Esprit .. can anyone actually vouch for an outdoor car cover which has not damaged their car,s paintwork

[carspath 4]

Esprit GT3 with a roof mounted aerial . No garage available .  2nd car , so will be able to at least gently hose it down before putting on an outdoor car cover .

But I live about 200 metres from the sea , so  the car will be subject to strong winds , and driving rain 

Is an outdoor cover a complete no, no ?

Has anyone actually used an outdoor car cover in such circumstances without suffering paint , bodywork or mechanical damage to their Esprit ?

Any other relevant considerations that I should be worried about ?

 

 Thank you

 

[ramjet 1,131]

Welcome to TLF.

My S4 lives in a garage so I can't help you with your enquiry.

You should duck over to the Introductions section and say hi in there as well.

[Bibs 11,866]

Welcome! It's taken a while for your first post! 

In all seriousness, I'd find a garage somewhere and hire that. The Esprit has an awful lot of mild steel fixings and that in combination with the sea 200m away and the weather where you are will really, really accelerate corrosion of the car. I use myself and sell the Specialised Car Covers but no matter they are open at the bottom and those elements will make their way under the cover and cause lots and lots of corrosion. 

My first Esprit lived close to the sea before I owned it and it was very, very evident. 

[silverfrost 1,390]

Welcome to the forums,  As Bibs says see if you can rent a garage,  a lot of small classic car storage providers are popping up now also at reasonable rates.   Strong winds by the sea will always be a nightmare for any cover as dust and debris will always get in underneath and end up on the cars surface, causing scratches when it settles on the paintwork and the cover moves

, no matter how good the cover is.  Also as Bibs says, sea air is no friend to any car left outside sadly 

[LotuStuart 93]

Also, anyone know how to stop my cat from climbing on top of my cover?

[carspath 4]

Thank you all for your very generous welcome , and for your candid replies .

 

Sadly , I live in the middle of nowhere , and there is no further garage space to be had .

I have a 70 sq m garage which is packed , not with dross , but with my 4 wheeled friends , all of whom I adore , and none of whom can be evicted .

I have long dreamt of an Esprit , but it would have to live outdoors .

 

Do you think that I should just forget this dream of an Esprit ?

Do you think that an Esprit will survive better without a cover ?

Which Lotus , if any , would survive better outside without a cover ?

 

Thank you 

[Dan E 1,610]

Carcoon 

[Bazza 907 1,124]

Good shout from Dan. An outdoor carcoon might be the answer but I'm not sure how well it would cope with being exposed to wind.

[Barrykearley 7,306]

Build an extension on the garage 👍

Or if it’s tall enough stick in a four poster and you can have one up and one down👍

[paul1972 15]

You can get this in a Esprit friendly size

[910Esprit 586]

My experience of outdoor covers is the wind will shred them given enough time.    If you are lucky enough to find a watertight esprit and you can park on a hardstanding, it will probably fare OK.   A leaking Esprit is a miserable place and the interiors deteriorate badly.

Presumably the newer generation Lotuses are watertight and should survive as well as any other car stored outside.

[Barrykearley 7,306]

27 minutes ago, paul1972 said:

You can get this in a Esprit friendly size

@ajheath this guy needs some pics of yours 👍

[carspath 4]

Thanks again everyone .

I have already been through the extension and 4 poster lift route , but neither are going to be feasible 

The foldable garage looks the next best option , so I now just need to identify the company that sells it ... Mr Google and I are on the case 

 

Thanks again , and all of you lucky enough to have an Esprit , continue to enjoy them 

 

Carspath 

[gvy 391]

I think it would be better to look/google for an outdoor carcoon . This will preserve the cr far better from the elements of seaclimate. The car will always be protected and dry. It is even better than some damp garage storages .

[Gibbie 24]

I use one of the Machine Mart garages

https://www.machinemart.co.uk/p/clarke-cig81015-heavy-duty-instant-garage---da/?da=1&TC=GS-140613570&&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI0Mq_5KzF4gIVQrDtCh3CrA5GEAQYASABEgJesvD_BwE

they come with ground anchors which need to be correctly fitted. It has survived the weather here by the sea in Southampton.

Kind Regards

Paul

[gvy 391]

I watched that movie and pictures Looks like a quality product.

How log do you have it installed already?

[hopo 154]

I keep mine outdoors. Just put up my Clarke Garage (as above) and this does a good job of keeping it dry and keeping away the weather. easy to build too. I rate em

[Gibbie 24]

Hi Geert 

I've had the Clarke’s garage for two years now. Any body looking to buy one, look out for one of their vat free days to save a bit of money.

Kind Regards

Paul

 

[Bibs 11,866]

Is the 3m enough or would you recommend the 3.7m now you have one? 

[Gibbie 24]

Mines 4.5 metres long I think. It’s tight but goes in ok.

There are some cheaper versions on eBay, but the machine mart one is white on the interior which makes it pleasantly light to work in.

kind Regards

Paul

May have missed the point in my reply!

yes, for maximum access, go for the wider version.

kind Regards

Paul

[march 871]

I bought one of these after it had not survived it's first winter (the front entrance was destroyed) for a few quid as I only need it to store cars in a barn. It is very sturdily built so I suspect there are not many of these types of tent garages that will survive winter winds, esepcially near the coast.

http://www.hamilton-motorsport.co.uk/acatalog/Autopod.html#aAP1.

It as both an inner and an outer and the outer zip area and base was shredded during a winter storm. It was located near the coast of Dorset so was subject to coastal weather (it was set up protected by the owners house but that did not help).

[Laika 103]

I used an autopod to restore my classic elan, even painted in it, it survived a year with no adverse effects..  but I am nowhere near the sea ! It has guy roles and a metal frame so should survive well.