How much difference does garaging make?

[edition]

Hi,

Just bought a 2 yr old car what has sat in a garage for most of it's life as immaculate. Just wondering how much people think a garage makes to condition of the car over time.

I have a older car that resides In the garage but thinking I should really have the more pricey car stored in there...


What do you all think/do ?

Cheers in advance!!

[parapaul]

Not that important TBH, I'd rather buy a car that was kept on the driveway but cared for than one that had been kept in the garage and forgotten about.

[berni29]

Hi

I think it depends to a degree on the garage. Is it damp or dry and well ventilated for instance. I have seen a few "barn find" cars and they never look that great despite being kept indoors.

I do think it must help though.

Berni

[kambites]

Keeping a car dehumidified makes maintenance significantly easier because even if the bodywork is well enough rust proofed, the fixings tend to rust solid over time. Keeping the car warm in winter probably helps if you use it for a lot of short journeys too, since the engine will take significantly less time to warm up from 20 degrees than from 0.

[Larry Dickman]

It also depends on where the car is kept if it's not garaged. I have a huge Oak tree next to my drive so my van is always either covered in bird's st or tree sap, plus moss type stuff growing out of every nook & cranny. I wish I had a bigger garage so I could keep the van in there as well as the Camaro.

[Ben Jk]

I don't have a garage so my car is out all year round. Apart from the obvious problem of defrosting a frozen car I don't think it makes a huge difference. If your car is well looked after/protected then it should be fine. My cars are always well sealed/waxed etc and I've not had any problems. Obviously I'd
love a garage though!! My cars are always under 3 years old too tho which may help.

Edited by Ben Jk on Tuesday 12th October 08:38

[Dog Star]

Larry Dickman said:

It also depends on where the car is kept if it's not garaged. I have a huge Oak tree next to my drive so my van is always either covered in bird's st or tree sap, plus moss type stuff growing out of every nook & cranny. I wish I had a bigger garage so I could keep the van in there as well as the Camaro.

Absolutely. My garage is down the bottom of the garden under some very big trees and you cannot leave a car (especially when it's been cleaned) out under them for more than the time it takes to get the door open and the car inside - the sap falls like rain. At this time of year there's also some bird that does craps that are like huge blobs of concrete with purple berries in. One of the first things I had to do was get a concrete base down at the side of the garage and get a car port built for the OHs car as the garage is full of bikes and my car. It really is that bad.

If I didn't have this utter ball-ache of having to always put cars under cover I would have some seriously messy cars with some pretty wrecked paintwork.

[Don]

Garaging makes a huge difference long term. Paint fades in sunlight. If your car is a toy used at the weekend and can be kept out of sunlight in the week over the years this will make quite a difference to the overall appearance of the car.

Nothing that couldn't be fixed, of course, and maintenance is still required!

[alfa pint]

My MG B was re-shelled in 2000 and garaged its entire life. It still looks in showroom condition. My old MG B was kept outdoors due to lack of a garage at the time and the bumpers / grill got rust spots in no time.

[V88Dicky]

Gaz. said:

My 944 was garaged for its entire life and used as a weekend car for 18 of 21 years, it had paint like glass, it also had sod all rust and if you popped the air vent in the door jam and looked inside the sills the metal looked brand new.

I hope my p+j looks like that after 18 years, as I plan to keep it atleast as long.

I've just had it fully rustproofed/undersealed so that should help, along with keeping it garaged and well fettled.

[SJobson]

Gaz. said:

My 944 was garaged for its entire life and used as a weekend car for 18 of 21 years, it had paint like glass, it also had sod all rust and if you popped the air vent in the door jam and looked inside the sills the metal looked brand new.

Exactly what I'd expect from a car which had been garaged. You don't find these ~20yr old timewarp cars sitting on people's driveways covered in leaf mulch; they've been kept indoors.

If it's an everyday sort of car which has been parked outside and washed regularly etc then I doubt it makes any difference though.

ETA: don't accidentally lock a cat in your garage though, as I did with my previous car

Edited by SJobson on Tuesday 12th October 09:56