Best Car Covers To Protect Your Ride From Hail

Anyone who’s been stuck outside in the middle of a hail storm knows that these little balls of ice can do some serious damage to you and your property. There are few things we can protect from an onslaught of hail. Our roofs protect our homes but they do get a serious brunt of the damage from hail. 

Everyone’s automobiles are susceptible when those balls of ice start falling from the sky. But there are ways to protect our cars from an impending hail storm.

A Quick Look At Our 5 Best Car Covers For Hail Protection

• Platinum Shield Car Cover
• Car Hail Protector fo American Pickup Trucks
• Big Size Car Cover
• Autsop Car Cover
• GUNHYI Outdoor Car Cover

How Bad Can Hail Damage A Car?

The National Insurance Crime Bureau reported the amount of hail loss claims in the United States for the years 2017 thru 2019 at a total of 2,769,362. Not all of those claims were for automobiles but quite a few of them are and the cost of repairing that damage is nothing to take lightly. 

Depending on size, your repair could cost anywhere from one flat rate to a cost per dent and, if you’ve seen a car with hail damage then you know that there can be hundreds of dents when a storm comes through. 

Types of Protection For Cars From Hail

There are several types of car covers to protect your car from hail and they are broken down into four categories.  

Portable Carports

If you don’t have a garage, this is the next best thing. They can be expensive and you couldn’t just put this out on the street without annoying one of the neighbors but if you have the space in your driveway this is a great option for hail protection. They tend to be heavy so the wind won’t lift them away but they take up space so be sure you have it. 

Umbrella Tents

These are fun to look at and can be put on anywhere and are designed to not affect any cars that are parked around you. Fiberglass is the material most of these types are made of and they can stand some pretty high winds, up to 30 mph in some cases. This style offers less protection than the ones that cover the car completely. 

Fitted Covers

When you hear the term “car cover” this may be the first type that comes to your mind. That’s because all kinds of car covers are made to fit the car. The ones that are made to protect your ride from hail are made with particular heavy fabrics to stop the dents from occurring. But, a lot of them are made to protect your car from the sun and dirt. So be sure when you shop. 

Inflatable Cover

Of all the types this is the one that will protect your car the most. Due to the balloon they create around your vehicle you will need room to use this cover. Fans are used to keeping the air inside the cover moving around. By doing this a bubble is created and it deters any hail that would otherwise ding your car. 

Things To Consider

Now that you have a better understanding of the types of protection you can get for your car, here are a few things you need to think about before purchasing a cover. 

What Kind Of Car Is It?

Are you an antique collector running out of room in your garage or is your vehicle your work ride and you’ve loaded it up with advertisements and want to keep it looking good? No matter the reason, you want to protect your car. 

But it matters when it comes to purchasing a cover because, while there are some with a one-size-fits-all design, there are others that require specific measurements. You need to know the measurements of your car to purchase some of these covers. 

Where Do You Keep Your Car?

As you’ve seen in the four types of covers available for cars, they come in all kinds of sizes. The balloon type and the portable carports wouldn’t work well if you have to park on the street with your neighbors. You might want to consider the umbrella version or the fitted. 

What Are The Advantages?

The obvious advantage to a cover is to protect your car from hail, but there is so much more to it. The fitted covers will also protect your car from dirt and the sun where the umbrella cover might offer the least amount of overall protection. Each has a strength and a weakness. 

Consider what benefits are the most important to you, besides the hail, and then you should get a better idea of what cover would work with your set of circumstances. 

Things To Look For

One more thing and then we will get to the best covers for hail protection. First, there are specifics to each cover that are unique to them. While you review our choices make sure you keep these things in the back of your mind. 

The Fit

You don’t want to get a cover for your Land Rover that is made to fit a Nissan Sentra. Make sure you get the right fit for your vehicle. 

The Material

Some covers are made with layers of material while others focus on one strong substance to save our cars. 

The Price

There are certain areas in life where cheaper is not the better choice. The phrase, “You get what you pay for” is true. But we all have budgets so how much the product costs is always something you want to pay attention too, no matter what you are buying. 

The Set-Up

What does it take to put this cover on your car? If you took a close look at the styles we’ve listed above then you have to admit the inflatable balloon type cover would take more effort than a traditional fitted cover. 

Now that we’ve covered the basics, let’s take a look at our picks.

Top 5 Best Car Covers For Hail Protection

1. Platinum Shield Car Cover

The first cover we are going to discuss is sold exclusively on carcovers.com. Of all their options this is the one that offers top protection from the harshest of elements. It is important to point out that, when I contacted them they assured us that no cover is one-hundred percent guaranteed perfect protection from severe hail. 

This specific cover is the top of the line when it comes to their products, and the website is set up for you to customize your own cover. All you need to do is put in the year, make, and model of your ride and carcovers.com will have one out to you. 

It weighs approximately ten pounds and comes in a reflective silver so that the sun will not heat up the interior of your car. This cover will also protect your car from bird droppings, harmful UV rays, heavy rains and other natural hazards. Things like dirt and dust will stay off your paint job, which can be harmful to the shine. 

This cover is a popular one on our best of lists because of how much protection it offers as well as the wonderful warranty. Not to mention the lock and cable set that’s included. That’s why the Platinum cover is such a popular product with all types of car owners. 

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2. Car Hail Protector for American Pickup Trucks

Next, we have a wonderful cover that can protect your vehicle from an onslaught of hail but, this particular cover only works with trucks. Those of you who own sedans or compacts might want to move on to another selection but, those of us who know how powerful it feels to sit behind the wheel of pickup probably need to take a  look at this option. 

Pickups are gaining more and more popularity with nearly six-hundred and fifty thousand pickups being sold in 2019. The fabric is waterproof, which helps with rain, and it’s easy to put on. 

This cover comes with six millimeters of inner material to cushion the blow from those falling chips of ice. It measures in at 700×400 centimeters, which is roughly 23×13 feet or 275.5×157.5 inches. It’s a size that should cover the smallest of pickups to the larger ones with the larger cab and bed. 

If you have a pickup truck then this is a wonderful selection for you. It doesn’t offer all the protection that our last cover did but this one is easy to put on, which makes it work wonderfully for long trips. It would work best with big trucks. Smaller pickups might end up swimming in all that material 

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3. Big Size Car Cover

This cover is a nice alternative if you liked the one we just spoke about but own a car, not a truck. But, if you own an SUV, then this is a nice option as well. It measures in at 600 centimeters, which is almost 20 feet or a little over 236 inches. This size assessment should give you a good idea if this cover would fit your car or not. 

Made to protect your cars from a strong hail storm this cover will also shield your automobile from dust, sun and harmful UV rays, snow, and other elemental issues. It’s easy to install and is the most fashionable looking cover we’ve discussed thus far. That last part was my personal opinion mostly because I like the black/orange combo. 

It is considered a portable tarpaulin, which is a fancy way to say covering for protection. This particular tarpaulin is flexible enough to fit your car or SUV, which makes it perfect for families with multiple cars if you need to keep one out of the garage or are taking one on a road trip. No matter which car you use, this cover should fit it. 

I like the look of these covers and they seem to offer a simplicity that the others do not. But they do leave parts of the car unprotected, which is an issue when it comes to hail. That said, I like the versatile size for families with more than one type of car. 

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4. Autsop Car Cover

Here we have a cover that is much more complicated in its design. There are ten sizes to choose from starting at the A0, which fits a sedan up to 170 inches and goes to the PK-XL, which can fit a truck from 230 inches to 242 inches. 

This cover has so many specs I am just going to list them off for you. It is windproof, prevents scratches, protects from dust, bird poo, UV rays, water, falling leaves, and anything else that comes to mind. It is constructed from six types of material that are combined to form one durable cover to keep your paint job blemish-free. 

A zipper was installed on the driver’s side so you can have essay access to your car without having to uncover it. There are special straps that fix to the rear and front to keep it in place. It has a storage bag and fluorescent light strips that you can see at night. Mirror pockets were also designed into this cover to give it a better fit. 

Of all the covers we’ve discussed this one is the first to offer reflectable strips, which makes your car visible to other drivers in the dark of the night. An added bonus is that zipper access for those times when you leave something in your car and don’t feel like uncovering it. 

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5. GUNHYI Outdoor Car Cover

This next cover looks similar to the last one because it has some similar features. GUNHYI took the six-layer idea and decided to use aluminum fabric, which is known for its ability to reflect radiant heat and protective qualities. Most importantly, while some other fabrics will suffer wear and tear after a hailstorm, aluminum makes this cover wear and tear-resistant. 

It works in all kinds of weather from the extreme heat of the desert to the heavy snow-storms in the Rocky Mountains. It comes in several sizes for you to choose, which means it will have a better fit than the one-size-fits-all models. This cover won’t blow away because it comes with two windproof straps that attach to the front and rear. 

You will find this cover also comes with reflective strips so your car is visible to other drivers at night while it’s parked on the street. The bag it comes with is perfect for easy storage in your trunk or garage. 

One of the most attractive qualities of this cover is the aluminum fabric that it is made from. Not only does it keep the car cool from the penetrating sun it is also one of the toughest materials to tear. 

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Conclusion

No matter the car or truck you own there is a good option for a protective cover on this list for you. Hail can leave some serious damage to the exterior of your vehicle and it can cost a pretty penny to repair the destruction. Getting a good cover for cars that have no other safeguard is a smart move for sure. 

We hope you enjoyed this piece. If you did please let us know in the comments section below. Just a reminder that no cover is one-hundred percent guaranteed to protect your car from a hailstorm.

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