Reatta covers on eBay

[Ronnie]

I have been looking at the wide variety of car covers on eBay trying to decide one that will work well at a low price. All I need is a cover to keep dust off my car, is easy to install and remove and fits well without damaging the car. It won't have to ever keep the car dry as my Reatta is always kept in the garage and is not driven on rainy days. It is mostly a weekend driver.

Has anyone had experience with any of the cheaper covers and can you recommend a good eBay seller? Any help is appreciated.

[Guest MauiWowee]

You may want to check with Barney......

I believe he has car covers as well as dash covers.

[55chevy]

I bought a cheap car cover at Big Lots that worked fine for keeping dust off.

[Guest Reatta1]

I bought a cheap cover at a chain store too and it doesn't keep the dust out. Th cat can sit on the car and it keeps the fur and oil off, but, the dust just seeps right through! Oner of these days I will get one from Barney.

[Barney Eaton]

I have been selling (Covercraft) covers for 26 years and there have been great improvements in cover materials over the years.

In 1982 I needed a car cover and like you started looking. I talked to my collector car buddies, asking what they wanted and what they had found. I wrote to the 2-3 companies in the US that were making "Custom" covers and became a Covercraft distrubitor. At that time there were 2 covers materials, Polycotton and Tan Flannel (also a blend) Neither were any good for rain, and polycotton was a lousy dust cover, but worked ok for bird droppings, tree sap, and fly droppings.

Today we have 13 different materials with prices ranging from $116.95 to over $300 (for the Reatta size cars)

The advantage of the ready-fit covers you are looking at is the price.

There is no consistance in materials, if you look at ready-fit covers at 4 different stores, there will probably be 4 different materials. Asking someone how they preform is worthless because even at the same store, the material may change once a year, so you have no assurance that the cover your buddy purchased will be the same material that is in the store today. About 95% of the ready-fit covers are made outside the US, using both foreigh labor and materials.

The "ready-fit" covers are made in Small, Medium, Large, and Extra large. Looking at the box, you will find about an 18" overall length step from one to the next.

If you purchase a Medium cover and it is too tight for your car, take it back and get a Large, there is a good chance that there will be 12" or more excess material drooping in the front or back.

If you can live with a "ready-fit" cover, then they can be purchased anywhere from $20 to $70

The inexpensive ready-fit covers can last several year when used indoors, but they may not give you the dust protection you want.

I suggest you go to www.covercraft.com and look at their online catalog of materials. They discribe what each material is designed to do. It will also show you the

colors and warranty. All Covercraft covers have elastic around the front and back to suck the ends of the cover against the car. There is also a tie-down grommet on each side if that is needed. Newer patters like the Reatta (we have both a coupe and convertible pattern) have mirror pockets......usually not needed on ready-fit covers because they have plenty of extra material.

I will also be happy to talk to you about the materials and patterns for any car you own. We also have covers for bikes, mopeds, motorcycles, and 4-wheelers and personal watercraft. (no boat covers) I have fabric sample for almost all the materials.