Price Points: Protective car covers

Protective car covers

We mentioned a while ago that, after having our trusty old VW Passat estate for 15 years, we bought a new one. It wasn’t brand new, it was a year old, but felt new to us. We’ve had it about a year, and it has served us well so far.

One thing we’ve noticed is that our huge sycamore isn’t treating it well. Our car is parked – not directly under, but – fairly close to the tree. In the spring, the car gets covered in sticky sap; in the summer, dead bugs & insects get stuck to the roof and bonnet; in the autumn, whirligigs and leaves find their way down into crevices in the bonnet; and in the winter, the car seems to be perpetually sodden and sprouting green moss and algae.

To spare the paintwork from any further harm, we’re going to buy one of these protective car covers. None of them are cheap, but they’ll keep the car looking shiny and new!

  1. Halfords all seasons car cover (L): £62.99, Halfords
    • Treated material protects from UV damage
    • Super weatherproof material keeps your car dry
    • Soft lining protects your car from paint damage
    • Elasticated end panels to fit around the bumpers
    • Under car securing straps to ensure a good fit
    • Carry bag included
    • Dimensions: 470cm x 180cm x 135cm
    • 2 year guarantee
  2. Car cover compatible with Volkswagen Passat: £104.00, Amazon
    Quality material: The car cover is made of high-quality Oxford material, suitable for waterproof, rain-proof and snow-proof. Provide all-weather, all-season protection for your car. Is best bodyguard for your car!
    All weather: The perfect car cover for all seasons! Protect your car from tree sap, UV rays, dirt, dust, debris, industrial pollutants and bird droppings. Excellent anti-pollution, anti-scratch, anti-ultraviolet and bad weather protection, we also use reflective sunscreen materials to provide anti-ultraviolet protection, especially outdoors in summer.
    Easy to operate: Ingeniously designed to prevent moisture and reduce heat accumulation. Don’t worry about any impact on the car, you can use it with confidence. The operation is simple. The storage is convenient and the product can be placed in the trunk.
    Unique design: Four colours for your choice, wind-proof straps to protect your car cover from blowing off by heavy wind. The side zipper design makes it more convenient to use. Matching password lock for adding extra security.
  3. Car cover for 2020 Volkswagen Passat wagon – Premium edition: £245.94, CarCovers Factory
    Our Premium Edition is our top of the line cover that is heavy duty, made of polypropylene and outperforms 7-layer material that offers maximum level of protection. It not only protects both the inside and outside of a vehicle, but also acts as a theft-deterrent by keeping your vehicle out of view from potential thieves.
    Features include:
    • 100% waterproof and breathable due to micro-porous oil based materials
    • Inner fleece lining material ensuring vehicle’s paint is not compromised
    • Ultrasonic double stitched welding on the cover prevents water from going through
    • High quality UV resistant chemicals coated on the outer layer of this cover, ensuring vehicle paint never fades
    • Reinforced grommet; lanyard on both sides of the cover
    • Guaranteed to fit perfectly
    • Protects your vehicle from: ice, rain, snow, high winds, strong UV rays and smallest pea sized hail.
    • Elastic hem in the front and rear allowing tuck fit
    • Material resists mildew, mould, rot, bird droppings, tree sap, dirt and acid rain

shop protective car covers

Some of the links on our blog are affiliate links. We may receive a small commission - at no cost to you - if you click through and make a purchase.
Prices & links correct at time of publication.

Car cover for 2020 Volkswagen Passat wagon – Premium edition
Car cover for 2020 Volkswagen Passat wagon – Premium edition
£245.94
Car cover compatible with Volkswagen Passat
Car cover compatible with Volkswagen Passat
£104.00
Halfords all seasons car cover (L)
Halfords all seasons car cover (L)
£62.99
Car cover for 2020 Volkswagen Passat wagon – Premium edition
Car cover for 2020 Volkswagen Passat wagon – Premium edition
£245.94
Car cover compatible with Volkswagen Passat
Car cover compatible with Volkswagen Passat
£104.00
Halfords all seasons car cover (L)
Halfords all seasons car cover (L)
£62.99
Car cover for 2020 Volkswagen Passat wagon – Premium edition
Car cover for 2020 Volkswagen Passat wagon – Premium edition
£245.94
Car cover compatible with Volkswagen Passat
Car cover compatible with Volkswagen Passat
£104.00
Halfords all seasons car cover (L)
Halfords all seasons car cover (L)
£62.99
Car cover for 2020 Volkswagen Passat wagon – Premium edition
Car cover for 2020 Volkswagen Passat wagon – Premium edition
£245.94
Car cover compatible with Volkswagen Passat
Car cover compatible with Volkswagen Passat
£104.00
Halfords all seasons car cover (L)
Halfords all seasons car cover (L)
£62.99
Car cover for 2020 Volkswagen Passat wagon – Premium edition
Car cover for 2020 Volkswagen Passat wagon – Premium edition
£245.94
Car cover compatible with Volkswagen Passat
Car cover compatible with Volkswagen Passat
£104.00
Halfords all seasons car cover (L)
Halfords all seasons car cover (L)
£62.99

Price Points: VW Passat estate roof racks

VW Passat roof racks

Now, this week’s Price Points post may seem a little bit niche, but bear with me! We’ve recently bought a new (to us) estate car; our old one was just that… almost 20 year old.

Our old car was a VW Passat estate and we loved it so much, we simply upgraded to a newer version. They’re attractive, really reliable, can take a bit of roughing up and have a lot of boot space.

Even with all that room in the back, there are often occasions that we need even more. Being in the vintage & antiques business, we regularly need to transport bulky bits of furniture that we buy at auctions, markets and boot sales. Items that are too large to fit inside the car; that’s where the roof rack comes into play.

It’s only when I looked into getting some kind of universal roof rack that I learned that there isn’t really such a thing. Well, there is, but I wouldn’t be that trusting of their safety when we’re steaming along at 50 miles per hour along a motorway in high winds!

VW Passat estate roof racks are made specifically to fit on the ‘flush rails’ that come as standard on this model of car. Our old, pre-2014 Passat estate had a different type of roof rails so a swap wasn’t possible.

After scouring the internet and reading up about load limits, bar measurements and security measures, I’ve arrived at this VW Passat estate roof racks shortlist…

  1. Maypole locking aluminium solid rails cross roof bars for VW Passat Estate 2014+: £69.95, eBay
    TUV/GS tested to 90kg
    Lockable: comes with 2 keys
    135cm
  2. Green Valley roof rack rail bars, lockable, compatible with VW Passat Estate 2015-onwards, flush rails: £99.95, AmazonMax load capacity: 100kg
    Lockable – locks bars to vehicle
    Dimensions 107cm x 3cm x 2cm 3 Years Warranty
  3. Thule SlideBars package: £362.95 The Roof Box Company
    Maximum load limit: 75kg
    Thule’s SlideBars won a Red Dot product design award in 2011.
    Package comprises foot pack, aluminium slidebars, adapter kit and locks

    Foot Pack: The Thule Evo 7106 Foot Pack may only be used on vehicles with flush rails. It has a maximum load limit of 75kg, so this is the load limit for the whole system. It’s always important to think about the weight of the roof bars – 12.5kg to 14kg for this whole 2 bar system, depending on bar length – the weight of what you fix to them and the weight of what you are carrying.
    SlideBars: SlideBars include a standard T-track slot in the top of each bar, which must be used otherwise of course the bar cannot slide and the benefit of the whole system is lost!
    Adapter Kit: The Adapter Kit contains the essential components required to fix the roof bars to the vehicle.
    Locks: One Key System locks are included. We have a free lock matching scheme for all your Thule gear which, as a customer, you may continue to use any time you want. This means that you can use the same key for most of your Thule products. In practice, only having one key for all roof mounted bike carriers is the most useful part of a ‘one key system’, a system which is offered by all the major brands we sell.

shop VW Passat roof racks

Some of the links on our blog are affiliate links. We may receive a small commission - at no cost to you - if you click through and make a purchase.
Prices & links correct at time of publication.

Thule SlideBars package
Thule SlideBars package
£362.95
Green Valley roof rack rail bars
Green Valley roof rack rail bars
£99.95
Maypole solid rails cross roof bars
Maypole solid rails cross roof bars
£69.95
Thule SlideBars package
Thule SlideBars package
£362.95
Green Valley roof rack rail bars
Green Valley roof rack rail bars
£99.95
Maypole solid rails cross roof bars
Maypole solid rails cross roof bars
£69.95
Thule SlideBars package
Thule SlideBars package
£362.95
Green Valley roof rack rail bars
Green Valley roof rack rail bars
£99.95
Maypole solid rails cross roof bars
Maypole solid rails cross roof bars
£69.95
Thule SlideBars package
Thule SlideBars package
£362.95
Green Valley roof rack rail bars
Green Valley roof rack rail bars
£99.95
Maypole solid rails cross roof bars
Maypole solid rails cross roof bars
£69.95
Thule SlideBars package
Thule SlideBars package
£362.95
Green Valley roof rack rail bars
Green Valley roof rack rail bars
£99.95
Maypole solid rails cross roof bars
Maypole solid rails cross roof bars
£69.95

Charity Vintage: VW Samba

"Charity Vintage" blog post banner

yellow model VW Samba with trailer for sale on eBay for Charity in support of St Giles Hospice

If you can’t currently stretch to the real deal, this cute model VW Samba complete with trailer is currently “Buy it Now” for a mere £7.50. It’s being sold by St Giles Hospice* so they’ll receive 100% of the sale price.

It would be great to use it as the lid of a money box that you use to store your campervan fund!

*St Giles Hospice provides high-quality medical and specialist nursing care for local people with cancer and other serious illnesses in the Staffordshire and West Midlands area. The Hospice is a registered charity and relies on fundraising and donations to support its work. St Giles Hospice Shops raise vital funds to support this care. The nineteen shops – sell a wide range of high-quality donated goods.

Bookmarks – My Cool Campervan

'Bookmarks' blog post banner

My Cool Campervan book with vintage mug, crochet blanket and orange camping kettle | H is for Home

A vintage campervan has been on our wish list for a very long time.

page in My Cool Campervan featuring a blue Commer page in My Cool Campervan featuring a yellow Commer

Whilst we enjoy staying in a holiday cottage as much as the next person, we often dream of hitting the road for an overnight stay or long weekend on the spur of the moment… whenever the mood takes us or the weather looks too good to waste.

vintage Airstream in a field

page in My Cool Campervan featuring an Austin Loadstar

We live only an hour or two’s drive from all kinds of lovely places – the Lake District, North Wales, Cheshire, the East & West coasts spring to mind for starters. Then there’s the rest of the UK to visit for slightly longer trips… and then mainland Europe and beyond after that!

page in My Cool Campervan featuring a Bedford CA campervan

vintage Bedford CF page in My Cool Campervan featuring a Bedford CF campervan with its trailer

It would make travelling with Fudge a lot easier too as he’d always have that secure home away from home to put him at ease. Plus, there’s all the fun of kitting it out of course. We already have a campervan ‘bottom drawer‘ where blankets, picnic boxes and melamine items are steadily accumulating.

page in My Cool Campervan featuring a Ginetta car camper

page in My Cool Campervan featuring an Austin 152 car camper

Reading My Cool Campervan (by Jane Field-Lewis & Chris Haddon) has really persuaded us to get our finances in order and hunt one down – it’s been totally inspirational and we’ve a renewed focus all of a sudden.

page in My Cool Campervan featuring a Bedford CA named Cuthbert

page in My Cool Campervan featuring the interior of a GMC motorhome

Each chapter of the book is dedicated to an actual vintage campervan – the authors & photographer travelled far & wide to visit them.

page in My Cool Campervan featuring a VW Devon campervan page in My Cool Campervan featuring a VW Hightop used to go surfing

page in My Cool Campervan featuring a VW Westfalia page in My Cool Campervan featuring a 1965 VW Microbus campervan

For each vehicle there’s a little introduction to its make & model, a brief history of its life to date and a chat with the current owners… where they found it, work carried out, how they use it etc. There are also ‘style notes’ where we’re given a sneak peak into how they’ve decked out their pride & joy.

page in My Cool Campervan featuring a Dodge Travco motorhome named Myrtle

page in My Cool Campervan featuring a Bush radio in a vintage campervan page in My Cool Campervan featuring the dining table in a vintage campervan

Everyone’s love and enthusiasm really shines through. Many of the owners have given their vans names and there’s also many a sad tale of reluctant sales.

page in My Cool Campervan featuring the interior of a vintage Morris Marina campervan page in My Cool Campervan featuring the interior of Debbie, a 1968 Bedford CA Dormobile Debonaire campervan

page in My Cool Campervan featuring a Caravelle Club campervan

One seller even tried to buy back the campervan he sold a week after parting with it – offering more than it was initially sold for!!

page in My Cool Campervan featuring a Toyota Devon campervan

page in My Cool Campervan featuring a Dodge campervan with colour coordinating bicycle

Tina Hillier‘s photos are tremendous too – they make you just want to pack a picnic and get out there!

page in My Cool Campervan featuring a a Fiat 238 Weinsberg campervan

page in My Cool Campervan featuring an Airstream motorhome page in My Cool Campervan featuring an Airstream motorhome interior

So, this book gets a ‘highly recommended’ award from us – whether you’re already a campervan owner, hanker after one like us or are just fans of the vintage scene generally. We absolutely loved it!

page in My Cool Campervan featuring a campervan boot full of colourful luggage and bedding

page in My Cool Campervan featuring a Dormobile Roma MKII micro-camper named Lil Blue

As usual, My Cool Campervan is available on Amazon.

page in My Cool Campervan featuring a Wildgoose Mini campervan

page in My Cool Campervan featuring a Morris A60 campervan

For caravan lovers, the authors have previously published My Cool Caravan – click on the link to look inside!

vintage Citroen H fire engine page in My Cool Campervan featuring a Citroen Nomad campervan

Olive green dotted horizontal line

My Cool Campervan by Jane Field-Lewis & Chris Haddon

[Many thanks to Anova Books for supplying this review copy]