Outdoor storage recommendations

[Surrey Dave]

Hi All

Due to changing circumstances I am resigned to the fact that I may need to permanently store my 7 on my drive (year round). I have seen the Carcoons which look promising but should I be considering another option? I have rented a garage but it is a few miles away and I'm not keen storing my pride and joy out of sight for long periods of time when it won't be in use in a slightly dubious area!

I am not adverse to spending some £ for the best solution and obviously want to keep the car in as good a condition as possible given the not ideal circumstances.

Thanks in advance for any advice.

Dave

[squadron leader]

Have a look at Machine Marts website. They sell a tent type temporary garage in various sizes and I bought one to keep my ride on mower dry. It works well too.

Hope that helps.

[Helluvaname]

The outdoor carcoon keeps the car in a very good environment, however, they are not quick and easy to get the car in and out of as you have to deflate/inflate the thing.

I had a look at the machinemart portable garages, that claim to be triple layer, but that actually refers to the build-up of the fabric, rather than having separate 'skins' with an air gap between, which you need to avoid condensation.

The best solution (apart from a permanant structure) in my view would be the Airflow chamber inside a machinemart portable garage.
That would give you almost instant access; a controlled environment, and great weather protection.

(I've no connection with any of the above other than having owned a carcoon, and an Air-chamber).

[Surrey Dave]

Thanks for the suggestions, the possibility of the airchamber inside the instant garage could work if I can organise the power.

Is the Carcoon robust enough for 24/7 outside use? I'm guessing it isn't very vandal proof!!

[Helluvaname]

The outdoor carcoon is designed to be, er, outdoors so is robust enough for the weather, and it's dual skinned so has the anti-condensation airgap, however it remains a pain to get the car in/out of; and if your drive is accessible I guess it could fairly easily be nicked if left on the drive deflated whilst you're out on a blat.

As a big 'balloon' I guess it could also be quite tempting to some lowlife with a knife who thinks it a good idea to puncture it

The advantage of the air-chamber inside a machinemart 'garage' is that it's less unattractive to the lowlifes, and you can close the garage easily leaving the airchamber inside ready for use.

As for power, the airchamber uses a couple of 12v 'computer' fans, so draws relatively little current, and you could run it off a leisure battery for a good length of time before recharging - or get a say 2 foot square solar panel to charge the battery during the daylight if you have no nearby source of power.

[anniesdad]

I caught a programme once where a guy had hand built a shed just big enough to push a Westfield inside. Maybe you could do something like this?

[Tango7]

If you have the space and budget, what about using a covered trailer? There is an extended minno shuttle for £4k that would do the trick and you have the benefit of an asset that's very saleable when you have finished with it. Good locks are required for the hitch and wheels but it will be dry and safe option for the car

http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/big-stuff/t...

[squadron leader]

There's plenty of air blowing through the Machine Mart temporary garage believe me. You won't need anything else to look after your pride and joy.

[Surrey Dave]

Thanks for the suggestions. Certainly some good ideas to look into.

Many thanks!

[80's Classic]

As anniesdad comments, I've seen someone not too far from me who has built a mini shed / garage on his driveway just big enough to store the car. It's probably pushed in and out but it looks like it works rather well.

[Amris]

I would personally build a wooden shed style garage. The cheap ones start at just over £500 and go all the way up to 5k for a oak one with a workshop. You can construct it yourselve to save money too and would be water tight although I would probably run a dehumidfier

[freebee]

I have a machine mart garage and I certainly would not recommend it for storage of a car. The inside gets very sweaty in cold weather.... any steel inside goes rusty very quickly.