Hail damage prevention

[TheGrey]

Okay, all, I'm looking for something decent to protect our new-to-us SUV from hail damage. The garage is used for other things, so the autos live outside. What do you use? What do you suggest? There's a LOT of car/truck/SUV tarps out there.

We have no outside outlet on the driveway side of the house, either- so it can't be plugged in.

[Irving]

My opinion is that your options are pretty limited. Any car cover that makes physical contact with the vehicle is only going to protect the vehicle up to so large of a hail stone. It'd be worth looking into how large a stone the different manufacturers claim their product offers protection, but I'd guess that the May 8th, 2017 storm would have just ruined the cover, and still damaged the vehicle if it were in the worst areas. In addition, you'll be committing to the effort of running outside to put it on every time you think it's going to hail.

You could build a carport. They make them with fabric covers, up to steel covers. However, in addition to that looking silly (especially in front of a garage), if you're going to build something, it might as well be a large shed so you can clear out your garage. Ultimately you'll have to weigh how much effort you want to put into protecting a depreciating asset from nature. Of course my opinion is skewed by the fact that all my cars are old and I plan to drive them into dust, AND I operate in a world where hail ruins anything, no matter what you do.

ETA: I don't want to come off as a DeborahDowner though. I encourage people to put effort into keeping their things nice.

[TheGrey]

My opinion is that your options are pretty limited. Any car cover that makes physical contact with the vehicle is only going to protect the vehicle up to so large of a hail stone. It'd be worth looking into how large a stone the different manufacturers claim their product offers protection, but I'd guess that the May 8th, 2017 storm would have just ruined the cover, and still damaged the vehicle if it were in the worst areas. In addition, you'll be committing to the effort of running outside to put it on every time you think it's going to hail.

You could build a carport. They make them with fabric covers, up to steel covers. However, in addition to that looking silly (especially in front of a garage), if you're going to build something, it might as well be a large shed so you can clear out your garage. Ultimately you'll have to weigh how much effort you want to put into protecting a depreciating asset from nature. Of course my opinion is skewed by the fact that all my cars are old and I plan to drive them into dust, AND I operate in a world where hail ruins anything, no matter what you do.

ETA: I don't want to come off as a DeborahDowner though. I encourage people to put effort into keeping their things nice.

Nope, I was hoping you'd be one of the people that responded- you've got a unique perspective with hail damage.

We're in the process of setting up our garage as a workshop, so even as we clear things out, we've got other major bits of equipment in the way. That, and I have a sneaking suspicion that the new vehicle is a tiny bit too tall for our garage.

What about those inflatable covers? Have you heard anything abut those?

[Irving]

I haven't, do you have a link to some ideas you're considering?

Since I don't look at cars, I sometimes forget that it takes much smaller hail to damage a vehicle than it does a house. So a padded cover would likely be worth the effort as it would likely be effective against most small hail.

[buffalobo]

Nothing but inside will protect against large hail. June 2010, we had hail stones(baseball size) penetrate thru the roof of our 5th wheel trailer and cause splits in the steel roof of my shop. The class iv shingles on the house, while damaged and needed replaced actually performed better than the steel roof.

The inflatables have shown some promise in protecting vehicles from small and medium hail. Hassle to deal with.

[ray1970]

You could move. I live in some sort of magic no-hail zone. My trucks have been parked parked outside exclusively for the past twenty years and I haven’t had one ding. Heck, even the roof on my house is probably about thirty years old.

[Graves]

You could move. I live in some sort of magic no-hail zone. My trucks have been parked parked outside exclusively for the past twenty years and I haven’t had one ding. Heck, even the roof on my house is probably about thirty years old.

Welp, now that you've open your mouth...

[ray1970]

Welp, now that you've open your mouth...

It’s okay. I knocked on wood.

[hobowh]

Build a "small" steel building and put the shop in there, and put the cars in the garage, says the guy that parks in the driveway lol. Though mine is longer than the garage so no choice.

[TheGrey]

I haven't, do you have a link to some ideas you're considering?

Since I don't look at cars, I sometimes forget that it takes much smaller hail to damage a vehicle than it does a house. So a padded cover would likely be worth the effort as it would likely be effective against most small hail.

https://www.hailprotector.com/

It looks completey silly, and wouldn't work for us because of the lack of an outlet nearby, anyhow.
The company demonstrates the toughness by throwing bricks from a 30-foot height, but I still doubt the velocity is the same. I'm wondering if there's some sort of padded tarp that's better than others? And if so, what have people found works for them?

As for the steel shed idea..if only! I would love than. Our yard does not cooperate- there's a significant slope and not really much in the way of room. We have a massive, heavy shopsmith. It just won't work.

Garage-wise, the vehicle would just fit (in theory) but it's not happening.

And we're not moving. I still haven't totally unpacked our stuff from our last move...and have you seen the prices of houses?!
Besides, we're pretty happy where we are.