BY KEVIN SAWYER – There will be times in your life when you might have to store your vehicle for a prolonged period of time. Perhaps you are checking out a new job in another state? Perhaps an extended stay overseas? Whatever the reason, you need to prepare your vehicle for when you come back so that you will have some reliable transportation when you need it.
If you don’t take the time to properly prepare it, you will come home and likely find anything from flat tires to a dead battery to a family of squirrels living under your hood. So, here are a few hacks to prevent all of that from happening:
- A garage or a reliable storage unit facility is your best bet for safely storing the vehicle. Get a proper car cover and cover it. The weather proof cover is even more critical if your only option is to store it outside. Get the vehicle to the car wash. You don’t want any bird droppings or dirt or mud on the car. These things will eat into the paint and cause some serious damage by the time you get back.
- If you are going to be gone for more than a couple of weeks, change the oil. The oil that is sitting in the engine will have contaminants that could harm your engine if just left there to sit. Also, head out and fill up the gas tank. It will prevent the gas from freezing in colder climates or have the chance to develop air pockets and it will help the seals from being dried out.
- Keep the battery charged. Find a friend who can start the vehicle once a week and keep it running for fifteen minutes or so to keep it charged. If not, then disconnect it and store it. You can also get a trickle charger that plugs into a wall socket and connects to the battery and charges it regularly.
PHOTO CREDIT: Zed Kolk / Unsplash