"Stored in a heated garage" - Why?
"Stored in a heated garage" - Why?
Author
Discussion

TREMAiNE

Original Poster:

4,164 posts

178 months

Tuesday 20th August 2024
quotequote all
You often see car ads for something expensive/rare/old that state the car is kept in a heated garage.
Whilst I am sure that this is probably true in some cases, I can't help but think that in most cases, this is some bullsh*t that the seller has put just to make you think the car has been cared for in a way it probably hasn't.

It's not a newborn baby, it's a car - designed to sit outside and be open to the elements literally.

Do people actually store their cars in heated garages?
Is it actually necessary?

donkmeister

12,877 posts

129 months

Tuesday 20th August 2024
quotequote all
More important for a garage is "well ventilated", but you don't see that on ads.

mark-3bw80

94 posts

47 months

Tuesday 20th August 2024
quotequote all
I do, a Porsche 930 1989 That lives on a life support machine in a heated carpeted garage. True it is spoilt but then again it is 35 years old and in perfect condition and probably due to how I keep it. So it does exist, certainly in my position.

Fox-

13,575 posts

275 months

Tuesday 20th August 2024
quotequote all
TREMAiNE said:
it's a car - designed to sit outside and be open to the elements literally.
But this will cause wear over time.

We have two cars - one is kept outside, one is kept in a garage at all times it isn't being driven.

Guess which one has faded plastics on the windscreen wipers, etc?

anonymous-user

83 months

Tuesday 20th August 2024
quotequote all
My brother used to build race cars, so when they had their garage built they had it built to house regulations (double skin, insulation etc.) and had heating installed as he spent so much time out there.

He stored his motorbike in there and never rode it in the rain. When he sold that bike it was literally like brand new, not a single piece of it had any corrosion or tarnish at all.

Storing cars outside does them no good at all, I personally would think a car that has always been stored inside in a heated garage as a very good thing.

We have all seen the Johnny smith "Barn Find" videos where someone has stored a rare car in a leaky council lockup garage for 30 years. When they pull the car out there is literally nothing left of it. I am sure if those cars were stored in a clean, heated garage they would be in a much better state.

Harry Flashman

21,788 posts

271 months

Tuesday 20th August 2024
quotequote all
TREMAiNE said:
You often see car ads for something expensive/rare/old that state the car is kept in a heated garage.
Whilst I am sure that this is probably true in some cases, I can't help but think that in most cases, this is some bullsh*t that the seller has put just to make you think the car has been cared for in a way it probably hasn't.

It's not a newborn baby, it's a car - designed to sit outside and be open to the elements literally.

Do people actually store their cars in heated garages?
Is it actually necessary?
I do! A pair of classics. Garage isn't aggressively heated - just to 15 degrees in winter so no huge temp fluctuations over winter. Garage is dehumidified, too: but I don't bother cooling it in the summer. The Saab has been in there for years and is a veritable time capsule. Camaro, I've only owned for a year, but it seems to keep well.

Cost of this all seems low compared to remedial work due to condensation etc. How necessary it is, I don't actually know! I think starting, warming through and driving them regularly is just as important.



Gericho

608 posts

32 months

Tuesday 20th August 2024
quotequote all
I keep my best car in a garage with good ventilation and heating. Next best is under a car cover outside in winter.

av185

20,464 posts

156 months

Tuesday 20th August 2024
quotequote all
Fox- said:
TREMAiNE said:
it's a car - designed to sit outside and be open to the elements literally.
But this will cause wear over time.

We have two cars - one is kept outside, one is kept in a garage at all times it isn't being driven.

Guess which one has faded plastics on the windscreen wipers, etc?
Yep and thats before you start on UV deteriorated tyres with cracking sidewalls, faded and cracked internal fittings, rusting steel brake components, tree sap and birdst lime eaten away lacquer and paintwork etc.

Any car deteriorates quicker if left outside.

Lotus Emiras in particular really do dissolve through the seasons if left outside...just like Lotus of old. Check out the Emira bubbling paintwork and electric gremlins caused by damp penetration threads just on PH.

Edited by av185 on Tuesday 20th August 14:10

phil4

1,649 posts

267 months

Tuesday 20th August 2024
quotequote all
I'd ignore the heated bit... I think that's just them saying it's a garage in good condition, not a 40 year old damp, falling down shell.

But yes, being outside I do find adds extra wear to the car, window seals get moss, bird droppings no matter how quickly wiped, slowly etch the clear coat and UV does what it can to everything.

cerb4.5lee

44,558 posts

209 months

Tuesday 20th August 2024
quotequote all
I'm not fond of the heated bit, because I always remember my Dad's Mustang pretty much rusting away in his garage that had a radiator in it years back(putting it away wet probably didn't help with that though).

I definitely agree with keeping them in a garage and out of the sun and the elements though for sure. I remember a chap saying to me that he could tell that I keep my 370Z in a garage for example.

PRO5T

7,583 posts

54 months

Tuesday 20th August 2024
quotequote all
wavey

Yes mine too, heated and insulated double garage as it’s part of the house but key is well ventilated. It’s often given a wash over after being used but before it’s put away in its indoor cover it gets run up and down the hill to dry off as best as I can and then stored with through ventilation for a few hours to fully dry out.

av185

20,464 posts

156 months

Tuesday 20th August 2024
quotequote all
Worth mentioning as most folks know only too well the worst thing is to wash a car soaking the brake discs in the process then garage it damp the brake pads seize perfectly to the discs, even more onerous in winter if the car has any amount of salt on its componentry.

unsprung

6,054 posts

153 months

Tuesday 20th August 2024
quotequote all

+1 on previous comments about moisture, UV, extreme temperature, etc.

Spare a thought for your Yank and Canuck friends along the 49th parallel (the approximate location of their shared border) where tens of millions live year-round.

Say it's February. Rock up to the town of Ely, in the state of Minnesota, and the average temperature is:

-19c

That's minus 19 Celsius.


Cylon2007

609 posts

107 months

Tuesday 20th August 2024
quotequote all
Neither of my cars live in a heatwed garage but the motorbikes do. When I bought the house the then owner used it as a workshop so had added a radiator to the house central heatring system in the garage. I really didn't thnk it made that much difference so aboutr 4 years ago when the boiler was condemmended and we had a new one a a few radiaotors replaced I removed the one form the garage as it was quit rusty and likely to fail. Forward about 3 -4 months and I fitted a new radiator. Makes the garage much more usable all year round and adds sod all to the running costs so why not smile .

Pica-Pica

16,575 posts

113 months

Tuesday 20th August 2024
quotequote all
Fox- said:
But this will cause wear over time.

We have two cars - one is kept outside, one is kept in a garage at all times it isn't being driven.

Guess which one has faded plastics on the windscreen wipers, etc?
The one that was not UV tested during development?

Fox-

13,575 posts

275 months

Tuesday 20th August 2024
quotequote all
Pica-Pica said:
The one that was not UV tested during development?
I can't remember the last time I saw a car older than about 2018 that didn't have some discoloration of the plastics around the wiper arm. It happens to everything eventually, otherwise there would be no market for those products that restore trim to black...

CKY

2,268 posts

44 months

Tuesday 20th August 2024
quotequote all
TREMAiNE said:
It's not a newborn baby, it's a car - designed to sit outside and be open to the elements literally.

Do people actually store their cars in heated garages?
Is it actually necessary?
Some people do choose to keep their cars like this, I know as I have bought a couple previously; it's a funny way to live, coveting something and looking after it so anally, just so someone like me can come along and buy the car to enjoy it afterwards! (the garages weren't heated, but rather attached to the houses by partition wall so heated by the house as such).

Alex_225

7,771 posts

230 months

Tuesday 20th August 2024
quotequote all
It's become very fashionable in the last decade or so to show how much you pamper your car, whether it's how it's kept or even how it's washed. Don't get me wrong I love a good detail but this whole, 'out OCD-ing' each other makes me cringe.

I lump most of those kinds of comments in ads in with that trend. Don't get me wrong there are people that will do this, as is the case on this thread.

Realistically though, a well ventilated, dry garage will be sufficient to keep a car in excellent condition combined with avoiding road salt and storing it dry will keep it well.


cerb4.5lee

44,558 posts

209 months

Tuesday 20th August 2024
quotequote all
Alex_225 said:
It's become very fashionable in the last decade or so to show how much you pamper your car, whether it's how it's kept or even how it's washed. Don't get me wrong I love a good detail but this whole, 'out OCD-ing' each other makes me cringe.

I lump most of those kinds of comments in ads in with that trend. Don't get me wrong there are people that will do this, as is the case on this thread.

Realistically though, a well ventilated, dry garage will be sufficient to keep a car in excellent condition combined with avoiding road salt and storing it dry will keep it well.

I've always kept my car in a garage if I have one, but I'm definitely not anal when it comes to cleaning them though. I had my Cerbera for 6 years and I never polished/waxed it once. I've had the 370Z for 5.5 years now and I've still never polished/waxed that either. The F82 M4 hasn't had a polish/wax in 3.5 years either too.

However I do respect the guys/girls that do go to the trouble of PPF/ceramic coating/waxing/polishing regularly etc though for sure. I did look after my own cars far better years ago though, but now I'd just rather drive them than spend hours cleaning them though.

cerb4.5lee

44,558 posts

209 months

Tuesday 20th August 2024
quotequote all
CheesecakeRunner said:
Heated garage for cars? Good lord no, where would I put my bicycles?
To be fair...I reckon that most bicycles are more expensive than my cars nowadays...so I can't say that I blame you! biggrin