There are plenty of reasons you may be considering long-term car storage. Luckily, there are plenty of storage facilities that provide long-term car storage both outdoors and indoors. If you need to utilize car storage, it's important to consider these five little known tips to make it as successful as possible:
- Use a Car Cover No Matter What: If you are storing your vehicle outdoors, which is typically the cheaper option, you definitely need a durable car cover. However, you should also cover your car even if you are storing it indoors. This is because dust and dirt still gather indoors and can cause damage to the exterior paint job on your vehicle.
- Drive Every 6 Months If Possible: If you are going to be storing your vehicle for more than 6 months, it's important to run it about every 6 months. Allow the parts to warm up so that condensation does not build. Condensation will build if you only run the car for a few minutes since the parts will not warm completely. Of course, this is only possible if you are in the area. If not, then it's not something to worry about too much. If you have friends or family in the area, though, consider leaving them a key to do this for you.
- Prevent Odors with Charcoal Briquettes: Leaving charcoal briquettes in your vehicle while it is in storage is the best way to prevent odors. Odors will definitely form while your car is in storage just because your car won't be airing out. All the air that is trapped inside of your vehicle will begin to cause an off smell.
- Don't Leave Windows Cracked: Some people may think that leaving windows cracked is best when storing the vehicle indoors because it allows airflow. However, this is not a good idea because it invites pests into your vehicle. Even if your facility has not had a problem with pests, you definitely don't want to take the risk.
- Fill the Car with Gas: Another important tip is to fill the car with gas before parking it in storage. The reason for this is that if the gas tank is not completely full, condensation will build, which leads to gunk build up in the tank that is not easy to remove.
When you know these five tips for long-term storage for your vehicle, you can be sure that you are less likely to run into problems with your vehicle once you do take it out of storage.
