Car on drive for winter - Do I need Insurance & Tax?
- Thread starter welsh_Z
- Start date
With mine I just wash and wax and make sure it's dry before storing in the garage. Chock wheels and leave handbrake off. I don't bother filling up with petrol, the tanks plastic so won't corrode and tyres are fine at standard pressures. I wouldn't disconnect battery personally but use a conditioner charger. The battery is still powering ancillaries while the car is switched off etc. I cover the Zed with dust sheets to keep spiders off and make sure rodents can't get to the car as they can build winter nests in the engine compartment and take to chewing wiring etc 
Tim.
Tim.
Mine is currently untaxed (SORNed) and uninsured stored in a garage at my patents' house. It's driven around their property once in a while. It's chocked with the handbrake off and out of gear. My Westfield is only taxed and insured for six months in the summer and the other six months the same situation obtains. The only difference is that the Westy is trailered to the track on occasion during the winter lay up period.
Neither car has come to harm and neither has been stolen, vandalised or spontaneously combusted
At least not yet :?
Neither car has come to harm and neither has been stolen, vandalised or spontaneously combusted
At least not yet :?
the reasoning behind brimming the tank is that it prevents condensation buildup and hence watery petrol (i doubt there will be much) when you fire it up. but alternatively you could argue that leaving it as empty as possible and then brimming with fuel would stop the inevitable loss of octane from the fuel and 50L of petrol would dilute any condensation that may have built up.....
hand brake off with a brick behind the wheels or in gear is a good idea.
i leave my westy for 6 months like BMWZ4C. i dont do anything other than maybe wash it (often it gets taken to bits anyway) and top up fluids etc. i thought i left it empty last year when it was laid up from sept---April but it turns out that it had 2/3 of a tank in. the tyres are left at the 18PSI they run at.
my checks from starting are usually to check all fluids so oil/diff/water/screenwash. check the tyre pressure and condition. check for any signs of fluid leaks give the car a general spanner check and good look over, make sure things are connected etc and don't look like any little creatures have taken residence for dinner. charge the battery get in and start it.
ive done this for the past 4 years and everytime the car starts with no trouble in fact it starts better than the bmw, bear in mind this is a car i have built myself. the engine is not standard and most certainly not run using all the electronic gizmos on the Z. Generally i get a bit of smoke as the exhausts heat up for the first time but this goes within a min. i find the brakes feel like they are new and the first time they need to bed in (there is no servo assistance on this car so i assume its the calipers relaxing a little)
i drive gently for a few miles just to make sure everything is ok and let it get up to temp and then its into westfield mode where the accelerator is a digital on off switch, throttle position is either closed or fully open and braking is optional.
hand brake off with a brick behind the wheels or in gear is a good idea.
i leave my westy for 6 months like BMWZ4C. i dont do anything other than maybe wash it (often it gets taken to bits anyway) and top up fluids etc. i thought i left it empty last year when it was laid up from sept---April but it turns out that it had 2/3 of a tank in. the tyres are left at the 18PSI they run at.
my checks from starting are usually to check all fluids so oil/diff/water/screenwash. check the tyre pressure and condition. check for any signs of fluid leaks give the car a general spanner check and good look over, make sure things are connected etc and don't look like any little creatures have taken residence for dinner. charge the battery get in and start it.
ive done this for the past 4 years and everytime the car starts with no trouble in fact it starts better than the bmw, bear in mind this is a car i have built myself. the engine is not standard and most certainly not run using all the electronic gizmos on the Z. Generally i get a bit of smoke as the exhausts heat up for the first time but this goes within a min. i find the brakes feel like they are new and the first time they need to bed in (there is no servo assistance on this car so i assume its the calipers relaxing a little)
i drive gently for a few miles just to make sure everything is ok and let it get up to temp and then its into westfield mode where the accelerator is a digital on off switch, throttle position is either closed or fully open and braking is optional.
