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On 6 Nov 2005 at 21:22, Dan Hoopes wrote: > i used to have a beautiful paint job that had lasted me 10 years and > cleaned up great. i always kept the car in undergound parking or a > garage. i moved down here to southern california, thinking my car > would love the great weather. > > however, after a few months of the heinous rain we had last winter, my > car emerged with some metastatic clearcoat cancer. it seems to be > spreading (hence the cancer comparison) and i'm hoping to stop it > while i can. if i have to park outside in an apartment lot, is a car > cover the best way to go? is there a certain brand or "quality" i'm > looking for? there are a bunch that say they are good for sun, but > not for rain. with a good paint job to protect, do i have to keep the > water totally off it, or is it ok to keep the sun off and let it get > wet with a thinner cover? I'm not a fan of car covers. I don't have any experience with them, but I think they have a couple of problems that most people don't think about. While they WILL keep dust, dirt, and leaves off your car, they will also hold moisture in after a wet spell, and this prolonged wetness can really accellerate rust. Most people don't realize how much moisture can condense inside your car on a cool damp night, but it really makes keeping the rain off the outside pretty pointless. The second problem is that when the sun is out they are bound to produce a greenhouse effect that keeps your interior hotter than it would be otherwise. Since heat is the real enemy of all your plastic parts, this is a real problem. One made from some kind of reflective material would be best. > can i get a generic cover or is it not worth getting one that doesn't > fit perfectly? I would guess that a custom cover for a squareback with roof rack would be almost impossible to find, and a LOT more expensive than a generic. I'm curious about what's going on with your paint. Can you describe the problem better? We need to keep in mind that it MIGHT be your new storage location, but it might also just be something that was going to happen with the paint at this age anyway. -- Jim Adney jadney@vwtype3.org Madison, WI 53711-3054 USA ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ List info at http://www.vwtype3.org/list | mailto:gregm@vwtype3.org ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~