Keeping a 'weekend summer' car without a garage?

[danzman1991]

Hi guys,

My fiancée and I have saved up our pennies and are looking to buy our first house. We both have our own cars and I have a weekend toy. Obviously what would be great is if we could find a house with a garage. The only trouble is, this is seriously prohibiting us (and causing arguments in the process!) from looking at really nice looking houses just because they don't have a garage.

My question is, how feasible is it to keep a dry weekend summer car without a garage? (Whichever house we buy, will at least have a driveway for 3 cars)

Do you think I would regret not holding out (indefinitely) for a house with a garage in the long run?

Many thanks,
Daniel

Edited by danzman1991 on Wednesday 27th November 18:43

[retrorider]

Did it myself for over ten years.Just buy a good fitted waterproof cover (but always put the car back under clean).Also a solar trickle charger.Job done...

[slipstream 1985]

you will regret it imo. it may be her dream house but it wont be yours.

[williredale]

Can you rent a lockup somewhere to keep the toy?

[village idiot]

It's a car, not a fragile plant. Just chuck a proper cover over it, plug in a accumate charger and fire it over every so often, let it get to temperature and turn the wheels to stop them getting flat spots.

[Lawbags]

Can you not build a lean-to type thing?

[fourpointsixgt]

My weekend toy's parked on the drive all year round, got an all weather fitted car cover from the states, cost about £120.
I'm not obsessive about it though, sometimes if I'm off work for a few days or a long weekend then I'll leave it off overnight, in the rain even. The beauty is, if you've spent the day polishing it, once it's covered it'll stay shiny. Not as good as a garage but better than nowt, and it's a bit of extra security.

[V8RX7]

What is the toy ?

IME covers are rubbish - the car "tents" are better but far from ideal.

[chunoo]

Could you not allow a little bit in the budget to build a garage at a later date?

That's what we did.

[A900ss]

My tvr lives outdoors. A half cover during the summer when it's used most weekends and a 'bubble' on the drive during the winter when it's not used as much.

If it was a case or no tvr or tvr but can't park ot in the garage, it's an easy choice.

(PS - when we move I have said that I'll only move to a house with a double garage though!)

[danzman1991]

Hi guys,

Thanks for the replies - I don't know which I'd regret more - buying a house without a garage, or buying a house with a garage knowing we could have bought a 'nicer' house without one!!

Re: renting a garage, they're like gold dust round here, plus I don't like the idea of it being stolen and not knowing for possibly weeks at a time inbetween getting the old girl out!

Would be interested to hear more about this 'bubble'...?

Here is the toy:



Many thanks,
Daniel

Edited by danzman1991 on Thursday 28th November 14:40

[jdw1234]

The majority of people in London manage!

[acme]

danzman1991 said:

Hi guys,

Thanks for the replies - I don't know which I'd regret more - buying a house without a garage, or buying a house with a garage knowing we could have bought a 'nicer' house without one!!

Re: renting a garage, they're like gold dust round here, plus I don't like the idea of it being stolen and not knowing for possibly weeks at a time inbetween getting the old girl out!

Would be interested to hear more about this 'bubble'...?

Here is the toy:



Many thanks,
Daniel

Edited by danzman1991 on Thursday 28th November 14:40

Won't reply re the thread, but cracking car there, do tell us more

[eggchaser1987]

Lawbags said:

Can you not build a lean-to type thing?

I have done this, got my first house and it does have off road parking but no garage. I have got a 7type kit car for my toy. It lives under a 'car port' type structure that me and old man put up in a day along with a water proof cover.

A garage will be a must on my next place though.

[slipstream 1985]

lovely car but with the greatest of respect that can easyly survive outside.

I'd still hold out for a garage though

[jdw1234]

slipstream 1985 said:

lovely car but with the greatest of respect that can easyly survive outside.

I'd still hold out for a garage though

Do any of the bits get knicked to be put on a standard Pug?

My friend's 993 used to get stripped of wingmirrors and clear indicators regularly (5 or 6 times) in Clapham.

[danzman1991]

More of the car here: http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=132...

Must get round to writing a follow up having lived with it for a little while!

Anyway! The garage is more of a security thing, aswell as having somewhere to store tools etc.

Will look into a car port, presumably relatively cheap to construct - do they have to bolt onto the side of the house though? I suppose limiting the criteria of the house to a driveway 'next' to one of the house walls isn't that bad anyway.

[AndrewEH1]

Buy a house with space to build a garage. Then both of you are happy.

Might take a couple of years before you build it but just buy a cover in the meantime.

[dapearson]

Hold out for a house with a garage (or space for one).

We went through 2x houses without a garage from when i was 25 yrs old, up until this year (34 yrs old). Those 9 years were hard.

I resorted to simply not bothering with nice road cars. I had a cheap caterham parked at my mum's place an hour away. I had motorbikes instead, which could be stored easily at both houses.

There were council lock-ups available within 1/2 mile of each house, for as little as £7 p/w, but they weren't secure and in the (slightly more) rubbish areas nearby.

Neither house was perfect, in fact both were pretty rubbish. However, building up equity sometimes means not going for your ideal place straight-away.

I have to say that it was one compromise too far for me, so if you can i'd say find a place with a garage. It'll save you money in the long term because you'll only end up dreaming looking at places WITH a garage and not be happy where you are.

Hang in there. It'll happen. After those years of sacrifice we have moved into our "forever" place, and i now have a 16ft x 28ft workshop/garage, and am hatching plans to build a dream 30ft x 20ft workshop next year, complete with lift, etc.

Edited by dapearson on Thursday 28th November 15:27

[J4CKO]

I have a garage but its full of freezers and washing machines so my car lives outside, my 944 did and I don't think it did it any good but to be honest, sometimes I think they are better off outside, at least when they get wet the air circulates to dry them. Peugeots are quite rust resistant in my experience.