First of all, let’s get something cleared up – you don’t need to own a car to be looking at a car cover – you could be looking to protect your truck or SUV, a boat, an airplane or in fact any type of vehicle which is being stored for any length of time and needs to be protected from the elements and environmental factors which can and will, drastically reduce the value of your investment and degrade the looks and appearance.

You need to consider the protection aspects of a car cover for sure but there are other things you need to take into consideration as well. Consider - what is it like to fly a kite in very windy weather? Ever try to put up a tent in a storm? Do you get the idea that you also have to buy a car cover you will actually be able to use in a variety of conditions – just picture the scene, it’s dark, it’s wet and there is a storm blowing up and you need to put your car cover on or even worse, take it off so you can get inside and drive to where you need to get to! How easy will it be to handle the car cover you are thinking about using?

This will lead you to buy a lightweight car cover but you also have to consider how well the car cover will protect your vehicle from heat. A lightweight car cover will trap heat beside your car which will cause corrosion to your paint and bodywork; in addition to possibly leading to poor engine performance and other internal issues. In short, you must make sure the car cover provides insulation from heat. A thick cover will be better at doing this than a light-weight car cover as it will prevent the environment from actually heating up the vehicle itself.

You're in a pickle - you want a lightweight, easy-to-handle car cover, but you are also looking for a heavy-duty car cover which will provide robust protection and insulation.

Consider this as well; a hard-wearing car cover may be manufactured from coarse materials and fabrics – do you really want something that feels like sandpaper to your touch coming into contact with pristine paint work? You need to make sure that the car covers provides a non-abrasive surface where the cover comes in contact with your vehicle. This will avoid the car cover scratching the paint work and reducing the value of the car or vehicle which is what you are looking to avoid in the first instance by buying a cover.

While you are looking for a soft-touch on the inside of the cover, you are definitely looking for a cover which will provide a layer of protection to so dings and scratches are not caused by knocks and bumps. Children kicking a ball or a tree branch falling in a storm will cause serious nuisance damage to the looks and aesthetic feel of your car and make a serious dent in the value so the car cover must be tough enough to withstand knocks from a variety of sources.

Car covers, or indeed any protective cover you are looking to buy for your SUV, truck, boat or even an airplane, all have one thing in common – their goal is to protect your vehicle and the investment you have made.

Depending on where you are storing the car will have a bearing on the type of cover you are going to be looking at; the reason is because different types of cover are better at performing certain protective functions than others, so it will help you in your decision if you understand what is happening with the elements and environment which is attacking your vehicle.

Rain, sun, and heat are the major elemental factors that can cause damage to your vehicle, but there are orthers such as dirt and physical trauma, bird droppings and tree sap which also need to be considered.

When choosing a cover you need a material which will allow the air to circulate underneath the cover; this will allow moisture to be taken away from the vehicle and will prevent the growth of mildew and mold. If a car cover is completely waterproof it will trap moisture in with bad results. The flip side of this is that water will be able to penetrate on to the vehicle through the cover; you need to source a cover which is only water permeable to a low degree so rain and snow have plenty of time to drop off or evaporate before it reaches the car underneath.

Sun causes damage to paint work - we have all seen the effects of it in the form of unsightly lines and faded and dull paint. The sun's rays are harmful to a car's interior, just like they are to humans, so it is important to source a cover with a high UV rating.

Heat is an underrated contributor of degradation to vehicles because it doesn’t make its effects immediately felt. Excessive heat accelerates corrosion, encourages the growth of mildew, impairs engine performance and can seriously affect electrical systems. It is wise to do whatever you can to minimize the heat around the vehicle and unfortunately, many car covers will simply trap the heat under them. Thick car covers will minimize the build up of heat because it insulates the vehicle - unlike lightweight versions.

Another factor is permeability which measures how well material such as water but also dirt and dust, can pass through the cover. A low permeability rating is what you are looking for so that air will still circulate, water can still exit from under the cover and it is not going to allow much dirt to come into contact with the vehicle underneath.

The car cover has also got to provide a “soft touch” inner surface where it comes into contact with the bodywork. A coarse material could scratch a fine paint job, which is counteractive to your efforts to protect your vehicle. You also need the cover to provide robust protection so physical knocks, such as the kids playing ball or a falling tree branch do not create a ding in the body work.

Investing in a car cover is one of the cheapest and most effective car accessory purchases you can make when it comes to maintaining the look and value of your vehicle. We are not simply restricting ourselves to cars here but SUV’s, boats, RV’s, trailers and even light aircraft. The principles involved in protecting your investment as well as making sure your pride and joy continues to give you pleasure are the same no matter what vehicle you have.

If you are relying on the car cover to protect your vehicle you need to make sure you buy a cover made from the right materials and with the right manufacturing methods so it is able to deliver the protection you need.

Rain is a key factor in deterioration of any vehicle, especially if it is stored outside. The car cover must be able to withstand rain and water penetration in order to keep the damaging and corrosive effects of water from your vehicle and especially the bodywork. You need to look at the rating for moisture and water-proofing carried by the cover – no car cover will be completely waterproof because air still needs to circulate so moisture will still evaporate and reduce mildew build-up within the vehicle.

Snow is another factor but as it lies on the cover you have to look at the absorption rate of the car cover to see how slowly it will let moisture cross the cover membrane. The lowest absorption rates are the best so look for the minimum rates for the better car cover.

Permeability is the attribute which determines how well a car cover is going to be able to withstand penetration by dirt and dust which contributes to the build-up of grime and also may contain other things which contribute to the corrosion of paint and bodywork. Lower levels of permeability are better than higher ones as they will let less dust and dirt through.

People often overlook sun protection when choosing a protective cover. UV rays are harmful to cars as well as people - prolonged exposure can wreak havoc on the paint job. Just as we can still be sunburned through our clothing, a cover may also allow harmful rays through too – look at the rating for UV protection provided by the cover and a higher rating will offer better protection for your vehicle.

Heat protection is also frequently ignored – covering a car with a cover allows for heat to build up underneath the cover and this may cause issues with your vehicle performance as well as contribute to rates of corrosion (hot water will cause more damage than cool water when it is rusting bodywork). Thicker covers will provide better protection in this instance than thinner ones.

Other factors to look at when selecting your car cover include, how well the cover will protect from the effects of bird droppings, acid rain, tree sap and the effects of a ball being thrown or kicked against the vehicle (ding protection from kids and pets). Also, you need to consider how well the cover will itself be protected from being stored for so long when not in use and how easy it is to cover your vehicle and take down, especially in windy conditions.

Buyers place a lot of weight on how well a cover is constructed and how much protection it provides for, say, rain protection. The issue it is easy to forget is that there are many factors to consider, and they all interact together. More than this, is the utility of the car cover itself because unless you have tried putting a car cover up in a Force Ten wind you are not likely to be thinking of easy it is to manage, fit and take-down your cover when you are using it!

Rain and water are obvious factors to take into consideration when choosing a car cover, but you should note that there is a difference between water-proof water-resistant. Waterproof covers may not allow water to pass through the material at all, but this is not a good thing even if it sounds like it is. A cover should allow the air to circulate and breathe because this is what will help prevent the build-up of moisture and in turn the accumulation of mildew. Ideally, the car cover will allow water to pass through the material, but very slowly so that moisture can roll off the cover before it can pass through and permeate the paint job and bodywork. Conversely, if water is trapped between the cover and the vehicle then it has a chance to pass out by exiting through the car cover which is good news when it comes to protecting your vehicle.

You also need to consider how well the car cover will protect your vehicle from tree sap or bird droppings. Bird droppings are extremely corrosive because they contain all kinds of acids and alkali substances which will readily stain your paint job even if left for a few short minutes.

Tree sap is also very messy and extremely difficult to remove from the surface of your vehicle so the car cover must not allow it to pass through to the underlying paint job. The attribute you should consider is “permeability”, how easy a fabric allows substances to pass through it – ideally you want a low permeability rating because less dirt, dust, poop and sap is going to be able to get through to your vehicle.

Sun protection is essential because bodywork is just as likely to get “sun burnt” as you or I are when we are out in the sun – even when we are wearing clothes. The culprit is the UV rays in the sun’s rays which not only burn your skin but will also create a faded paint job just as fast. Red pain is particularly susceptible, which we have all seen in faded red paint jobs that turn an unsightly pink. It is important to check the UV rating for the car cover - the higher the rating the more protected your car will be.