Car Cover Suggestions for S4 (B9)
10-06-2017, 07:46 AM
#1
AudiWorld Junior Member
Thread Starter
Car Cover Suggestions for S4 (B9)
Hi Everyone,
I don't see any discussions on car covers and would like your sage advice. My S4 arrived a week ago and I have around 70 miles on her. With the Mythos Black Metallic paint it tends to quickly attract dust simply sitting in my garage so I'd like an indoor car cover that will not scratch the car. It doesn't have to be some fancy top of the line cover. Any suggestions? Thanks!
10-06-2017, 08:14 AM
#2
AudiWorld Senior Member
I don't have any suggestions but I did want to advise you that daily and in lots of cases even weekly on/off use of a car cover will, over time, definitely damage your finish faster than using no cover at all -- even if you are meticulous about hand-washing the car every time before you throw the cover on. Throwing a cover over it (or anything else that contacts the paint) will cause the cover material to abrade against the finish, and even the softest cover will grab onto even the tiniest amount of dust and amplify this affect like a microscopic scouring pad.
A car cover is really mostly a solution for storing a car for a week or more at a time, where the accumulation of a larger layer of dust over longer amounts of time would cause more annoyance or net harm to the finish than that caused by the car cover itself. The car must be at minimum washed and dried, but preferably also waxed immediately before throwing the cover over it to best protect the finish from the abrasive potential of the cover itself: the car should have a mirror-clean finish before a cover goes over it, every time.
I would really only consider a cover if I owned a very expensive garage queen that I only took out on good-weather Saturday mornings and then washed+covered that same afternoon, or if I was storing it such as for winter. If you have a daily driver as the S4 is for most owners, the better answer is to just (hand-) wash it often with a good microfiber mitt using the two-bucket method and some quality microfiber drying towels. Keeping the car waxing and sealed will make the wash process go faster, while also making the car look better and providing add'l protection for the finish.
........maybe you already knew all of this, but just in case you didn't.
A car cover is really mostly a solution for storing a car for a week or more at a time, where the accumulation of a larger layer of dust over longer amounts of time would cause more annoyance or net harm to the finish than that caused by the car cover itself. The car must be at minimum washed and dried, but preferably also waxed immediately before throwing the cover over it to best protect the finish from the abrasive potential of the cover itself: the car should have a mirror-clean finish before a cover goes over it, every time.
I would really only consider a cover if I owned a very expensive garage queen that I only took out on good-weather Saturday mornings and then washed+covered that same afternoon, or if I was storing it such as for winter. If you have a daily driver as the S4 is for most owners, the better answer is to just (hand-) wash it often with a good microfiber mitt using the two-bucket method and some quality microfiber drying towels. Keeping the car waxing and sealed will make the wash process go faster, while also making the car look better and providing add'l protection for the finish.
........maybe you already knew all of this, but just in case you didn't.
10-06-2017, 08:33 AM
#3
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I would like to add that I've recently revised my former 2 bucket procedure. It is now the multi-mitt method. (Mitts are pretty cheap now). Instead of rinsing the mitt, go to the next clean mitt.
Dirty mitts don't go back onto the paint. Also, orange mitts are for top of car (above beltline). Green mitts for lower car (below beltline). Might seem crazy, but not crazier than a lot of the other stuff I've read.
10-06-2017, 08:46 AM
#4
AudiWorld Senior Member
I agree with everything you've said here.
I would like to add that I've recently revised my former 2 bucket procedure. It is now the multi-mitt method. (Mitts are pretty cheap now). Instead of rinsing the mitt, go to the next clean mitt.
Dirty mitts don't go back onto the paint. Also, orange mitts are for top of car (above beltline). Green mitts for lower car (below beltline). Might seem crazy, but not crazier than a lot of the other stuff I've read.
I would like to add that I've recently revised my former 2 bucket procedure. It is now the multi-mitt method. (Mitts are pretty cheap now). Instead of rinsing the mitt, go to the next clean mitt.
Dirty mitts don't go back onto the paint. Also, orange mitts are for top of car (above beltline). Green mitts for lower car (below beltline). Might seem crazy, but not crazier than a lot of the other stuff I've read.
10-06-2017, 09:30 AM
#5
AudiWorld Junior Member
Thread Starter
I don't have any suggestions but I did want to advise you that daily and in lots of cases even weekly on/off use of a car cover will, over time, definitely damage your finish faster than using no cover at all -- even if you are meticulous about hand-washing the car every time before you throw the cover on. Throwing a cover over it (or anything else that contacts the paint) will cause the cover material to abrade against the finish, and even the softest cover will grab onto even the tiniest amount of dust and amplify this affect like a microscopic scouring pad.
A car cover is really mostly a solution for storing a car for a week or more at a time, where the accumulation of a larger layer of dust over longer amounts of time would cause more annoyance or net harm to the finish than that caused by the car cover itself. The car must be at minimum washed and dried, but preferably also waxed immediately before throwing the cover over it to best protect the finish from the abrasive potential of the cover itself: the car should have a mirror-clean finish before a cover goes over it, every time.
I would really only consider a cover if I owned a very expensive garage queen that I only took out on good-weather Saturday mornings and then washed+covered that same afternoon, or if I was storing it such as for winter. If you have a daily driver as the S4 is for most owners, the better answer is to just (hand-) wash it often with a good microfiber mitt using the two-bucket method and some quality microfiber drying towels. Keeping the car waxing and sealed will make the wash process go faster, while also making the car look better and providing add'l protection for the finish.
........maybe you already knew all of this, but just in case you didn't.
A car cover is really mostly a solution for storing a car for a week or more at a time, where the accumulation of a larger layer of dust over longer amounts of time would cause more annoyance or net harm to the finish than that caused by the car cover itself. The car must be at minimum washed and dried, but preferably also waxed immediately before throwing the cover over it to best protect the finish from the abrasive potential of the cover itself: the car should have a mirror-clean finish before a cover goes over it, every time.
I would really only consider a cover if I owned a very expensive garage queen that I only took out on good-weather Saturday mornings and then washed+covered that same afternoon, or if I was storing it such as for winter. If you have a daily driver as the S4 is for most owners, the better answer is to just (hand-) wash it often with a good microfiber mitt using the two-bucket method and some quality microfiber drying towels. Keeping the car waxing and sealed will make the wash process go faster, while also making the car look better and providing add'l protection for the finish.
........maybe you already knew all of this, but just in case you didn't.
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