Is it safe to drive a new car with protective plastics still?

S

spitfire9200

New member
Hey everyone! I am buying a new car out of state and was wondering if there are any adverse effects to leaving the protective plastics on the hood/doors until I arrive home. I will be driving about 450 miles with them on. I am worried about any adhesive residue, marring, damage from the heat etc. 


 


Also, I was planning on using a painter's tape temporary bra for the front bumper as well, but someone instructed me to use this instead:


 


http://www.lowes.com/pd_16201-1671-CS2450_0__?productId=3014867&Ntt=capet+shield&pl=1&currentURL=%3FNtt%3Dcapet%2Bshield&facetInfo=


 


I was told it won't leave any marring or residue and faster/easier than painter's tape, but I thought i'd shoot it by you guys as well!!


 


Thanks in advance. 
 
Welcome to Autopia! 


 


As long as the plastic covering is firmly in place, then you should be fine. You just don't want it to flap back and forth and cause marring to your finish. I don't think wrapping it in painters tape is harmful either. Comes off pretty easy and leaves no residue. 
 
I dont see anything wrong with it. I'm pretty sure theres a shelf life to the plastic though, maybe 30 days, so you might want to get it off the car as soon as you can.
 
Thanks for the welcome! Do you guys think the carpet protector adhesive would be a better alternative to painter's tape (in the link)?


The protective plastics would be coming off well before the 30 day mark.
 
I remember reading a thread years ago about a couple of fellows who bought an Audi on the east coast.  They lived on the west coast.  They covered the Audi with blue painter's tape for the entire cross country trip and it worked well.  It was removed without any issues either.  Ironically, hardly anyone noticed the car was covered in tape.  The tape was actually very close to the blue of the car anyway so not a lot of raised eyebrows along the way.


  You'll be fine with your 450 mile trip.  Very short compared to the Audiboys.
 
JohnZ3MC said:
I remember reading a thread years ago about a couple of fellows who bought an Audi on the east coast.  They lived on the west coast.  They covered the Audi with blue painter's tape for the entire cross country trip and it worked well.  It was removed without any issues either.  Ironically, hardly anyone noticed the car was covered in tape.  The tape was actually very close to the blue of the car anyway so not a lot of raised eyebrows along the way.


  You'll be fine with your 450 mile trip.  Very short compared to the Audiboys.
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Thanks everyone for the replies!! Oh man those tape jobs look like they took a long long time. Anyone have experience with the carpet shield plastic sheeting I posted above? I'm really leaning toward using that due to the size and ease of application. I've heard from one individual that it's great and doesn't marr the finish, but wanted to see if anyone else had experience or insight
 
If you get the wide tape it would probably be alot easier. Not sure about the carpet plastic though? I'd hate for it to start flagging and you have to tear the entire sheet off. With tape, you can easily section a repair area. 
 
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