VF wagon, would you buy one?

[HarryHoudini]

One of the main thigs to do is make sure the handbrake is off,chock the wheels if necessary.

 

[wetwork65]

Where you store a vehicle can have a major impact on how they hold up over a long period of time.

Many of my cars are stored out in the dry heat of western NSW and they reacted very differently to the ones that live with me near the beach.






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I'm guessing corrosion of metal and salt on the paint etc parked near the beach (unless they are washed down often) and little rust in the desert?
Although, wouldn't the plastics and rubbers dry out in the Western NSW location? Unless you are religiously coating them with goo.

 

[Forg]

I think UV’s a lot harder on rubber & plastic than just heat, so as long as it’s stored in the dark you’re prolly ahead even if it’s over 50C every day like it is on the wrong side of the Great Dividing Range.

 

[RevNev]

Where you store a vehicle can have a major impact on how they hold up over a long period of time.

Many of my cars are stored out in the dry heat of western NSW and they reacted very differently to the ones that live with me near the beach.

Yes, dry areas of low humidity is the reason aircrafts are stored in the Arizona desert in the US and Alice Springs in the NT.

 

[panhead]

Anyone who stores a car outside uncovered in Australia is throwing away the investment value of their vehicle.

Not only are the exposed rubber and plastics at risk of damage from UV light, so is the painted bodywork, leave it too long, and that car you were going to enjoy later in life becomes an expensive restoration.

Rims are another thing that deteriorate when exposes to the elements.

If you can’t cover the vehicle then at the very least, treat it like it’s a daily driver and wash it each week and apply protectants every few months

Leaving sap, birdshit and others residue from things like leaves on the car for too long will etch into the paintwork and a machine polish may not resurrect it.

I had no space in the shed in Sydney for my VS HSV and it sat outside covered for 5 years.

I checked it every couple of months and removed spiders and cobwebs, and any water spots and when I finally decided to take it bush, it was still in very good nick.

I did find after the 300 mile trip that I had a leaking gearbox seal and a collapsed rubber gearbox mount, but that could have been from age and not the fact it sat around for so long.

As far as the difference from being in a hot dry climate and a salt air environment, well it’s easy to understand there’ll be less impact on a car stored in a shed in dry heat, compared to one stored in a shed in high humidity salt air.

Long term storage will pose some similar problems regardless of where it is, like fluids going off, fuel systems drying out, batteries failing, brake fluid thickening, coolant turned to sludge and to a lesser extent, seals hardening.

I’ve found the worse culprit to be aircon compressors, they’d often fail when spun up after a few years of being ide, the belts will break as the compressor seizes from a loss of oil.

Cars in a salty environment where I live tend to get pitting on alloy, chrome and metal parts and this causes bigger problems for old vehicles that have less plastic in their build.

I left the centre caps from my Redline Ute rims sitting on a shelf in my garage with a number of other caps and they pitted and now look terrible, the older HSV and much old Globe and Aunger caps I had beside them were unaffected.

Rust and alloy rust is often expensive to retore.

Rims that are bare or polished alloy, even if they have a clear coat will pit and are not easy to restore yourself.

Alloy mouldings can usually be polished back to being good, chrome needs restriping and plating and some mechanical parts may need sandblasting.

You will get surface rust in many places and it’s something you have to polish out regularly otherwise it becomes an expense as it’s what causes the pitting.

Always cover your car and take the cover off regularly to let it breathe and check the vehicle.

There is nothing worse than having a car sit for years and pulling the cover off to fall back against the wall and think, why didn’t I check that earlier, I’ve been there.

Mechanical problems are usually easier to fix than cosmetic ones, and as anyone who has an old girl will tell you, finding good replacement parts you can afford, is a pain in the bum.

And before you store it, clean it, add protectants if necessary, give it the best start possible.

That’s the short of it.



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[Forg]

Leaving sap, birdshit and others residue from things like leaves on the car for too long will etch into the paintwork and a machine polish may not resurrect it.

Yeah the evil spawn of some geryltruk-operating c**t opened their pustulent gerlytruk rear door into our SSVR, I didn’t see it for a few weeks & the paint-chip won’t wash out now.

That’s the short of it.

And thaat’s all you have to say about thaat?

 

[panhead]

And thaat’s all you have to say about thaat?

Yep.

I could go on, like opening the door to find the headlining on the seats, that rats have eaten a hole into the seats to built a nest inside and only a can of petrol and a match can get rid of the vomit inducing smell, the wiring has so many gremlins you end up opting for a new harness and the list goes on and on, but I'll leave it at that.

I found that rat problem in the rear seat of my HZ.

A few years ago, I asked the service manager at my local BMW dealership how do I go about putting my BMW in storage for ten years and he said, "only a fool would do that" and added, "be prepared for some expensive problems".




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[RevNev]

If you can’t cover the vehicle then at the very least, treat it like it’s a daily driver and wash it each week and apply protectants every few months

I've dropped the ball a bit with my Redline ute sitting here for a few months with a coating of dust all over it, I'm inspired now to fix it tomorrow!

 

[Skylarking]

rats have eaten a hole into the seats to built a nest inside and only a can of petrol and a match can get rid of the vomit inducing smell

There was a video on ammonyc YouTube channel where the car was mold and mouse pee and poo contaminated to the point it was dangerous to one’s health to even try and clean. So they used pellets dropped into some fluid and an electrical charge was applied which produced a strong ozone gas within the closed vehicle which killed the mold spores and also killed the smell from mouse pee and poo. No match and petrol required

Obviously the best approach is to avoid the problem in the first place by correctly storing and periodically checking the car

Did a quick search but didn’t find the video

 

[kleanphil]

I guess a couple of boxes of ratsak strategically placed inside the car/engine bay would be an idea.
EDIT: As long as they go somewhere else to die