A guide to winter car storage

What is vehicle storage and why do people use it?

Storing your car, motorbike, or caravan tucked away when it's not in use can be a lifesaver. Whether it's storing your classic car you love like a family member (or more) during the off-season or finding a safe spot for your camper van while you're off travelling the world, vehicle storage can be an absolute godsend.

There are a few top reasons people generally use vehicle storage:

1. Seasonal change - Some people have slick sports cars that they only use during the summer months. When winter sets in, they generally pop those bad boys into a climate-controlled storage facility to make sure it's in top condition.

2. Long-term storage - When people go off on holiday or to attend to business for longer period of time, they generally use long-term vehicle storage options to ensure their vehicles are kept in secure, safe and pristine condition for when they're back.

3. Short-term - Sometimes, someone's stolen your regular parking spot and your only other option is to put your vehicle in short-term storage to make sure it's safe. Unless you use stashbee to book your parking spot, in which case, no one can ever steal your space.

4. Vintage vehicle storage - The proud owners of a vintage vehicle always take care of their cars and make sure they're in pristine condition. They generally use climate-controlled facilities to make sure their vehicles are as good as new (or rather, old?)

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Why is it important to store your vehicle properly during winter?

Along with the darkness and cold that comes with the winter months (yay!) also comes the road salt, rain and snow. Which can severely damage your vehicle. It can thicken your engine oil, make your tyres lose pressure and do not-so-nice things to your car battery and let's not even get into what it could do to the bodywork and paint job. Like the cold wasn't enough to deal with. So, making sure your vehicle is either regularly maintained or stored away properly till winter is not just good, it's essential.

How to prepare your car for winter storage?

Keep it clean

While preparing your vehicle for cold storage, this might seem like the most obvious thing to do, but you’d be surprised at how many people overlook this step. If you put a dirty car into storage, just imagine how much dirt will accumulate on top of it during the period of it being stored. Good, now that you have that image in your head, spend a good amount of time giving it a wash, make sure to get the undercarriage and wheels as well in order to prevent corrosion. Once it’s dry, give it a good wax to make sure it the paintwork is protected in the cold and it’s super shiny when you take it out again. The job isn’t complete once the exterior is nice and shiny, you have to go in and remove all those chocolate wrappers and crisp packets too, you know what we’re talking about.

Fill it up

Make sure to fill the gas tank to about a quarter full and add a fuel stabiliser to prevent fuel degradation. This also helps prevent moisture build-up in the tank. Don’t forget the brake fluid either, it’ll make sure your vehicle is as smooth as ever when you take it out.

Make sure it’s charged

While not many people know how to store a car battery in winter, the last thing you want is waking up one sunny morning and realising your car doesn’t start. In order to prevent this from happening, make sure you start your car every now and then for 10-15 minutes. If you’re opting for long-term storage and don’t intend to turn on your car for a long time, it might be a good idea to remove the battery and store it in a dry place. If you have a newer car, feel free to skip this step and leave the battery as is.

Cover it up

To maintain the good clean you’ve just given your car and make sure the paintwork stays intact, get yourself a nice cover for your car, in case you don’t have one already. This will make sure no dust or dirt will ruin its pristine condition.

Suitable garages for vehicle storage in winter

If you have a garage of your own, it’s important to make sure certain conditions are maintained. Loads of standard garages aren’t suitable for vehicle storage without taking precautions because of things such as temperature, lack of ventilation and excess moisture. If you haven’t already, make sure your garage meets the following conditions before thinking of storing your vehicle in it:

1. Climate control: Make sure your garage is climate-controlled. This means that you must regulate the temperature and humidity to prevent the buildup of moisture and extreme temperature changes.
2. Proper ventilation: There must be adequate airflow in your garage in order to prevent condensation and growing mould.
3. Dry conditions: You need to ensure that your garage is well-sealed and can keep out rain, snow or groundwater.
4. Sufficient space: Your garage should ideally have enough room to store the vehicle without the risk of damage from other items or activities.

If your garage can’t accommodate your needs, don’t worry. We have suitable options available for you to store your car in the winter months. If the ones listed here aren’t available at the time of booking, you can enter your location in our search map and filter features according to your preferences. Need more assistance? Don’t hesitate to contact us on support@stashbee.com and we’d be happy to help you.