We have two teenagers driving now, so not everyone can park in the garage. Do you guys have any recs for a car cover that will protect from hail damage? Ideally, this would be something I could go throw on the car and secure properly at times when there is a thundersrorm headed my way. Thanks.

Saw this and it always made me laugh. Not sure if it would work.

Seeing as how I'm in the process of trying to get wife's expedition with 12k hail damage and my truck with 5k worth of hail damage I'll be following this closely as well as I live in CO. I've actually heard of the pool noodle thing before and that it works pretty well.

What about side impacts?

Not sure but they sell this on Amazon

Hail Protector SUV1 Size Portable Car Cover System for Truck, SUV or Van https://a.co/d/93CCY5h

Normally we keep our cars in the garage but earlier this summer we had a project going on in the garage so my car was out for a few days and of course that's when we had a hail storm come through. We just ran out there and threw some towels on the hood and roof and the protected it from impact. The rain got the towels wet quickly so they were heavy and didn't blow away.

My sister called this morning. She lives in central Austin. Said her car has smashed windows and large dents, her daughter and husband who live a short distance away have the same, one one the sunroof was smashed. Won't really know the full extent until sunrise.

Those hail covers would have come in handy.

Oh my.

Incredible amount of hail damage in Round Rock, TX. Didn't see a single parked car that didn't have a cracked windshield or blown out rear window. Major problems on I-35 as well with lots of fire/police activity. pic.twitter.com/DsAomJjUgk

— Gabe Cox (@gabecox) September 25, 2023

aggiedata said:

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Oh my.

Incredible amount of hail damage in Round Rock, TX. Didn't see a single parked car that didn't have a cracked windshield or blown out rear window. Major problems on I-35 as well with lots of fire/police activity. pic.twitter.com/DsAomJjUgk

— Gabe Cox (@gabecox) September 25, 2023

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I'm in Round Rock.

I have a cracked windshield and saw hail damage on the hood and roof right above the door. Lord knows what they'll find at the body shop.

I haven't made my first payment on this truck....... SOB.

The house has 2 broken windows.

I'd get your insurance claim in fast. Ug, so sorry about your new truck.

Hail damage in Round Rock, Texas, United States 🇺🇸 #ClimateActionNowpic.twitter.com/yvN5LWJ8F4

— Disaster Tracker (@DisasterTrackHQ) September 25, 2023

Incidents like this over major metro areas are what is going to cause every insurance carrier to move to minimum 2% wind and hail deductibles statewide. Many already have

Yea doesn't work for that very well. But if it's not a major storm it'll work. It would've protected my truck well enough but my wife's expedition got it on the side in a larger storm.

Just FYI, wife's expedition got the damage back in Jul and will have to have the hood and roof replaced. Apparently working with aluminum bodies is more complex and takes more time. We're on waitlists to get it fixed but everyone is saying we won't be able to get in til next year.

I have this which is basically a huge custom airbed that goes over the car. Comes with a typical airbed pump too. I got mine off of Amazon for around $350 when they had a deal.

Last significant hail storm I was luckier than I deserve and was near a gas station with a drive through car wash. Raced over there and sure enough nobody was in there. Even on the drive over there the noise of hail smashing into the truck was unnerving and my bed cover had a number of dents that I have still.

Wish I had a pic, but once we were under a significant warning for large hail I used a dozen+ bags of mulch and had the bed and cab covered. Hail never came so my redneck strategery was untested.

mulch bags work, I've done that before

BQ2001 said:

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mulch bags work, I've done that before

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Depending on the vehicle, I would not put those on the new aluminum hoods. Could be a bigger issue.

My neighbors just use blankets, not sure how well it works. But I do enjoy watching them run around in the rain from the covered porch.

Serves them right for having a three car garage that they can't put a single car in.

Do you live next to me? If so, how about a hand next time?

Depends. Did you turn your garage into a living room to watch foxnews all evening long?

If so, then hi neighbor. And no I'm not gonna help, you're the one that decided to turn your car storage into a hang out space. Completely different situation from the OP.

And and also if you're my neighbor. How's about you pay me for your half of the fence.

Naw. My doors are just too narrow for my pickup truck.

But good luck with that fence thing. Been there and done that.

The only options in this thread that will protect against the hail seen in Round Rock last night are MAYBE the blow up car condom looking thing and a good old fashioned garage. The noodles will help but it won't save the sides of the car. That stuff last night was like we saw in Hondo. Nothing survives that. It went through roofing and decking and into the attic in some locations. It damaged bricks as well. It was massive.

Anyone know what the hail discounts are on F450's at dealerships in Round Rock? Is that still a thing?

Is it really that hard to imagine threading together more noodles and rigging on side of vehicle?

How many noodles would it take to just equal the cost of a cover?

CrottyKid said:

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How many noodles would it take to just equal the cost of a cover?

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I'm not sure asking a complete idiot is the best idea.

CrottyKid said:

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How many noodles would it take to just equal the cost of a cover?

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It's a good question, no idea how much a noodle costs. And I see at least 80 noodles in that photo, meaning perhaps 240 needed for all sides coverage, and a quick google search indicates typical noodle length is around 55" - that photo would suggest those are extra long pool noodles.

I think it is a good challenge - what is the cheapest option that is also easy to store and put in place. Furniture moving blankets seem to be a popular low cost option - but how to keep wind from blowing off? weight available to lay on top of blankets? Bungee strapped somehow?

With a teen driver I started parking a car outside the garage and now I've stupidly added another fun car for myself so I have TWO cars outside the garage - what's the cheapest way to protect? Honestly, it may just be driving them under the Live Oak trees in my front yard.

Do they make extendable/retractable awnings that would work on a car/truck parked in the driveway? Seems that would work?

I was in my (old) truck when it got pounded by baseball size hail. No blanket or towel would have saved it from the force of those impacts. The pool noodle thing would probably work for the top surfaces, but who's got room to store that? If you go out to put that on your vehicle into a hail storm that is bad enough to cause damage, you're likely to be injured, possibly severely.

Complete Idiot said:

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CrottyKid said:

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How many noodles would it take to just equal the cost of a cover?

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It's a good question, no idea how much a noodle costs. And I see at least 80 noodles in that photo, meaning perhaps 240 needed for all sides coverage, and a quick google search indicates typical noodle length is around 55" - that photo would suggest those are extra long pool noodles.

I think it is a good challenge - what is the cheapest option that is also easy to store and put in place. Furniture moving blankets seem to be a popular low cost option - but how to keep wind from blowing off? weight available to lay on top of blankets? Bungee strapped somehow?

With a teen driver I started parking a car outside the garage and now I've stupidly added another fun car for myself so I have TWO cars outside the garage - what's the cheapest way to protect? Honestly, it may just be driving them under the Live Oak trees in my front yard.

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If you have cars and not trucks outside, a car lift in the garage may work to get more inside. I bought a Miata from an Ag in San Antonio in the spring who had 2 of them on a lift on one side of the garage. There was plenty of room for larger cars, I didn't ask about what combos he had tried.

D Nauti said:

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Complete Idiot said:

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CrottyKid said:

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How many noodles would it take to just equal the cost of a cover?

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It's a good question, no idea how much a noodle costs. And I see at least 80 noodles in that photo, meaning perhaps 240 needed for all sides coverage, and a quick google search indicates typical noodle length is around 55" - that photo would suggest those are extra long pool noodles.

I think it is a good challenge - what is the cheapest option that is also easy to store and put in place. Furniture moving blankets seem to be a popular low cost option - but how to keep wind from blowing off? weight available to lay on top of blankets? Bungee strapped somehow?

With a teen driver I started parking a car outside the garage and now I've stupidly added another fun car for myself so I have TWO cars outside the garage - what's the cheapest way to protect? Honestly, it may just be driving them under the Live Oak trees in my front yard.

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If you have cars and not trucks outside, a car lift in the garage may work to get more inside. I bought a Miata from an Ag in San Antonio in the spring who had 2 of them on a lift on one side of the garage. There was plenty of room for larger cars, I didn't ask about what combos he had tried.

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I went down this path and my garage ceiling height, according to one lift manufacturer anyway, is like 5" too low to pull it off. I have a 113" garage ceiling and cars that are 57" and 48" in height that I want to stack..

Complete Idiot said:

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CrottyKid said:

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How many noodles would it take to just equal the cost of a cover?

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It's a good question, no idea how much a noodle costs. And I see at least 80 noodles in that photo, meaning perhaps 240 needed for all sides coverage, and a quick google search indicates typical noodle length is around 55" - that photo would suggest those are extra long pool noodles.

I think it is a good challenge - what is the cheapest option that is also easy to store and put in place. Furniture moving blankets seem to be a popular low cost option - but how to keep wind from blowing off? weight available to lay on top of blankets? Bungee strapped somehow?

With a teen driver I started parking a car outside the garage and now I've stupidly added another fun car for myself so I have TWO cars outside the garage - what's the cheapest way to protect? Honestly, it may just be driving them under the Live Oak trees in my front yard.

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The cheapest price I see for a pool noodle is $3 so 240 noodles would be $720 on pool noodles alone. Plus you have to figure out how to rig it all together and then where to store it. This is all overkill when you can easily just get either of the 2 purposed built hail protection products already mentioned in this thread. I paid $350 for mine which takes about 10 minutes to set up and tear down and stores easily by just taking up the same amount of space as a large suitcase.

cav14 said:

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Complete Idiot said:

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CrottyKid said:

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How many noodles would it take to just equal the cost of a cover?

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It's a good question, no idea how much a noodle costs. And I see at least 80 noodles in that photo, meaning perhaps 240 needed for all sides coverage, and a quick google search indicates typical noodle length is around 55" - that photo would suggest those are extra long pool noodles.

I think it is a good challenge - what is the cheapest option that is also easy to store and put in place. Furniture moving blankets seem to be a popular low cost option - but how to keep wind from blowing off? weight available to lay on top of blankets? Bungee strapped somehow?

With a teen driver I started parking a car outside the garage and now I've stupidly added another fun car for myself so I have TWO cars outside the garage - what's the cheapest way to protect? Honestly, it may just be driving them under the Live Oak trees in my front yard.

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The cheapest price I see for a pool noodle is $3 so 240 noodles would be $720 on pool noodles alone. Plus you have to figure out how to rig it all together and then where to store it. This is all overkill when you can easily just get either of the 2 purposed built hail protection products already mentioned in this thread. I paid $350 for mine which takes about 10 minutes to set up and tear down and stores easily by just taking up the same amount of space as a large suitcase.

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$350 is better than the $500+ I thought I had seen for the custom built solutions in the past.

HAving said that, I was looking for around $200 or I'll probably just roll the dice on getting hit.

The way I've heard the pool noodle deal work would be to build a frame out of pool noodles and then cover with some rigid material to build a cover. I've never seen it in person but have heard from multiple locals about it being used.

For the pool noodles, I would think that large hail stones would go right through the seam between noodles.

This all makes me think there might be a market for some kind of collapsible rigid solution. It would be like a carport but temporary. The hard part of that design would be making it small enough to make sense as a storable item. It could actually be made of plastic that was grid-like (think milk crates) where the holes were small enough to block (or break up or slow down) hail large enough to cause dents. It would have to fold out and have sides strong enough to hold the top above the car. On second thought, this is a terrible idea, but I'll leave it here for the sake of discussion.

ETA: Could you modify a canvas tent to be sturdy enough to withstand the elements? If you modify it to drive onto the floor, it won't blow away, but it would likely blow down in a severe storm without much hail protection.