My take. An all weather cover, used on a vehicle stored outside, only makes sense if all of the below is true:

The cover will only ever get put on to a perfectly clean car. You will never uncover the car, take it for a drive, then put the cover back on without washing car first. This requirement usually kills it right there, and it only works for long term storage, not regular use.

The cover will be tied down firmly so it can't blow around in the wind (which would cause scratches to paint)

The cover is very heavy, so a breeze won't have any effect.

The storage location is reasonably protected from wind.

This is just from the pov of guarding your paint. It doesn't cover security concerns at all. It also doesn't cover corrosion, like salty shore area or snow, etc.

For most people, and most circumstances, an outdoor cover is not a viable solution.

 

Or if your paint is already not perfect and you are mainly looking to protect the top and soft bits from the sun. Then you can give it a good coat of wax when you wash it and then just cover it when you're not gonna be able to drive for like a week.

I have a cover king that I use like that. It's a good fitting cover, but strong winds will blow it off. Would recommend not covering it up if its gonna be windy for that and for micro scratches reasons.

 

If you are only looking to protect or over the soft top then this is a nice cover - I bought it just to have in case I ever was leaving the car parked out in the sun all day.
I mirror Car Analogy's view - only use on perfectly clean paint.

 

My sti sits outside . I daily it. Cover on and cover off everytime I use it. Not a big deal

 

Not a big deal 'cuz the Subie is still in production, no one is obsessive about the paint and is and, obviously, not a S2000.

Any cover that moves with the wind will abrade the paint. Only good car cover is called a garage and I cover the car with the OE cover when she's in there for extended periods. Boats are routinely shrink wrapped during winter in the Great Lakes -- cover doesn't move. Of course these are one-time-use.

-- Chuck

 

 

I'm very anal about the paint. Hence a car cover. I'm not having UV Ray's from the sun constantly burning into my car as it sits. It's a 36k dollar car. I'll do whatever to keep it as mint as possible. Right now she looks as good as one can get for a somewhat dd. Just cant do much about rock chips to the front

 

If you live in a place with intense sun, but very little wind, this could be a good strategy. For everyone else, its causing more damage than it prevents...

 

I live in CT. I havent noticed any damage from covering it. I had it covered over the winter and the paint looks great. There are numerous scratches on each ends of the spoiler which I assume is from the cover pressing on against the edges of the spoiler. But a little Joe Gibbs speed clean removes all those scratches easily . That's the only real damage I've noticed but again they easily are removed with speed clean. I've owned the car since mid January and I've put 4k miles on it already. So it def is seeing some mileage