Cover it? (long)

[Guest Anonymous]

Within a month or so, I'll be inheriting my dad's '71 2002 and bringing it to Central Kentucky from Pennsylvania. I'll be using it as my daily driver, and unfortunately I won't have a garage to keep it in.

I've considered buying a car cover for it, but I'm not sure if this is worth the money. The most attractive one to me is Bavarian Autosport's Ultimate cover. This includes hold-down straps and a bag, and folds up very compactly. It also seems to be the cheapest of the lightweight but high-end covers I've seen.

I had a cover for my '85 GTi that was much bulkier, and I was never very satisfied with it. It took up most of the trunk and would often sit wet in the bag, getting somewhat nasty. Otherwise, it seemed to work OK, but with my driving the car frequently I often wound up not putting the cover on because the car was wet or dirty, and putting a cover over dirt seemed counter-productive. Besides, it was a bit of a hassle.

What do some of you think? How many of you have to leave your '02 out, and how many use a cover? If I don't cover it, will it go downhill a lot faster? The paint is the original Colorado, but it's not perfect and will need a repaint sometime down the road anyway; there's rust on the left front fender and a mismatched passenger door (repainted twice after an altercation with a 1947 Chevy door in the 1970s). Should I spend the $200 on a cover, or just get a $3 Elmer Fudd windshield sun shade? Thanks for your experience.

-Dave

'71 2002

[Guest Anonymous]

Unless your car is absolutely clean, fitting/removing a cover will really scratch your paint. PLUS it's a major pain in the ass to deal with all that wet fabric.

If you do go the cover route, it's hard to go wrong with the Wolfe Engineering cover available at your local Costco. It's <$50 there (retail is something like $125) and the fit is 'OK' for a generic cover.

If your dash is in good condition, do use a sun shade. Anything to keep your interior temperature down is a good thing.

Cheers!

John N.

[Guest Anonymous]

I got a size 2 Budge cover for $25 at my local Auto Zone for my roundie (later cars might want to go bigger?). It is a universal fit, but it fits well enough, although not custom. It is water repellent, not proof, and seems to be veery durable. If you want to economize, you can't do much better for the $.

[Guest Anonymous]

Thanks for the advice, all. I'll probably forego the cover and invest in lots of wax.

Mike, I wish I could park on pavement, but I have two choices: Park in our gravel driveway or park on the street. It's a dead-end residential street, but people tend to drive way too fast on it, and I'd have nightmares about someone plowing into the '02 at 3 a.m. But I'll consider it.

Thanks again.

-Dave

'71 2002