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-   -   Car Covers - Dupont, TPH, Polco etc (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/modifications-accessories/13386-car-covers-dupont-tph-polco-etc-20.html)

There are a lot of fake and lookalike Tyveks in the market. Are you sure you got a Genuine one?

I thought www.99rpm.com sells 100% authentic FIAT parts/accessories as claimed on their website. Also have read on the forum few members who bought parts from them.
The packaging, content all looked to be genuine with FIAT and Linea logos and the cover was a snug fit.
These are reasons why I think it could be a manufacturing defect and not fake one.

I have used 3 sets of Dupont Tyvek Covers and I am now using the TPH Armor one for the last 6 months. Here is my comparison of the two:

1) TPH is a much bulkier cover, so handling it everyday takes a bit more effort than Tyvek.
2) TPH is made for a specific car and fits better. Tyvek generally has covers for a specific class of cars. They fit ok but not as good as TPH.
3) The quality of elastics and stitching on the TPH seems stronger than Tyvek.
4) The Tyvek after a use of 2-3 months becomes a bit loose and starts letting fine dust in. TPH also lets in some fine dust but lesser than Tyvek.
5) Tyvek seemed to do better againt Rain. TPH in my opinion lets in more water than Tyvek. Although it is still acceptable.
6) In general taking the cover on and off, TPH is harsher to clear coat than Tyvek. Maybe because it is a heavier cover. The top of the line TPH might fair better here as they have an additional lining. But TPH felt less harsher while taking on and off.
7) Tyvek's elastics loose their strenth in 3-4 months and a little breeze takes the cover off. Also in general the strength of material decreases. My 3 sets lasted me 8-12 months and then they got torn. It does not seem that TPH will get torn that soon.

Overall happy with the TPH but I find it harsh on the clear coat. It has put of lot of scuff marks on my A pillar. The place where my car is parked somehow falls between 2 society buildings and generally there is a lot of wind which makes these covers rub against the car surface.

My recommendation is either get Tyvek and keep replacing every year as it is a decent cover or go all the way and get the top most TPH with softer inner liner.


Rachit

I've used just one of each over past four or five years, and I agree with almost all your points.

I think that any material will scratch if dust is there and it is moved against the paint surface, so I attempt to only roll or fold, not slide, the cover. I should stress attempt there, as I am not always successful. It depends on putting the rolled bundle in exactly the right place before unrolling it.

My tph cover has a soft inside layer; Tyvek is quite hard. Tyvek is just the one material; tph has quite a wide range, so there may be wide variations in the lining.

Tyvek itself, I believe, is waterproof, but the seams are not, so water gets in anyway in any amount of rain. tph covers are breathable. A wet car will dry through the tph cover. So far, I cannot say what happens if it gets really wet, as my car port pre-dates the cover, so it has never been rained on.

I can't recall off hand how long I have had my tph cover, but its elastic still holds well. It doesn't sound right that yours should fail so fast: none of the tph covers are cheap, and some are very expensive :Frustrati.

Oh Yeah!! I agree. Even I try to roll and put the rolled cover exactly at the same place to minimize movement of the cover on the car. What hurts me most is the fine dust that gets into and then wind rubbing the cover against the car.

I agree, the car gets dry pretty soon under the TPH covers and my elasitics are holding pretty well too. Elastics on my Tyvek gave up soon for all 3 of my sets. Plus since Vento falls under the Corolla category, I think the cover in general was a few mm bigger which does not help elastic hold it in place.

I think the best that one can get is TPH with softer inner liner. That is probably the best compromise off all things. But they just are damn expensive.

I would seriously consider a lighter color cal for next purchase. Spending so much on maintenance and then still ending up seeing so many swirls is just heart breaking.

The Nardo Grey VRS is in my dreams right now. :D

Rachit

stupid:
I see one set of words and "understand" another! Don't know how I manage it: somehow thought you were talking about tph elastic!

So I'm sorry to be stupid and glad to be wrong. Good that you tph is holding up as it should.

Actually, my Tyvek cover did too. It was a VW-dealer-bought one, and it was also a pretty good fit for the Polo. I think it really was made to fit, rather than just being nearest-thing.

Sadly, I think swirl marks show on any colour, although... mine's black, and that is bad.

Actually, i had to go through my post thrice to ensure I had referred the right cover with the right pointers. I had them jumbled up too twice. lol:

I tried getting the Polco one from VW, but they were out of stock for quite long.

This is the thing with Dark Colored cars and we were discussing this within TBHP members on an offline meet as well. The pain and cost of maintenance is brutally high, but a shiny dark colored car is just so satisfying to see and it does get attention. All the security guards in my society acknowledge my car. Its just that I know the reality because I see it from close quarters. From a distance the swirls don't show as much.

I have this dream of having a shiny black color car someday. Maybe a restored Black Ambassador. stupid:

CHEERS!!

Rachit

I shifted residence recently and the car needs to be parked on the road now as opposed to a covered slot previously. Though the parking spot is dedicated and safe I was losing sleep about heat/sun exposure. My A-Star is 9 years old now and I love it too much to expose it to the blazing sun. Based on my initial observations, it sees about 5 hours of sun. My residence being west facing, slots those hours of exposure from 11am-4pm. The nasty setting sun cooks the interiors of my black car so much so that it is impossible to sit inside for more than 1 min at any time after 1pm. Imagine the plight of the poor interior plastics!

For the first few weeks I left the car in my office covered parking slot but this cannot be extrapolated to serve as a long term solution. I do not use the car for commute on weekdays. The only viable option was a car cover.

Despite having a strong aversion to car covers, I did some digging and settled on the Polco Tyvek series for a start. I ordered it off their website where you can pick the car and they ship the appropriate size. It was A+ seg for the A-Star. The order was placed on 12th Apr, dispatched on 20th and reached me on 24th. It cost me Rs.2847.

Using the cover is easy since it is really light. The fit is perfect and I am pleased! The elastics hold it in place without the material flopping about.
Today the cover witnessed strong winds accompanied by rains. Since I was WFH, I was able to closely monitor it. The cover stayed put and did balloon a few times but the elastics held on. Surprisingly the car was bone dry underneath.

The whitish colour reflects heat/light effectively, so much so that one cannot look at the car cover post noon without squinting, and the interiors stay cool enough to drive around for a few mins even without AC. This is saying a lot for my black A-Star.

I am pretty impressed with its performance and hope it will protect the car. I know the cover will deteriorate due to exposure to hear and sun but I don’t mind sacrificing the cover for the cars health. I would be a happy ma if it lasts me 1-2 years without opening up holes and keeping the interior cool.

The past few weeks witnessed heavy rains with gusty winds. The cover could not hold up and lifted up at one or two edges. On one occasion the entire rear portion landed on the roof.

The cover comes with an anti-theft loop that one needs to insert into the boot and then close the boot/hatch. So there is no way for the cover to fly off completely no matter how strong the winds are.

The cover being waterproof keeps the car dry and does not stick to the car in the rains. As a result any strong breeze lifts an edge or two.

Despite its disadvantages I do not see a better option currently for my budget.

Unfortunately my experience has not been so good with POLCO Tyvek covers. I bought one for my Baleno RS from the Polco site, on the first day itself the strap clip broke, complained on their site no response, then yesterday after the heavy rains in the early morning saw water seepage through the cover all around the car, and the wet cover clung to the car. Also I could see a tear in the stitching near the antenna hole.

Quality of the clip is atrotious. It will break as soon as few rays of light falls on it!
I cut off the straps on day 1 as I didn't intend to use it or let it scratch the paint while putting on or removing the cover. Worth noting that the clip broke even before I could cut the straps off!
There has not been much water seepage but sometimes the strong breeze carries some water as it passes into and balloons the cover.
Fortunately mine has not torn yet.

My primary requirement was protection from the harsh sun so I am not disappointed.

I got the top of the line TPH pilot 373 cover for my S cross delivered today. It is pricey at INR9640/- but I hope will go the distance and justify the premium. The ordering experience with TPH was excellent, placed the order on 18th July & was delivered on 24th. The package was sent through Fedex.

Unfortunately, there was some confusion regarding the colors. All the available ones have not been uploaded on their website, so when I called them they said I can place the order with the colors available on the website and they will manually edit it to my requirement. Even though they got the base & side colors correct, I had asked for red piping which they missed. There was also a light stain on one side but the Overall experience was good and the cover fits very snug, I guess one of the benefits of having a customized cover rather than a generic one.

Was looking for a good car cover for my pre-worshipped Jetta and as usual it was Team BHP to the rescue !

Jetta is now protected from the elements by a TPH Aqua King Cover which cost me Rs 8567.





The reviews by BHPIAN aghate, Thad E Ginathom, Sail and Nikhilb2008 convinced me that TPH was the right choice despite what appeared to be a high price - Thank You.

LIKES

• Initial impressions are that cover is of very good quality material
• Waterproof qualities are evident during rains and water beading effect is noticed
• Just the right weight and easy to put on/remove as compared to light-weight covers which just slide off
• Cost includes shipping through FEDEX and experience was good – so this adds value - overall ordering and delivery experience was very good
• Cover comes in a storage bag and instructions on how to maintain the cover and put it on the car

Neatly packed and no damage to the parcel


Bag to store the cover is useful


Tag for VW


Dislikes

• Water tends to collect near the base of windscreen and bonnet area – will check if this is because how the cover was put on or due to design
  • Was surprised that the rear aerial did not have a seperate pocket like the mirror - abrasion with use may cause cover to wear out
• Could have been priced a bit lower? there were no comparable products that i could find
• Website is a bit iffy – if you enter the wrong e-mail address while ordering you cannot change it.
• Too many cover choices on website and it is very confusing to choose the right cover
• No soft felt inner lining for Aqua King Cover
• My neighborhood streeties have take a liking to the cover and use it to mark their territory as the car is parked outside – hence I have to clean with water before removing the cover :Frustrati

My requirements were for a tough and durable cover, that would protect the car and not scratch the surface. It also had to be waterproof. A custom fit cover was preferred so that it would not get blown off in the wind. Jetta would be parked outside all the time and next to a busy road – hence also needed a tough cover. Expected life of cover was 3 years minimum and I would be very happy if it lasts 5 years. Will be interesting to see how the waterproofness of the cover holds up with age.

I had initially closed on TPH Pilot 373 cover which costs 11,104 for VW Jetta a few weeks ago. I decided to call the number on the website and the person tried to push the high-end covers. He also confirmed that cash on delivery was available. Another friend of mine purchased the same cover for his BMW X1 and the cost was Rs 19,000.

Imagine my surprise, when I tried to order online a few days later that the price had shot up to approx Rs 16,000

Kept checking their website and on the day of the big amazon sale last week, their price had dropped back and I immediately ordered it last Monday.

Personally felt the Aqua King, Skyler and Pilot373 looked the best – but decided to go with Aqua King in the end as I thought the soft felt material of Pilot373 will be difficult to maintain over the long-run but price was the bigger consideration to be honest.

I received the cover on Friday – the FEDEX delivery was very smooth – person called to confirm that the amount was ready and then came by to drop the parcel.

Before putting on the cover I dust the car with a Jopasu duster and then use a wet cloth to remove any bird droppings – when removing the cover again the same process is followed. TPH also recommends that if the car is dirty - to just pour water on the car and then put the cover.

Instructions to put on the cover are useful


instructions for care of cover


invoice was inside this cover - I liked that it wasnt thrown in the bag


Overall am very happy with the Aqua King and based on ones requirements, once you have selected the right cover, I would definitely recommend going ahead with TPH covers.

The fit is very good


not too sure how this will hold-up with repeated use

Can you please post a couple of pics if the inside of the cover too? Does it come with a soft lining inside?

Thanks

Rachit

How has the cover held over the years?