Laying my car for 1 year...
Discussion
Wife is going back to Uni. Therefore the Z4 is pretty much redundant and staying in the garage.
We have decided to take out a "laying" insurance on it and drive it in absolute essential circumstances to keep costs to a minimum.
What do i need to do inorder to ensure the car starts and runs fine over a year of very minimal use??
Shall i give it the odd blat once a month, to ensure it runs fine?
Trickle charger or disconnect battery????
We have decided to take out a "laying" insurance on it and drive it in absolute essential circumstances to keep costs to a minimum.
What do i need to do inorder to ensure the car starts and runs fine over a year of very minimal use??
Shall i give it the odd blat once a month, to ensure it runs fine?
Trickle charger or disconnect battery????
I parked my Quantum up in a garage in 2009. I didn't want it on stands for long periods so I bought some cheap wheels with tyres and stuck those on. I started it up the other night, and other than a bit of turbo smoke which cleared after a few minutes I was surprised that it didn't need anything else. Handbrake had been left off, so the rear callipers hadn't bound themselves together.
Fuel seems to stay relatively OK, it's not ideal but its fine until I can get it back on the road again.
I'd taken the battery off as I knew it'd be flat by the time I returned and have to charge it from the house.
I'd say thats it really - it might be worth speaking to a specialist insurer on a 1500 mile pa type deal. in my case I didn't need the car and was only bought for sentimental value rather than daily or weekend driver, so wasn't bothered about it sitting there unused. It might wind you up with yours though, as laid up is zero miles and just the basic cover (thats what mine's on with Flux). Would be worth checking about alarm/immobiliser being a requirement in the insurance cover, that'll be the deciding factor in the battery plans
Fuel seems to stay relatively OK, it's not ideal but its fine until I can get it back on the road again.
I'd taken the battery off as I knew it'd be flat by the time I returned and have to charge it from the house.
I'd say thats it really - it might be worth speaking to a specialist insurer on a 1500 mile pa type deal. in my case I didn't need the car and was only bought for sentimental value rather than daily or weekend driver, so wasn't bothered about it sitting there unused. It might wind you up with yours though, as laid up is zero miles and just the basic cover (thats what mine's on with Flux). Would be worth checking about alarm/immobiliser being a requirement in the insurance cover, that'll be the deciding factor in the battery plans
If funds are that tight why not just sell it and buy another one in a years time? That way you dont have to tax, insure, MOT it and theres no worry of any issues occuring while it's layed up. Best of all in a years time the Z4 market will have depreciated down a bit so you can buy a better model for the same money you got for yours, free upgrade!
Cupramax said:
Drive it occasionally, give it time to warm up completely when you do run it, once every few weeks should be sufficient as long as you give it a proper run.
Engine damage occurs on warm up, so with a four stroke engine that is sealed to the elements you're best off just leaving it.I parked up my xjr for 18 months or so. It needed new tyres and brakes when I put it back on the road.
The problem I have had with it since as a result of it being laid up is the fuel tank is rusty internally and is filling up the filters on the fuel pumps. You might be better off selling the car and buying another when you need it
The problem I have had with it since as a result of it being laid up is the fuel tank is rusty internally and is filling up the filters on the fuel pumps. You might be better off selling the car and buying another when you need it
jas xjr said:
I parked up my xjr for 18 months or so. It needed new tyres and brakes when I put it back on the road.
The problem I have had with it since as a result of it being laid up is the fuel tank is rusty internally and is filling up the filters on the fuel pumps. You might be better off selling the car and buying another when you need it
The problem I have had with it since as a result of it being laid up is the fuel tank is rusty internally and is filling up the filters on the fuel pumps. You might be better off selling the car and buying another when you need it
Flipping heck....
Kong said:
If funds are that tight why not just sell it and buy another one in a years time? That way you dont have to tax, insure, MOT it and theres no worry of any issues occuring while it's layed up. Best of all in a years time the Z4 market will have depreciated down a bit so you can buy a better model for the same money you got for yours, free upgrade!
Wish we could mate. We have some outstanding finance left on it and our money is tied up elsewhere! Otherwise i would have sold it. Wife also does not want to sell it as she loves the bloody thing too much..
Hmm, in that case:
Get a dehumidifier for the garage - that should stop anything from rusting due to ambient humidity and will mean the interior doesn't go moldy.
Personally, I'd put it up on axle stands to stop the tyres from deforming, but if you can't be bothered to do that, just roll is around occasionally so it's not always the same point of the tyre in contact with the ground.
It wouldn't hurt to start it and run it properly up to temperature every month or so to spread oil around the engine. Probably not necessary if it's going to be kept away from moisture, though.
Leave the hand brake off.
Stick some kind of charger/conditioner on the battery.
Get a dehumidifier for the garage - that should stop anything from rusting due to ambient humidity and will mean the interior doesn't go moldy.
Personally, I'd put it up on axle stands to stop the tyres from deforming, but if you can't be bothered to do that, just roll is around occasionally so it's not always the same point of the tyre in contact with the ground.
It wouldn't hurt to start it and run it properly up to temperature every month or so to spread oil around the engine. Probably not necessary if it's going to be kept away from moisture, though.
Leave the hand brake off.
Stick some kind of charger/conditioner on the battery.
Tyson1980 said:
jas xjr said:
I parked up my xjr for 18 months or so. It needed new tyres and brakes when I put it back on the road.
The problem I have had with it since as a result of it being laid up is the fuel tank is rusty internally and is filling up the filters on the fuel pumps. You might be better off selling the car and buying another when you need it
The problem I have had with it since as a result of it being laid up is the fuel tank is rusty internally and is filling up the filters on the fuel pumps. You might be better off selling the car and buying another when you need it
Flipping heck....
Is a Z4 tank even metal?
My kit car has regularly not driven for nearly a year. It always makes me laugh - the standard answer to anything is "give it an oil change". If it's due a service soon, do it a bit early, but if it's not due, leave it be.
A bit of outboard fuel conditioner might help - it's designed to help absorb any condensation in the tank when a boat is laid up over winter. That said, I've never bothered. It is worth topping the tank off though.
Putting the car on stands is sometimes worth doing as it stops the tyres taking a set, but I've never experienced that happening either - I'm sure it "could" though. Just make sure the tyres are fully, or perhaps even slightly over, inflated.
1. Keep the car dry. A garage with reasonable ventilation, and leave the windows open a touch so it doesn't go musty/moldy inside.
2. If you can, drive the car occasionally, at least long enough to get everything up to full operating temperature, and try to put it away dry. If you can't, then try to run the motor once every couple of months and do let it warm up fully.
3. If you can't do the above, then make sure you do 1. If you can't do 1, then it'll still be OK, but you'll probably need to do a bit more to recomission it - possibly new disks, probably a serious valeting both inside and out. Again, never needed new disks, but they do obviously rust a bit and can take a while to bed back in. If they're close to the limit already, just replace em, but if they're newish, they'll be OK.
4. Do keep the battery connected and charged. On "old" cars I wouldn't bother, but with the active ECU's etc these days, I think I'd be slightly nervous of it being long term disconnected. "Should" be OK regardless, but I can imagine the imobiliser or some other electrotrickery going out of sync if it. I'd just put an optimate or one of draper battery master jobs on.
5. Leave the handbrake off.
A bit of outboard fuel conditioner might help - it's designed to help absorb any condensation in the tank when a boat is laid up over winter. That said, I've never bothered. It is worth topping the tank off though.
Putting the car on stands is sometimes worth doing as it stops the tyres taking a set, but I've never experienced that happening either - I'm sure it "could" though. Just make sure the tyres are fully, or perhaps even slightly over, inflated.
1. Keep the car dry. A garage with reasonable ventilation, and leave the windows open a touch so it doesn't go musty/moldy inside.
2. If you can, drive the car occasionally, at least long enough to get everything up to full operating temperature, and try to put it away dry. If you can't, then try to run the motor once every couple of months and do let it warm up fully.
3. If you can't do the above, then make sure you do 1. If you can't do 1, then it'll still be OK, but you'll probably need to do a bit more to recomission it - possibly new disks, probably a serious valeting both inside and out. Again, never needed new disks, but they do obviously rust a bit and can take a while to bed back in. If they're close to the limit already, just replace em, but if they're newish, they'll be OK.
4. Do keep the battery connected and charged. On "old" cars I wouldn't bother, but with the active ECU's etc these days, I think I'd be slightly nervous of it being long term disconnected. "Should" be OK regardless, but I can imagine the imobiliser or some other electrotrickery going out of sync if it. I'd just put an optimate or one of draper battery master jobs on.
5. Leave the handbrake off.
Edited by MattYorke on Monday 1st August 10:57
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