I’m probably getting a car soon, and want to look around for a parking space to rent.
Out of the options of an outdoor uncovered space, an outdoor covered space, and underground, is there really much difference? Do Taiwan’s rain and dust do bad things to your car?
Brian
I wish I had an indoor space with enough room to open the door. I think the sun is not good for your car. I have one of those green tents for mine. You have to fold it up when the typhoon comes. If you park in the basement, you have to worry about flooding.
Sun=bad
Rain=bad
Dust=bad
Mad bastards that can’t steer=bad
Car’ll look nicer longer if you get covered parking, but don’t use one of those blue car covers as they simply trap the moisture.
But covered parking costs mucho dinero, so you have to weigh the pros & cons. 10 years of covered parking costs how much? An occasional professional waxing and possibly a respray costs how much?
My latest’s been outside for 6 years now and still looks semi-OK, but the paint’s taking a right beating from the elements.
Keep it waxed and the sun / rain don’t seem to do much harm to the paint. Depends on the brand really. Old Fords and domestic build Toyotas can fade really badly. A lot of direct sunshine through the windows can be pretty harmful to the interior though. Fabrics fade, synthetics degrade from UV, leather dries out and cracks.
Dust is another issue. I work downwind from a cement plant and the dust there has gotten into the window guides and scratched my windows where they roll up and down. Downside of frameless windows…
If you go for an indoor space you be sure and check the parking elevators are all sound and solid. There have been some really nasty accidents with those things collapsing. Some are just garbage from the get-go, some go that way from lack of maintainance. Worst is when your dipshit neighbor is too cheap to maintain his rack, and it falls over crushing your car. Happens all the time.
So that’s the solution is it? Keep the car well-waxed.
I noticed a lot of older cars around my neighborhood with paint peeling off the the upper surfaces (i.e., roof, hood, trunk). I’ve also noticed that Toyotas, Fords and the odd Honda are affected more than other brands. And stangely, dark green cars seem to be in worse condition than the others.
My car (an oldish dark green Toyota) is parked outdoors most of the time, and so I was wondering whether I should be washing it more often just to remove whatever chemicals that were deposited on it during the last shower of rain. I had it pretty well waxed about 6 weeks ago, and currently I go through the car wash about once every 2 weeks, but would more frequent standard $80 car washes just result in reduced wax protection?