Never known for doing sensible things, my son has bought a Mk1 MX5 Eunos automatic - and now finds that he's got a 3-month assignment abroad.
The car has to be stored on his drive - which is on something of a slope. Someone from the family will be going to visit the house every couple of weeks to check that things are OK, but none of us are insured to drive the car - nor would we feel confident in driving an automatic. Also, there's a distance of some 90 miles to get there.
Any tips on the best storage measures would be very gratefully received.
Thanks H
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For 3 months not much really. Maybe if he's a bit keen chock the wheels and disconnect the battery. I've left mine for that long and longer a few times. Worse that happened was i once needed a jump start. Apart from that nothing.
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If it's a soft-top, it might be worth getting a cover.
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Pump up the tyres by a few pounds.
If you can leave it with the handbrake off, leave in Park + 2 x bricks to stop it rolling away.
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not bricks, they will leave an sharp edge imprint in the tyre, proper chocks yes.
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Make sure the drain holes are clear (under the carpet on the back shelf). They can be cleared/checked by "rodding" from the top with a thin garden cane if you have one long enough, or a MX5 Mk1 aerial (the non-telescopic one that unscrtews from the mount) is ideal, if it has one of those.
Left out and unused in the colder wetter months it will go musty inside and probably grow some mould on the seats/inside of hood etc. If you can't use it/air it, then consider getting a couple of dessicant bags (sold in caravan shops) to keep it a bit dryer.
Consider a half cover. I have had two - one had the fore and aft chin straps and wasn't very good. I now have one of these
www.moss-europe.co.uk/cockpit-cover-security-236-360.html
that was was cheaper and has lasted two winters so far. It fits well and doesn't flap about. It has velcro straps that go round the wiper arms and the door handles, and two tabs that you trap under the boot lid. Just tuck them in space under the corner of the boot lid, outside the boot seal - if you put them into the boot they will wick (a lot of) water in.
The battery is probably a small gel or AGM type (about 30Ah) and I would make sure it's fully charged and either disconnected or left on a smart charger in the car (mine has a CETK in the boot with the extension socket, and I run the cable from the garage). Going compeletly flat/freezing will do it no good at all, and they are c. £100 to replace.
Blow the tyres up and leave the handbrake off.
Even a short run now when you visit will help air it, keep things free and clean the rust off the discs. Consider it if you are insured for driving other cars.
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Cars don't like being laid up. Can't you convince him to let you use it while he's away? :-)
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Thanks for all this Manatee. I can confirm that I ordered the cockpit cover from Moss; it was efficiently delivered and is now in place on the car. I can see what you mean about the 'wicking' on the rear straps, though so far, this hasn't been a problem. There doesn't seem to be enough room to trap them outside of the seal, but I will certainly monitor the situation.
The desiccant bags are on order.
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Assuming it is like mine, you should be able to get the tabs into the corner space - or at least the relevant bit of the tab with the hard insert which is what stops it escaping as it isn't actually pinched. I appreciate yours is a Mk1, mine's a Mk2.
I find I have to put the boot tabs in first - if I do the other attachments (especially the wiper arms) first I don't usually have enough slack.
If necessary I'd think about a mod to avoid bridging the seal - it really did get a lot of water in! Apart from making everything wet, it filled the battery space to about two inches deep and the same behind the other wheel arch.
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"If necessary I'd think about a mod to avoid bridging the seal - it really did get a lot of water in! "
Blimey! I'd better take a closer look!
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I should say, 2" of water is a lot!!
I got lost a bit, but did you manage to get the car back to your own drive or is it going to be stored remotely on his?
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"I got lost a bit, but did you manage to get the car back to your own drive or is it going to be stored remotely on his?"
The discussion shifted to here www.car4play.com/forum/post/index.htm?f=1&t=20856
after a friend who was familiar with automatics drove it back to our place. I had no knowledge of 'gel' type batteries.
Whilst blowing up/checking the tyres, I noticed that some of them, and particularly the 10yr old one, were looking decidedly perished. I must have a serious word with my son when he gets back. At the moment, he's the cameraman for this trip www.birdinabiplane.com to Australia.
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When I was leaving cars unattended for periods of time, I did quite well out of part worn tyres.
Aside from the doom and gloom merchants dire warnings of hidden damage and impending disaster, I found it meant that I could keep pretty good tyres on the car most of the time.
Rather than taking 5+ years to wear out a set of tyres, I was doing it in a year or so (so much less tread to wear out) and thus avoided the perishing and cracking.
Anyway, it worked for me.
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"Anyway, it worked for me."
I see where you're coming from but, to be honest, I haven't got a clue what his intentions are for the car - it is entirely inappropriate for his needs. He doesn't have the time, a garage, or the mechanical nous necessary to look after it. I hope I don't inherit it ....... like I have been given his cat!
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Ah, so regrettably by helping him look after it you're actually facilitating the situation - Awkward.
In which case, depending on how much you need the space its currently standing on, it may be that settling down on to its rims through knackered and flat tyres may be the way to go.
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"Ah, so regrettably by helping him look after it you're actually facilitating the situation - Awkward."
He does have a tendency to leave his vehicles around. I already have a Yamaha 100RXS with a broken front fork-leg and and wriggly frame at the side of the house, and there's a Mazda 6Sport with a blown-up 2.3 engine at a garage somewhere as well. His NC30 is under a cover at his house though, even when it's working, it's not a lot of use for carrying tripods and all the gear for his work.
You are quite right in your analysis of what I should do with the car, though I couldn't bear to ignore it; like the cat, it's quite a pretty little thing.
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Ring the local council and see if they've got any garages available for rent. I used to rent one to keep an MG Midget in. It was only a few quid a month if I remember rightly. Might be worth it for the peace of mind/lack of hassle.
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Daughter laid up her MX5 for six months on a relatives drive.
Disconnect battery.
Put hard-top on.
Over inflated the tyres.
Handbrake off, wheels chocked.
WD40 sprayed liberally around engine compartment and underneath where cables/pipes enter the body as a rodent deterrent.
Replace discs when she wanted it back on the road as they'd rusted beyond use.
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Thanks very much to everyone for all the extremely useful comments.
We are currently working on a plan to get the car back over to our place where we can store it on a reasonably level drive, and Ill be able to top-up the battery etc. Of course, all of those storage tips are still applicable - but with the advantage that I can keep an eye on things.
All of this checking to see if I am insured to drive the car back etc has thrown up further 'administrative' questions, however...........
I appreciate only too well that RFL or SORN have to run contiguously, so I guess I can keep an eye on the mail whilst son is away but, in addition, he has a Honda NC30 in the garage and a Mazda 6s on a long-term engine fix (grrrrrr!) at the menders.
Do MoT and insurance have to run on contiguously as well? I assume that MoT is OK provided the vehicles aren't used on the road, but how is insurance affected? I don't think that I am able to deal with that while he is away.
Cheers
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If Sorn declared, no MOT / Insurance required legally
You may want fire / theft insurance
You need to restart proper insurance before road use
If MOT has expired you can drive untaxed non MOT'ed vehicle to a pre arranged MOT test
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As Commerdriver said.
As an aside, if you do end up storing it on your son's drive, despite the advice all being good, you might not want the car to look too much like its unattended.
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"As an aside, if you do end up storing it on your son's drive,"
Again, thanks for comments.
I should be able to tax/SORN the vehicles in his absence if the need arises. I'm not sure of how it works currently .......... do we still get a reminder through the post?
The 'unattended' car was worrying us too - that's another reason why we'd like to get it up here. I have asked him to ask the neighbours to use his drive as an additional parking spot while he's away. The chocks and cover would be something of a giveaway.
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>>I should be able to tax/SORN the vehicles in his absence if the need arises.
>> I'm not sure of how it works currently .......... do we still get a reminder through the post?
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Yes. I have one to here action.
Armed with the form it says " Do not apply for your vehicle tax before the 5th day of the month before the vehicle tax is due to start"
IIRC they do a sweep of the database and any untaxed / not SORNed (2 weeks after tax runs out ) they find triggers a further reminder.
Last edited by: henry k on Mon 28 Sep 15 at 17:58
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Oh, blimey, just thought of something else.......
Several years ago, when my motorbike was in my garage overwinter and not being used, I forgot to renew the tax or sorn it. I promptly received a £40 fine - even though it wasn't being used on the road - so I understand the need to retax/sorn as soon as the old one runs out. But .....
What is the position if a vehicle is taxed, but in the garage and not going out on the road ...... and the insurance expires? Would there be a fine, even though the vehicle is not being used? Would the vehicle owner only be chased-up if the bike were spotted out on the road?
This concerns me because, whilst I could retax/sorn a vehicle on son's behalf while he is away, I couldn't do anything about insurance because of the various declarations that have to be made.
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Mazda MX5 - Storing car for 3 months? - sooty123
