Winter and a Spyder

[darrenheysham]

Hi,

Looking for some help from others who have left a car in the storage/garage over winter. I bought a Spyder last December from an OPC, and plan not to use it over winter. Having never done this before, I have some questions about the best way to approach this.

1. SORN the car with DVLA rather than taxing from December seems straightforward.
2. MOT will run out, but I believe I can drive to a pre-booked MOT appointment without a valid MOT or Road tax.
3. Insurance - are there any implications from having no tax (when sat in the garage)? Are there any issues driving to the MOT centre without tax or MOT?
4 Porsche warranty renewal - I will be looking to extend the warranty another 2 years, which will be due in December 2019. I guess if I want to SORN again in winter, I will need to bring the renewal forward, but the tax savings will not outweigh the warranty costs, so other than not taking the car out in crap weather I should stick with December renewal.
5. Are there any practical things to do, or not do, when leaving the car for a few months (I have a trickle charger already)?

Is there anything else I have missed?

Thanks.

[GregorFuk]

Some would say pump the tires up to 40psi to avoid flat spotting but I never bother and have never suffered.

[henrycrun]

handbrake off

print out correspondence with DVLA, they have been known to kcuf-up and try to fine you some months later

Edited by henrycrun on Saturday 10th November 21:01

[1606ian]

darrenheysham said:

Hi,

Looking for some help from others who have left a car in the storage/garage over winter. I bought a Spyder last December from an OPC, and plan not to use it over winter. Having never done this before, I have some questions about the best way to approach this.

1. SORN the car with DVLA rather than taxing from December seems straightforward.
2. MOT will run out, but I believe I can drive to a pre-booked MOT appointment without a valid MOT or Road tax.
3. Insurance - are there any implications from having no tax (when sat in the garage)? Are there any issues driving to the MOT centre without tax or MOT?
4 Porsche warranty renewal - I will be looking to extend the warranty another 2 years, which will be due in December 2019. I guess if I want to SORN again in winter, I will need to bring the renewal forward, but the tax savings will not outweigh the warranty costs, so other than not taking the car out in crap weather I should stick with December renewal.
5. Are there any practical things to do, or not do, when leaving the car for a few months (I have a trickle charger already)?

Is there anything else I have missed?

Thanks.

SORNing is straightforward - just follow the instructions on the DVLA website but make sure that you SORN before the end of November - if you go into December you will lose a further month's tax refund which is £45 for a Spyder. DVLA should send you a cheque for the unused tax within a couple of weeks.

Not sure about the MoT question. Mine is due in March so I will be taxing mine from 1/3/19 so that it will be taxed before I take it for MoT.

Warranty renewal is an interesting one - initially, I wouldn't have hesitated to renew mine but having thought about it further, as I only run mine for 6 months of the year (only 5 months for this year as the weather was so bad here in April) and only do 3-4k miles a year (including a European road trip) I wonder weather, for me, renewal is worthwhile. I reckon the cost is about £1200 for the year (plus the inspection cost) which works out at £100 per month if you run your car all year or for me, £200 per month or £2.50 - £3.33 per mile which seems a bit steep. Besides, £1200 goes a long way to paying for minor repairs when the car is out of warranty. although I accept it would go that far if something serious happened. Ultimately, it depends on your attitude to risk.

My Spyder has been SORN'd since the end of September. I washed it and made sure it was completely dry before putting its cover on, put extra air in the tyres (can't remember how much!) and connected the trickle charger. I move it every few weeks to prevent it from sitting on the same spot on the tyres. There is some debate as to whether the petrol tank should be full before storing it and whether to start the engine at all while the car is stored. Personally, mine has only about a quarter of a tank of petrol but I don't start it during the storage period. I guess it's down to personal preference.

Hope this helps and good luck!

Edited by 1606ian on Monday 12th November 14:45

[nw942]

To answer some of your questions:
2. Yes, you can drive to a pre-booked MOT appointment without a valid MOT or Road tax. You can drive it back too. I usually re-tax mine whilst I'm in the dealer using the DVLA website.
3. I think most insurers are happy, but Admiral didn't seem to like my car being un-taxed/SORNed for some reason, even when I explained it was in storage.

[darrenheysham]

Thanks for the responses, very useful.

On the warranty front, I will probably put another 2 years on the car, as I experienced cracked cylinder liners on a 996 C4S and don’t want to experience that expense and emotional upset again! I think it is £1200 (or so) for two-years on the 987 Spyder.

[anonymous-user]

I wouldn't faff about - if you really want to take the car off the road just get a fresh MOT done before you SORN the car. Then it's dead easy to get back up and running in the Spring.

Personally I think it's bonkers taking a car off the road for 6 months. Any financial saving is pitifully small and the car will be much happier taken out for a run on a dry day every now and then. And it's not as if modern Porsches dissolve in a light shower....