood, assuming the city and my landlady wouldn't have any issues with it. I haven't gotten around to calling the city yet, but it's still on my to do list.