In the Garage, $3,000+ Inflatable Car Cover Lasted Less than 1.5 Years. Made in Guangzhou, China with No USA Support. Zollikon, Switzerland

I purchased the In the Garage 18’ Ultimate Outdoor Car Shield inflatable car cover, which currently retails for $3,199 at IntheGarage.com. 

The inflation pump had issues right out of the box causing it to continuously run, risking the pump overheating and cover bursting.  The second replacement pump frequently failed to inflate when air pressure was low, resulting in multiple scratches when the deflated cover repeatedly scraped the car’s paint with wind movement.

Other shortcomings included insufficient air circulation and excessively trapped heat and humidity resulting in melted interior vehicle buttons and mold growth, as well as high difficulty with ingress and egress of vehicles due to floor support tubes preventing doors from fully opening.

The cover is made in Guangzhou, China, and similar covers can be purchased on Alibaba for $700.  I have seen similar covers made by Car Capsule in person, which appeared to be noticeably better quality.  My cover developed more than 12 holes in the PVC material within 1.5 years of light driveway use.  Below are my attempts at getting the cover repaired within the 2 year warranty.

Attempt #1) I contacted the owner of the company when 2 small holes were present, requesting him to repair the holes.  The owner suggested I purchase various glues and watch YouTube videos on how to repair PVC.   His suggestions did not work despite multiple attempts using various glues and methods.

Attempt #2) After the previous suggestions failed, he requested I bring the heavy and cumbersome cover, which fills an entire pallet when deflated, to some local PVC boat repair shops he suggested.  I reside in the most tropical state in the USA with a multitude of boat shops, yet none of his recommended shops could repair the cover.

Attempt #3) After this failed, the owner requested I ship the cover in for warranty repair.  I asked for the phone number and address to ship to.  The seller was unable to provide this, as he has zero physical support presence in the USA, nor does he have dedicated subcontractors he works with.  Their website claims to have support in Knoxville, TN, but that turned out to be a warehousing service that stores and ships goods for a fee.

The owner eventually claimed to have located a shop in Los Angeles capable of performing the repair, or alternatively I could pay to ship the cover to his actual place of business in Europe.  By this time, my car had already been sitting out in the sun and rain for 3+ months and I’d lost confidence in the seller’s ability or knowledge in repairing these covers.  The last thing I wanted to do was to package the cover up and pay for shipping only to discover the next shop was unable to repair it, similar to shops local to me.  I requested a refund of the purchase price as a final attempt at resolution, but the company owner refused.