We live in a rainy part of the country. We don’t have a garage and park outside the house. Mrs Higgo wants a car with a cloth roof, not as a summer plaything but as a year-round car.

Are we* looking at a future of mould, moss and rot?

(* I say ‘we’ but in the great compromise that is married life, cars are my resposibility)

Will it be an old car or new?

I used to have a Mk3 MX5 (latest version) from near new with cloth roof that was always parked on the road and used daily.

Certainly if you want it to last you need to look after it. ie Wash it with a brush to brush the dirt out. After a while the cloth started to look a bit tired, but didnt loose its shape or water proofness. However reproofing it made it look much more black and water just beaded off it.

I wouldnt leave one under a tree that drops sap, or in an area where birds dump all the time.

Which car are you thinking of?

Saab 9-3
~ 5years old.

mechanic told my brother that it will last ~5 years outside double that if well cared for.

obviously loads of variables – his was kept under a tree which had a LOT of sap. sold it on after 3 years as it was starting to show signs of ageing (6yr old car by that point) he looked after it well but who knows what the guy before did…

If you are set on it you can treat it as a wear & tear item – find out how much a new hood is.

or build a car port?

No problems with keeping “cloth” roofed cars outside, so long as it’s not an old MG (or like thereof)
Modern hoods are more than upto the job, if it’s an older car then make sure it still fits around seals (door etc) limit leaks into footwells and rear seat areas. Make sure the seals are fitted to either the rear plastic window or glass.
Other than that I’ve owned softies and had no issues with leaks at all, but then the cars were all bought new and kept only 3 years.

“Other than that I’ve owned softies and had no issues with leaks at all, but then the cars were all bought new and kept only 3 years.”

But thats maybe the problem, modern hoods can handle a few years abuse (ie not looking after them) but they get clogged up with dirt which eventually damages the cloth.

Not a problem if you keep the car a short space of time from new, but if you keep the car longer it becomes a replacing the hood issue.