Putting a car of our vintage away in storage

[daves8]

i am buying a Jeep SRT in the next two months, and surprisingly my wife has said I can keep my VF Calais, if I put it away in storage, and we don’t have to pay the yearly rego, insurance and maintenance. If this was the deal to keep it I naturally said yes.

I intend to get it completely detailed, paint correction etc, and it will go into a garage, with a car cover..... but I was wondering what I should be considering moving forward?

Should I pull battery out?

How often should I start it up? Will this be enough to preserve it, or does it need to be driven too?

Does it still require some degree of maintanence/ service if not being driven?

Many thanks!

 

[VS 5.0]

insurance

I wouldn't be forgoing this.

Shannon's offer laid up insurance so would recommend investigating that option.

 

[Voodoo_SV6]

A couple of suggestions to consider.

In my opinion, you will need to start it and warm it up. Ideally by being driven. Once a month start it and run for a few minutes, Once every few months drive it up and down the street. But you would still need to do some basics. Change the brake fluid (2 years) and engine oil/filter (12 months) and coolant (3 years) and gearbox/tranny every 5 or so years. Your tyres will need to be replaced when you pull it out of starage in 20+ years but will be ok tro drive it up and down your street slowly ever few months.

Buy a trickle charger (CTek 0.8a etc) and keep the battery charged.

Every few time you pull it out to drive it, give it a rinse and use some pH neutral car wash to get the dust off, before placing the cover back on it.

This should keep the rubbers moisurised on the moving parts and keep the components from seizing.

I left my EH for 10 years undriven but hand cranked the engine every 12 or so months, but the intention was to rebuilt it all when it was coming back on the road. All wheel cylinders, the slave cylinder (clutch) and master cylinders were seized, so just replaced them all with aftermarket brand new items.

And as mentioned above, dont not insure it. Laid up cover, is very reasonably priced through specialist companies

 

[figjam]

All the moving parts, not just engine, need to be used, including A/C.
The car cover should be able to breathe. If you wash it, don't put it away wet.
Leave a minimum of fuel in, and replace a few fresh litres after using it. I had a HQ Monaro which I laid up for a few years, then sold. The buyer had to remove the fuel tank and get the dregs cleaned out.

 

[Ccoastcalais]

Why preserve a depreciating asset?

 

[figjam]

Why preserve a depreciating asset?

Something else to think about ….. what do you drive when the Jeep reliability prevents you from SRTing.

What is the cost of rego, CTP and laid-up insurance ? A cup of McCafe coffee, or a pie with sauce per day ? A cheap restaurant lunch will set you back $25 per head.

 

[lmoengnr]

Something else to think about ….. what do you drive when the Jeep reliability prevents you from SRTing.

I thought part of a Jeep sales contract is you must own a back up vehicle?

 

[Lex]

I thought part of a Jeep sales contract is you must own a back up vehicle?

Meaning a tow truck?

 

[Skylarking]

I've always felt it is best to enjoy your vehicles as they are simply a depreciating asset that continues to loose value over a long period of time.

Hopefully the VF's uniqueness is something that at some point is recognised within the market place. Sadly such things usually occurs either when they are new in the very short term (due to limited release or artificial constraints causing price hikes and dealer gouging) or in the longer term when they are much older (few left due to they've all being crashed, crushed or rusted away). Values can start to climb but this can take decades and often such market recognition simply never occurs with some vehicles, most vehicles.

Now putting a vehicle into storage can be a rather involved process depending on how often you want to access to drive your vehicle. Basically your storage preparation workload increases as the storage period increases. In a corresponding sence, the effort to put the vehicle back on the road also is proportional to your storage period. Here is a web page that can give you a detailed hint at classic car storage preparation.

Me, i'd enjoy the use of my car though i don't like paying rego, insurance and maintenance dollars. But hey nothing is free, even storage costs.

 

[daves8]

Why preserve a depreciating asset?

Because I really like my VF, but now ready for a 4WD.

The last Aussie made commodore / V8, having owned every variant of calais. It’s sentimental