Car Cover or Not?

[Knightrider82]

Hi everyone I recently acquired a 1989 mk1 in very good condition. I had been living somewhere with a roofed storage area but now have been forced to move to an apartment in town. I have a daily driver so the Mx5 will be parked on my mum's drive. I will be taking it for spins at least twice a week. I'm just wondering should I put some kind of outdoor cover on it or leave it alone. It is washed and waxed regularly and has a hardtop. There seem to be conflicting reports on covers causing more harm than good. Any experiences?

[Pops]

Hi, nice to see someone else on the forum, its gone extremely quiet here over the last while. As for the idea of using a cover, thankfully I have a garage for mine but just as you said, there's so many conflicting views about covers. If you do get one beware of it blowing in the wind as the movement of the cover can damage the paint. As you say, you're going to use it a couple of times a week so I don't think a cover would be much benefit unless its parked under a tree.
Enjoy using the car, they're great fun

[Knightrider82]

I've been wanting an MX5 for years so I'm delighted to finally have one. I'm just worried about rust. Thd car is absolutely spotless so I don't want it to deteriorate hower a panel beater once told me it's better to keep a car outside and driven than to leave it sitting there

[Pops]

Will be fine, since you have a hardtop you don't have to worry about cleaning the hood drains but try to clean the wheel arches every so often to keep the road muck away

[Knightrider82]

Yeah, ok pretty OCD about cleaning it anyway so I'd wax it at least once a month and wash after every drive really. I picked up.one of those drain hole cleaning tools and was using it once a week to make sure.

[Steve]

Sounds like you are doing the right thing, I've used car covers sparingly in the past, mostly in the summer to keep dust off a just waxed car when the weather is settled. I found wind, rain and dirt got under it in anything other than calm conditions, as pops says, not good for the paint.

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[Steve]

Congrats on the car btw any photos?

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[Knightrider82]

Once I figure out how to upload pics I will. Passed NCT today with flying colours. The tester said it was one of the best he's ever tested.

[Steve]

Oh wow... Nice!

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[Pops]

Congratulations on passing the nct, nice to have 2 years before having to do it again.
Uploading pictures can be a bit tricky, at least it is for me, I've found that I can only add screenshots unless I use Tapatalk

[Knightrider82]

Hope this works

[Knightrider82]

It squished them a bit!!

[Pops]

Very nice looking car, shame about loosing the storage. Paintwork looks very good so I don't think a cover would be good at all, keep it waxed and should be fine

[Steve]

Love it, amazing condition

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[Knightrider82]

Thanks for the compliments. Yes I'll be waxing it weekly now I think until something turns up. I don't think the cover will do much for it apart from dull the paint. I'll be doing a full wax and sealant the next dry day so hopefully that will help. It's all been treated inside the sills etc with dinitrol. I love the car I have to say and I'm so happy to be part of the mx5 community at last!!