Discussion
I have had my V8 Vantage now for three years and driven it at least a few times a week and through the winter with out problem bar the odd long holiday break. So never really worried about any procedure to protect the car if not driven for an extended period. Now I'm not sure when it will be safe to venture out again, so just looking for recommendations from those who do garage their cars for a while. Obviously will be safe in garage on trickle charge but not sure beyond that, but welcome feedback.
My winter routine seems to work, but there might be other things which I have not thought of.
On a dry day, wash the car.
Then drive about 20 miles so everything is warm. Do the three gentle, followed by a couple of heavy braking routine.
Run the aircon for a while fully cold
Fill petrol tank.
Over inflate tyres.
Put car away.
Some use tyre cushions, but my method is;
Thick carpet under each tyre. Chalk mark the tyrewalls at the contact points.
Cover with your Aston Martin Indoor Cover, or in my case two thick Egyptian cotton sheets.
Press the button near the boot electrical socket and connect trickle charger.
After a few weeks, push the car forward or back about a foot, so the weight is on a different portion of tyre.
Dont start the engine unless you plan to drive 20 miles.
Think that is about it.
paulrog1 said:
You can still go out and drive your car.
If you don't want to have any contact with people and you need petrol go to a station that have card pre pay pumps.
And hope no one runs into you, or you break down, or ....If you don't want to have any contact with people and you need petrol go to a station that have card pre pay pumps.
Whilst this is a fantastic opportunity to go for a nice drive, personally I don’t want to risk putting any further pressure on the health service, let alone be seen lording it around in a flash motor when many are in fear, or have lost, their jobs.
Dewi 2 said:
My winter routine seems to work, but there might be other things which I have not thought of.
On a dry day, wash the car.
Then drive about 20 miles so everything is warm. Do the three gentle, followed by a couple of heavy braking routine.
Run the aircon for a while fully cold
Fill petrol tank.
Over inflate tyres.
Put car away.
Some use tyre cushions, but my method is;
Thick carpet under each tyre. Chalk mark the tyrewalls at the contact points.
Cover with your Aston Martin Indoor Cover, or in my case two thick Egyptian cotton sheets.
Press the button near the boot electrical socket and connect trickle charger.
After a few weeks, push the car forward or back about a foot, so the weight is on a different portion of tyre.
Dont start the engine unless you plan to drive 20 miles.
Think that is about it.
V8LM said:
paulrog1 said:
You can still go out and drive your car.
If you don't want to have any contact with people and you need petrol go to a station that have card pre pay pumps.
And hope no one runs into you, or you break down, or ....If you don't want to have any contact with people and you need petrol go to a station that have card pre pay pumps.
Whilst this is a fantastic opportunity to go for a nice drive, personally I don’t want to risk putting any further pressure on the health service, let alone be seen lording it around in a flash motor when many are in fear, or have lost, their jobs.
Edited by cayman-black on Wednesday 25th March 09:02
V8LM said:
And hope no one runs into you, or you break down, or ....
Whilst this is a fantastic opportunity to go for a nice drive, personally I don’t want to risk putting any further pressure on the health service, let alone be seen lording it around in a flash motor when many are in fear, or have lost, their jobs.
Although I think it's generally pretty safe to go out on a solo drive, I have to agree with you.Whilst this is a fantastic opportunity to go for a nice drive, personally I don’t want to risk putting any further pressure on the health service, let alone be seen lording it around in a flash motor when many are in fear, or have lost, their jobs.
Everyone should be pulling together in such difficult times.
Such a shame as the weather is so nice now - I should have been at Goodwood this weekend.
V8LM said:
And hope no one runs into you, or you break down, or ....
Whilst this is a fantastic opportunity to go for a nice drive, personally I don’t want to risk putting any further pressure on the health service, let alone be seen lording it around in a flash motor when many are in fear, or have lost, their jobs.
This.Whilst this is a fantastic opportunity to go for a nice drive, personally I don’t want to risk putting any further pressure on the health service, let alone be seen lording it around in a flash motor when many are in fear, or have lost, their jobs.
On topic: I am a bit worried by the battery, I can't have a trickle charger since the car is at a public parking who has a dedicated floor for long term parking. The most I left the car alone was 1 month, started like a champ.
A friend of mine suggested some sort of charger you can charge at home, then bring it to the car and leave it in the boot connected to the 12V, slowly trickle charging the battery. A portable battery basically. What are those called in English? Are they any good?
And worst case scenario, is a dead battery harmful for the car or it's just a major pain the a**?
EVR said:
This.
On topic: I am a bit worried by the battery, I can't have a trickle charger since the car is at a public parking who has a dedicated floor for long term parking. The most I left the car alone was 1 month, started like a champ.
A friend of mine suggested some sort of charger you can charge at home, then bring it to the car and leave it in the boot connected to the 12V, slowly trickle charging the battery. A portable battery basically. What are those called in English? Are they any good?
And worst case scenario, is a dead battery harmful for the car or it's just a major pain the a**?
I rarely use my car and this winter the battery finally packed up - upon changing it at the weekend (self-isolation jobs #32!) I removed what was presumably the original battery so its lasted well considering. On topic: I am a bit worried by the battery, I can't have a trickle charger since the car is at a public parking who has a dedicated floor for long term parking. The most I left the car alone was 1 month, started like a champ.
A friend of mine suggested some sort of charger you can charge at home, then bring it to the car and leave it in the boot connected to the 12V, slowly trickle charging the battery. A portable battery basically. What are those called in English? Are they any good?
And worst case scenario, is a dead battery harmful for the car or it's just a major pain the a**?
Like you, mine is parked in a underground garage with no power accessible.
Before I had a chance to swap the battery for a new one, I bought one of these - https://www.amazon.co.uk/YABER-Starter-20000mAh-Po...
Annoyingly I see the price has dropped £20 since I bought mine too.
I used that for a month or so and it was easy enough. Stick it on the jump point beneath the bonnet, earth to any random bolt and then away you go. You wouldn't want to do it for a trip down the shops every 5 minutes, but if you need to get the car back to life after a period of self-isolation, its fine. The only reset I had to do was hold the window switches down to get the auto-drop on opening and closure. If your mirrors auto-fold, I believe this is a dealer only reset, however.
ds666 said:
Not sure about the fill the tank bit , depending on how long the car will be left - fuel tends to go off over time and having a tank of poor fuel can lead to running issues .
Yes, I am also not sure about that point, ds.
Recently read somewhere, that the empty portion of petrol tanks can accumulate moisture.
How true that is I don't know. Perhaps it might be more likely during winter months.
I have experienced stale petrol problems with a lawn mower, but not yet with stored cars.
When I asked about that, the mower man's opinion, was that mower carburettors have very tiny jets, easily clogged.
Jon39 said:
ds666 said:
Not sure about the fill the tank bit , depending on how long the car will be left - fuel tends to go off over time and having a tank of poor fuel can lead to running issues .
Yes, I am also not sure about that point, ds.
Recently read somewhere, that the empty portion of petrol tanks can accumulate moisture.
How true that is I don't know. Perhaps it might be more likely during winter months.
I have experienced stale petrol problems with a lawn mower, but not yet with stored cars.
When I asked about that, the mower man's opinion, was that mower carburettors have very tiny jets, easily clogged.
V8LM said:
paulrog1 said:
You can still go out and drive your car.
If you don't want to have any contact with people and you need petrol go to a station that have card pre pay pumps.
And hope no one runs into you, or you break down, or ....If you don't want to have any contact with people and you need petrol go to a station that have card pre pay pumps.
Whilst this is a fantastic opportunity to go for a nice drive, personally I don’t want to risk putting any further pressure on the health service, let alone be seen lording it around in a flash motor when many are in fear, or have lost, their jobs.
Childish behaviour granted, but prefer not to get into an argument, or have some idiot throw something hard at the car.
MarkM3Evoplus said:
V8LM said:
paulrog1 said:
You can still go out and drive your car.
If you don't want to have any contact with people and you need petrol go to a station that have card pre pay pumps.
And hope no one runs into you, or you break down, or ....If you don't want to have any contact with people and you need petrol go to a station that have card pre pay pumps.
Whilst this is a fantastic opportunity to go for a nice drive, personally I don’t want to risk putting any further pressure on the health service, let alone be seen lording it around in a flash motor when many are in fear, or have lost, their jobs.
Childish behaviour granted, but prefer not to get into an argument, or have some idiot throw something hard at the car.
MarkM3Evoplus said:
Just to let you all know, people were spitting on some some posh cars in Surrey, so just be aware people a bit on edge.
Childish behaviour granted, but prefer not to get into an argument, or have some idiot throw something hard at the car.
And presumably running away to hide in their £1m to £5m bank bailed out million pound houses!Childish behaviour granted, but prefer not to get into an argument, or have some idiot throw something hard at the car.
Only joking, but I have heard flash cars are not getting the reaction they did a month ago.
Discretion and thinking about the current situation is important.
Shnozz said:
I rarely use my car and this winter the battery finally packed up - upon changing it at the weekend (self-isolation jobs #32!) I removed what was presumably the original battery so its lasted well considering.
Like you, mine is parked in a underground garage with no power accessible.
Before I had a chance to swap the battery for a new one, I bought one of these - https://www.amazon.co.uk/YABER-Starter-20000mAh-Po...
Annoyingly I see the price has dropped £20 since I bought mine too.
I used that for a month or so and it was easy enough. Stick it on the jump point beneath the bonnet, earth to any random bolt and then away you go. You wouldn't want to do it for a trip down the shops every 5 minutes, but if you need to get the car back to life after a period of self-isolation, its fine. The only reset I had to do was hold the window switches down to get the auto-drop on opening and closure. If your mirrors auto-fold, I believe this is a dealer only reset, however.
Thank you for the advice, I should not have to worry for the mirrors since being a newer model, there is the option in the settings.Like you, mine is parked in a underground garage with no power accessible.
Before I had a chance to swap the battery for a new one, I bought one of these - https://www.amazon.co.uk/YABER-Starter-20000mAh-Po...
Annoyingly I see the price has dropped £20 since I bought mine too.
I used that for a month or so and it was easy enough. Stick it on the jump point beneath the bonnet, earth to any random bolt and then away you go. You wouldn't want to do it for a trip down the shops every 5 minutes, but if you need to get the car back to life after a period of self-isolation, its fine. The only reset I had to do was hold the window switches down to get the auto-drop on opening and closure. If your mirrors auto-fold, I believe this is a dealer only reset, however.
If I got it correctly, this item is a jump pack and your suggestion is to use this when first starting the car after a period of inactivity. My idea was more to have a portable battery (charged at home) that could trickle charge the car while stationary. Mind, I don't even know if it exists, it was suggested by a French friend, who has vintage cars. Sorry if I sound newbie, but in batteries I really am!
EVR said:
Thank you for the advice, I should not have to worry for the mirrors since being a newer model, there is the option in the settings.
If I got it correctly, this item is a jump pack and your suggestion is to use this when first starting the car after a period of inactivity. My idea was more to have a portable battery (charged at home) that could trickle charge the car while stationary. Mind, I don't even know if it exists, it was suggested by a French friend, who has vintage cars. Sorry if I sound newbie, but in batteries I really am!
I haven't heard of such a thing, but it might well exist and if you find it, let me know! If I got it correctly, this item is a jump pack and your suggestion is to use this when first starting the car after a period of inactivity. My idea was more to have a portable battery (charged at home) that could trickle charge the car while stationary. Mind, I don't even know if it exists, it was suggested by a French friend, who has vintage cars. Sorry if I sound newbie, but in batteries I really am!
It's perhaps a little specialised as its effectively a battery to charge a battery, only more portable for those cars whose batteries are hard to remove! (for example, with my Exige I would just take the battery up to my apartment and leave it on trickle charge up there and plonk it back in the car).
For most folks, they plug in to a trickle charger and problem solved, but for you and I, its plugging a more portable battery to support a bigger, less portable battery.
The one I suggested was indeed to just provide a jump after the event. I didn't see much of a dilemma if the battery ran flat then between use.
EVR said:
My idea was more to have a portable battery (charged at home) that could trickle charge the car while stationary. Mind, I don't even know if it exists, it was suggested by a French friend, who has vintage cars. Sorry if I sound newbie, but in batteries I really am!
Now I have no idea if this going to work or not, and have not done any maths as to electrical loads, etc, so any risk is entirely yours. 
But in theory this is a 12v battery with an invertor that has a 3 pin plug socket on the back, so you charge up the booster, put it in the boot, plug in the battery conditioner to the booster and then 'charge' the car via the boot 12v socket.
Like I say, no idea if it would work or if after twelve hours the car would be in flames.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/240V-Power-Station-Starte...
Out of stock there, but must be available somewhere....
http://www.streetwizeaccessories.com/files//ed4819...
https://www.roughtrax4x4.com/streetwize-5-in-1-por...
Edited by raceboy on Wednesday 25th March 16:06
I use a solar trickle charger on the boat and camper van both of which live away from mains connections. Don't pi$$ around with poxy 5w ones...go at least 15w and well positioned it should do the job nicely.
Oh and go decent quality and NOT semi-flexible (the power ratings on those are about as believable as Weinstein defence lawyer). The quality extends as much to the controller as the panel. I've had better results buying the 2 bits separately and mating them myself then you don't get a nasty £5 charger that doesn't monitor the batter. MPPT is generally reckoned to be better than PWM.
Oh and go decent quality and NOT semi-flexible (the power ratings on those are about as believable as Weinstein defence lawyer). The quality extends as much to the controller as the panel. I've had better results buying the 2 bits separately and mating them myself then you don't get a nasty £5 charger that doesn't monitor the batter. MPPT is generally reckoned to be better than PWM.
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