a comment....

Does anybody know how parking the car covered with a car cover -- but not in a garage -- about 50 meters from the water front will affect the car? Should I wash more often? Wash the bottom of the car? Any tips would be great!

2003 986 72K miles

Is the cover designed to breath outward and not trap moisture? What kind of water (fresh or salt)? Is the water normally still or are there crashing waves?

And sitting, with the bottom exposed, and not moving sounds pretty bad.

The issue is corrosion of everything. Some will even make its way inside the motor.

Grant

No cover, daily driver, 100 meters from the shore of a calm salt water bay. For what it's worth, the car hasn't disintegrated yet.

It's a sunbrella cover -- not sure what the properties of it are -- also, there are crashing waves close by and lots and lots of salt in the air. I wax/claybar the car every 3 months and wash it once a week, but didn't know if I should start squirting water underneath. It's a daily driver, I love it. It only sits for 12 hours at night time, during the day it's driven hard, er, I should say "spirited".

Also, it wont fall apart, but every bolt will begin to get corroded. Contacts will get some corrosion. It will be subtle at first, but damaging.

Salt air is very, very bad. If oyu live at the sea, great. But this is a cost. And parking it there unused can be avoided.

Grant

I don't know where you are, but here in the PNW , I find the combo of salt air and fur needles can do a number on the chassis of your car. It is probably worth washing and waxing the car a bit more often. The debris seems to fill up in the rear drains a bit more often then I would like. Easy to clean out while your flushing the brake fluid, som not really a big deal. The cover will definitely help, but it is worth watching the winds that kick up. If the cover does not fit well, you can get rubbing on the paint. Lock, or tie downs are nice to keep the cover from flapping all over the place.
regards

I have a 2004 986 about 150ft from the ocean in Florida since it was new. I use the Porsche Silverguard cover everyday. I have NO corrosion. I would not worry if I were you. I do keep it clean and well waxed.

JimE

you have checked all the nuts, bolts, fuel lines, brake bleeder nipples, electrical connections etc and they are the same as cars that have not been near the ocean? I find that hard to believe - but encouraging if true.

note also that a car that is used and washed, especially with a car wash which gets underneath, is less likely to corrode.

We're not talking surface corrosion here....

Grant