ALDI Auto XS Hail Protection Cover

Not bad for its price – Misleading size guide on the product cover, the large(L) one struggles to fully cover my Lexus LS400’s bumpers, and the sedan is well within the cover specs.. that said, the product material is of good quality for its price $99.

Great, but one has to understand, how to use it – Recently I saw a very negative feedback about this product somewhere: The customer was of the opinion that Aldi is responsible for paint-damage on their car due to cover rubbing on car. That's a bit silly. All that's required is a bit of brain to understand of how to use this car-cover. I love that car cover, I let you know, how I use it, and I have some criticism on the user manual. I have too many cars and I have to protect those standing in the open, which I do not use yet: I do this by covering the whole car with old blankets, then I put that ALDI cover over the blankets, and then to protect that Aldi cover, I place a 3.6x5.55m (or 3.6x6m) tarps (either clear or better silver) over it. I use cloth-line thru all the eyes of the tarps to fit it to the car. That way, the Aldi cover does not rub on the car (1. because the blankets prevent it and 2. because the main movements caused by wind would be movements of the tarps against the Aldi cover and not against the car.). The added thicknesses of blankets, hail-cover and tarps give me confidence that I have some serious hail protection. I feed an extra bit of cloth-line thru underneath the car to tie the sides of the tarps together.

The older version of the Aldi-hail covers had those tightening-strips exactly there (they needed to be fed thru under the car (between the wheels). Theoretically a good idea, but practically I do not think many people made use of it because it is a pain to use it. Considering this, it is kind of better that those 2 strips on the new version of hail cover go under the car before and behind (not in-between) the wheels. And with my extra-strip right in the middle under the car (connecting the tarps, I have a solid "wrap".

And here some criticism on the user manual: It says to pull the cover over the car starting from the boot... For once, it really does not matter, it you start at the front or the back, and where you start would be determined by the position the car is parked in (if on the hill, start pulling the cover over the car from that end of the car, which points uphill) and it is determined by the wind direction: If there is a strong wind (here is always is), do not try to pull the cover over the car against the direction of the wind - go with the wind.

Next issue with the manual: It says size XL is suitable for 545cm long cars. NEVER! Just an example: The Fairlane NL is 512.2cm long, and I can't quite fit it over the rear bumper. Thus,, the XL is just a tad short for a 512.2cm car, no way it is suitable for a 545cm long car. Luckily that Fairlane is one of the longest cars on the road anyway.

I agree with the manual that you should definitely remove dirt (i.e. properly clean, wash and polish the car) before putting the cover on. So I do have a bit of a problem understanding, what the designers were thinking: If this cover is not designed for permanent protection (well not as is - i.e. without my blankets and without the tarps over it), it would suggest that one put the cover over the car just before the hailstorm. While it is unclear, how that can be managed, there would definitely be no time to clean, polish and dry the car just time time before a hail-storm.

And contrary to the manual stating "Do not place any objects on the vehicle while cover is mounted", I'd say it is a good idea to place a rubber tyre (without rim) onto the 3 layers, which I use. I do not currently, but it is an option.