We would always recommend putting your pride and joy away in our secure and dehumidified buildings, of course. What price peace of mind? Well, about £4 per day, actually! However if you’re using your own garage, here are a few things to think about. The main message is: Once you’ve got your car clean and tucked away for winter, do remember to keep an eye on what’s going on.
- You’ve chosen a dry, thermally stable, secure and dehumidified environment? Still look out for signs and causes of condensation forming – for example opening an internal door from a warm house into a cold garage is likely to lead to the warm air dumping it’s load of moisture onto any cold surfaces it finds in the garage. Similarly opening the door of a warm garage on a cold day can cause condensation to form. It isn’t just the parts of your car you can see that are at risk – less well protected surfaces hidden away in engine bays and components will suffer too.
- We never apply the handbrake when cars are parked up as there is a high likelihood that the pads will bind to the disc or drum. Chocks are a good idea if you have concerns over the car moving.
- Consider putting out mouse, bug and moth traps. If your car is in a garage that also contains the usual collection of stuff you don’t know what to do with, remember that there could already be pests present that might see your car as a step up the property ladder. If your garage is heated, it will be a magnet for mice, and they can write off a car in a matter of hours. Wiring and rubber pipes and seals are a favourite nibble, and they will often choose the most inaccessible areas for their work. The first time you’ll know is when you attempt to start your car in the Spring.
- Check under your car for leaks once you have it parked – foil kitchen roasting trays make great inexpensive drip trays.
- Check tyres monthly. Although you’ve pumped them up to help prevent flat spotting, a slow puncture can take a while to detect, and a flat tyre undetected often means a new tyre once discovered.
Probably something to avoid
- Make sure no one has switched off your battery conditioner. You’re probably not the only person with access to your garage, so in between scraping their bikes up the side of your car, leaving a few crates of unspecified treasures sitting on your paintwork and letting in loads if nice damp air, they may have pulled your plug.
- Don’t run the engine up unless you’ve identified that there’s no residual salt on the road and you’re going for a drive (remember to adjust those tyre pressures!) The reason for this is that by creating heat you’ll encourage condensation which may not dissipate effectively, leaving moisture where you don’t want it.
It can take a while, but getting your storage process right will pay dividends. As classic cars become viable investments, it makes no sense to risk unnecessary and avoidable dilapidation. If you would like any advice, or are considering booking your car into our storage unit please contact us: