[DonCorleone]

as promised here is my review as a consumer, i have no ties whatsoever with any company other than that of a consumer, I recieve no compensation or payment for anything i say.

order placed November 14, 2000. order arrived November 30, 2000. Evolution 4 Car cover. CARCOVER4U.COM. called yesterday to see what the holdup was, cover was said to be mailed out on the 22nd and delayed by the holiday, so it was reasonable and acceptable, customer service rep was really nice and accomodating.
first impressions;
well, i kinda expected something thicker and softer, 4 layers...hmm... color is akin to that of the recycled stuff they use as towels in hs bathrooms and texture is basically the same. i dont know how its supposed to absorb impact. smelled nice though, new carish.
fit and finish;
custom made...fits mirrors and covers nicely, even has pocket for antenna, no need to remove, keep getting the feeling it is bent underneath. i took awhile to put it on, but thats because the finishfirst wax let the cover slide off easy.
final thoughts although i was initially disappointed, the craftsmanship is excellent (machine made?) and it fits my car like a glove, if it protects from rain like it says, dries as fast as the claims and prevents a few dings then i couldn't be happier. I still have to try putting it on a few more times so i can get the hang of it, if i do it right it should only take me a mintue to install and remove. i will have after thoughts and pictures tomorrow.

[edit]fixed bold tags.
Price was $154.56 shipping and tax included (if you don't live in cali you won't get taxed)

[This message has been edited by DonCorleone (edited December 01, 2000).]

 

[IS300GTE]

expensive??, and you own an IS, right? when i first read the title, i thought it was going to be about the Mitsu Lancer Evo4.

 

[DonCorleone]

yeah i own a fully loaded - graphite rims SBM. hm... maybe i shoulda put the word car cover somewhere in my title as not to excite lancer evo fans? oh wait, i do have it in the title, looks like someones triggerhappy

 

[IS300GTE]

yeah, you did, i thought i was gonna see a car cover for your EVO4, on your evo4, because appearantely, they are being imported to washington and some other states somehow? i am a fan of that car, you are right about trigger happy, but i really don't know much about it, know plenty about the motor, but nothing else, ah well, its cool.
how much was your car cover btw? {for the IS300 }

 

[DonCorleone]

welps the car cover for my IS was 155 total, including tax and shipping, cali residents pay tax. i would love to own a Lancer, those look vicious. maybe i will settle for a mirage with a kit and built engine, but im not rich so i'll settle wit my fantasies of owning lancers, skylines, lambos and such...

 

[DonCorleone]

i think (not sure) that you can import a car and not worry about regulations like us spec bumpers and emissions if you import it for show or racing purposes... it wont be street legal but it will be in your hands... i remember reading about a guy who imported either a lancer or a subaru wrx for racing and didnt have to have it meet emissions or crash safety tests, but he cant drive it on the street. you see companies like Axis and 5ziggen who imported the Altezza, i dont think they would put up the $$ to have it pass emissions and crash tests jsut for one show car... (thats why motorex skylines cost double of what you would pay in japan, they crash test and do emissions as well as making the car streetable as per regulations)

 

[Golden]

Not a bad review. I've been using Evolution 4 car covers on my last two cars. They do fit well and surely keep the car clean and protect it from the sun (really important where I live!!!), but they don't do jack against rain. Even a light drizzle that persists will get the car wet. The covers are advertised that they keep the car dry in anything but an extreme downpour. That simply has not been my experience. The covers DO, however, breathe, so if your car gets wet it will dry without taking the cover off and you don't have to worry about rust or anything if you were to cover it for an extended period of time.

Price was about right. Mine was ordered from someplace different. I think it was Blue Ribbon Motoring. $125 + shipping

 

[Albertezza]

After owning 3 Evolution 4 car covers, I've learned that they begin "disintegrating" to dust after 3 years. Washing accelerates this deterioration. Yes, they do offer fine protection and padding - but they are bulky and soping wet are a pain to deal with.

For my IS300 I've tried another, and so far am happier with it than the Evolution 4.

Covercraft C16181 for the IS300 in Weatherhield material. Includes "sock" for the antenna integrated. $299.99 from Autosupermart.com.

This Weathershield material actually beads up water and it rolls off of the cover. Just shake it out to remove water. It's also quite amazing to see the water drops roll off in that they pick up all of the dirt on the cover. So, water rolling off kind of "auto cleans" it. It's lighter
and offers protection. I believe it's going to be more duarable in the long run, but it's just new now. It operates on the microporus principle, kinda GoreTex like. Evo4 operates on a Pampers diaper principle - absorbent synthetic padding.

Yes, Weathershield is more expensive - but I can appreciate it's value.

 

[DonCorleone]

where were you guys when i was asking opinions on car covers? oh well, I have my car cover and if it does what it's supposed to do then I am happy. bad weather today so i don't think I'll have pics till tomorrow.

 

[gmej]

Originally posted by DonCorleone:
where were you guys when i was asking opinions on car covers? oh well, I have my car cover and if it does what it's supposed to do then I am happy. bad weather today so i don't think I'll have pics till tomorrow.

Must've missed your post on car covers cause I would've replied with "Get the Technalon 4 cause it kicks ass! Thick to protect against dings, takes alot of rain to soak through so car stays fairly dry, cover dries quickly, and easy to put on." Not custom fitted like yours though. Hope you don't have a $150 pile of dust in 3 years, good luck.

 

[shadoh6]

I've done some reseaching on importing cars and here is the deal...

When you import a car, if there is a comparable car in the US market that has been approved by the NHTSA (National Highway Transportation Safety something something) then you won't have much trouble. You can try to certify the car you're importing as one of these comparable cars by the NHTSA for about $500. So if you do something like an old Supra or some Benz, then there's no problem.

Cars older than 25 years get in no problem.

If the car is not certified (like the Skyline) then you have 30 days to modify the car to DOT, NHTSA, and EPA standards by a certified importer. If it's not modified by then they impound it, or you send it back.

Here are the loop holes: race track use, show car use (these have time limits I think though.) military related (something like if you are stationed in Okinawa, and you buy a Skyline, you can bring it back with you, not too sure though) international diplomat (if you are part of an international diplomat, consulate or something like that, then you can bring your car over with out DOT, EPA crap.

On a end note, you can import a Skyline from Japan, and have it modified for US use for 20k! Through hours upon hours of searching, I found some places that import Japanese cars and you can get an 2000 or 1999 R34 Vspec for as low as 43k to 51k (new). That's about 70k, which is 20k cheaper than Motorex at least.

If anybody wants to know more, let me know; I spent weeks researching the topic before I found out how expensive it was going to be!

 

[DonCorleone]

so what i read was basically correct, cool.
so i could theoretically bring in a Nissan Silvia as a 200sx for $500? Lancer Evo as Mirage? (thats a stretch) so how will regulation tuned cars compare? ohw much hp wouild be lost? what about cars from england?
i like the lancer evos looks more than the skyline's so how much would it cost over the price of the evo to have it certified? what would it total? how much more would registration and insurance be?

 

[DonCorleone]

it rained a couple of days ago, yesterday morning when i went to take the cover off to go to class i noticed water on my car... and it didnt even rain that much, barely enough to wet the ground. my car wasnt as wet as it would have been had i left it unprotected, but still, i expected more protection.

 

[Golden]

Originally posted by DonCorleone:
it rained a couple of days ago, yesterday morning when i went to take the cover off to go to class i noticed water on my car... and it didnt even rain that much, barely enough to wet the ground. my car wasnt as wet as it would have been had i left it unprotected, but still, i expected more protection.

Yep... that's pretty much been my experience as well. Given enough time, the car would have dried though. I once went on vacation for 5 days and when I came back, the car was dry, but it looked like a really really dusty car had been left out in the rain. That's when I first figured out these things aren't very protective against rain.

And as far as them turning to dust in 3 years... I have to question that. I had one for 2 years and it still looked brand new.

 

[shadoh6]

Yes, you could bring in a Silvia under a 240SX name, but only legally the S14 and below. And yes, you can bring in a Lancer Evo under the Mirage name, as some people in America are rumored to have done. What I'm unclear about is who actually checks that to see that the car you're bringing in is the same one you're declaring; I mean, is there some car expert at the port who says, "Umm... nice try buddy! Send it back to Japan!" If they don't check, and just "take your word for it."

Here's the hard part(s): Insurance and annual certification. If you insure it as a Mirage, you're only protecting about half the car, since the Evo is more than double the price of a Mirage. Annual EPA certification will be a problem too since I'm pretty sure that the Evo doesn't meet US emissions standards.

If you do decide to do it legally though, a Lancer Evo VI will cost you about 15-20k cheaper than a R34 Skyline, and although I haven't checked how much a Evo to US mod would cost, you can expect to be 20-25k poorer.