When I purchased my MINI I had my MA throw in an outdoor car cover since I do not have a garage and plenty of trees. I began wondering that since I would have to uncover and cover my car at least once a day, if the dragging of this cover across the paint day in and day out would begin to wear on the clearcoat. The cover isnt the softest thing in the world.

Experiences and opinions greatly appreciated.

 

I too had a cover thrown in, and although my Mini is garage kept, I don't like letting it sit out in the hot Texas sun every day. I have the same concern as you, along with worrying about the wind blowing the cover off because I don't want to crawl around on the concrete in dress slacks to tie the cord underneath the car. The one time I used my cover, it wasn't particularly windy, but by the end of the day one of my co-workers had to call me from the parking lot as he was leaving to tell me he put my cover back on for me. He said it was clinging by the side mirrors alone. The wind blowing the cover across the paint worries me more than me putting it on in the first place. I can be careful, but you're at the wind's mercy.

 

Yikes! I would have thought the covers would be softer! Makes me rethink buying one for our MCS for the winter. Are the indoor ones any better?

 

My MA did give me a good suggestion for tieing it without crawling. You tie a weight to one end of the cord and tie the other to the cover. You tie just enough weight that you can toss it under the car to the other side without having to get down on the ground. I just think that with something dragging across it that often every day it has to do something to the finish, particularly with the daily dirt that has to be present.

 

The factory car cover is of a nylon type material, not really soft, it does rub on the wax when real windy. You can see where it was rubbing, but seems to wipe off so far. They do have very soft indoor covers available. I way the nylon rub on the wax against bird droppings when at the beach. I then put the factory cover on and hope for the best.

 

FYI - if you don't already have a cover - note that there are quite a few options other than the MINI-branded ones...

CoverKing for one offers covers for the cabrios - they have a wide variety of materials available.

I opted for the Coverbond 4 cover for my needs - my car is garaged at home, and parked in a safe place at work. The only times I use the cover are in the deck at the airport, and if I can't find a good spot when overnight at a hotel. Really wanted something to keep the airport nastiness off, as well as prevent scratches and minor dings from non-careful parking lot neighbors. This one fits the bill for that. I would NOT suggest it as a daily cover - it's not very soft, either and is VERY bulky (fills a laundry bag). The fit on the cabrio is very good.

Some of the other materials they offer are softer - some indoor, some outdoor...

 

Im thinking that the weight could bounce off the ground, and hit something important under the car.

 

I wouldn't worry about that... by design, there's not much "fragile" stuff under your car... think about how much everything under there gets pummelled by rocks if you drive down a gravel road... most things under there could be hit with a hammer with no ill effect - not that I'm advocating you try that...

 

For what it's worth, the factory cover fits so tight it would take a hurricane to blow it off, you probably couldn't get it on in strong enought winds to blow it off. In addition, the one for the cabrio has a storage bag sewed onto it. The bag locks in the trunk with the cover on the car, keeps it from taking off or someone needing it more than you do, well, short of cutting it off.