I’m in Richmond Hill and will likely be parking my car for 10 months (August 22nd until some time in May next year). Insurance went up to $740/month and that’s just plain fucking nuts.
Anyways, wondering what sort of things I need to do to insure my car is properly stored.
For now, I’m not sure where I’ll park it – possibly on my driveway, maybe in my grandparents underground garage, or public storage. Obviously sheltered storage will be better, but could be pricey.
anyone know any good places to store my car for a decent price?
unhook battery, but what else?
should I rustproof before storing? Last time I rustproofed was last November.
i unfortunatley don’t know of any places that you would be able to store it at, but speaking of advice, i did learn one thing that i didn’t know before.
if its going to be sitting somewhere for that long make sure you place a carpet underneath your whole car. in the winter the condensation from the ground rusts the bottom of your car, so place something under it.
then again, if you store it in a heated garage or something… this probably wouldn’t matter
I would not use carpet for the same reason that you should not leave the car on cement. It could possibly be worse on carpet because it would hold mmore moisture. I always use the vapor barrier that you put between insulation and drywall when you drywall a basement. It is used for the exact same thing in your basement (buy it at Rona, Home Hardware, etc.) Another plus to this is it is cheap and comes on wide rolls. Also put a bunch of dryer sheets all over the place in your car. It will keep mice etc. out and they do not smell near as bad as moth balls. Also stuff some steel wool in your tailpipe or get a peice of steel window screen and use a big hose clap to keep anything from building a nest in your exhaust. You can also take out your airfilter because mice will destroy the paper in it and plug your intake in a similar way as your exhaust.
If you use vapour barrier it will also keep whatever floor your car is on clean if you decide to undercoat it, which I think you should. If you do do not get dripless and try to get it done on a nice hot sunny day, this will heat the oil up and thin it out allowing it to run into smaller spaces and seams on your car
If I leave the car parked on my driveway outside, and start it up twice a week, maybe pull forward on the driveway and pack, maybe drive up and down the street, will it be ok (I’d rustproof it before parking it)?
Don’t see how it would be too much different than last winter, where I winterdrove it all season. I’d put on my old summer tires, or my winters so I don’t ruin my new summers/rims.
OR, If I park it at my grandparents condo underground, I can drive around the parking lot every few weeks.
dude if you use fuel stabilizer starting it up a bunch of times is the worst thing to do your better off just letting it be, it really isnt good to start and idle without actually driving it anyways
sorry to hear about that bro, but if your storing for 10 months, here’s my best advice:
top it up to half tank or more, pour in the fuel stabilizer according to whatever amount of fuel in the tank, disconnect or leave connected the battery, not a big deal. Give it a nice clean, inside and out, and take it easy!
Corey gave some good points, this is what I did for my car to store it for a year or more:
Full wash, clay, wax. Waxed ALL painted surfaces, not just exposed surfaces. Oiled all the hinges on the car. Cleaned the interior and conditioned all the leather, put some baking soda inside to sit there, ran the A/C to remove the moisture from the interior. Full tank of gas with stabilizer, rag in the intake, steel wool in the tailpipe. Battery disconnected with an intelligent battery tender hooked up to it.
Car was parked on a vapor proof barrier on the concrete, in neutral, NO e-brake, just chucks to hold it in place. Soft car cover on top. I think that was it.