Many people opt to store their car during the winter months as a way to avoid potential damage that can be caused during this season. Whatever your reason for storing your car during the winter, there are a few important steps to take to ensure your car is completely prepared for being stored for several months.
Before you place your car in storage, it is important that you clean it entirely. This will help to prevent mold and mildew. While things such as the engine and batter are important, just as important is the interior and exterior. A clean car has a much better chance of coming out of storage undamaged than a dirty one.
If you are keeping your car inside your garage you probably do not have to worry about rodents, however, if you have a pet door that leads from your garage you may want to include some repellent to avoid the possibility of damage by rodents.
If possible, you should make sure the basics are covered on the car before putting it in storage. You should double check things like the tires, oil, and gas are all filled properly. You may want consider putting your car on blocks to help protect your tires. It is important that your car have fresh fluids like brake and steering fluid. You should also change out your filters. You should do these no more than two weeks prior to storage to make sure that the fluids are as fresh as possible.
It is important that the location that if you are storing your car in your garage that the area is dry and dark. This will protect the car from erosion, rust, and sun damage. Yes, the sun does appear sporadically even during the harshest winters!
You should close off the vents to the air conditioner. This protects your car from insects and moist air that could damage your car. If your car is constantly in contact with insects and damp air, this could greatly affect erosion and even damage to the interior of your car. If at all possible, you should put a cover over your car. This will go a step further in protecting your car from bugs, air, or even accident scratching.
There are other things to remember like insurance and registration. The guidelines for these vary from state to state so it is important to know your state’s policy on these things when putting your car in storage.
While you may have heard that cars in storage can have problems because of being inactive for a period of time, this can be avoided if you take a few precautions to make sure that your car is completely prepared to not be driven for a few months. If you take the time to make sure that your car is in good shape before storage, you will have nothing to worry about when you are ready to drive it again.
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