Is your car kept outside?

gannet said:
garages here tend to be quite small and have various things hanging from the roof - which could fall down on your car etc... anything to prise more money out of us :|

+ of course risk of damage as people put their cars in/out of the garage and risk of damage to the door getting in/out of the car...
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I also heard the excuse given that in certain circumstances people break into a garage easily (fair point, most garages are not very secure) and then they have time and privacy to go to town on the car without being disturbed.

... that said, I think it is totally an excuse to get more cash from us.
 
mmm-five said:
he moved it inside the garage, and a week later his wife dropped a fully-loaded hanging basket onto the wing, which cost £2000 and took 4 months to get custom made from Japan.

Mutterings of "It's the garage, not the effing garden shed you know!" still resound around their house 2 years later :P
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My wife knows that leaving home without mentioning it and before I find it would be the preferable option if she did that. :lol:
 
Interesting topic in that I kept my X5 outdoors for 10 years and sold it to a new owner who was amazed at it's condition. Unmarked.

Zed has probably spent a month since new in 2003 between me and previous owner outside. Rest garaged.I dont think the zed with fabric roof would fare as well over the long run.

Of course if you park a wet car in an unvented garage on a regular basis it's probably the quickest way to destroy it.
 
I would prefer to garage it but that would mean evicting the 1965 Fiat 500 and I think the Z will tolerate the outdoors better.
 
rhys4 said:
always outside the garage is full of rubbish must get round to sorting it someday
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Oh how true, you spend several thousands if not more on something and junk displaces it.
Mines been outside pretty much everyday since I bought 7 and bit years ago, only in the last 2 winters has it had a Hardtop and that's because it can stand for weeks on end and not even turn a wheel.
 
Park all my cars outside and always have. Only put the Z in the garage when there's heavy snow or frost.
Surely parking a wet car in a garage can't be good for it? If it's outside the wind will dry it out much more quickly.

Anyway, my garage houses my bicycles and my beloved compact tractor....can't have it sitting out in the rain :o
 
always outside- if I had a garage it would be inside- solely to keep it clean longer not for mechanical issues.
 
Mine's garaged and I only use it at weekends or on road trips. Mostly have it garaged because my last one got keyed and i don't trust the local scumbags to leave it alone.
 
One of my favourite pictures of my Zed:-

Z4withiceicles-1.jpg


As you've gathered, it lives outdoors permanently and seems to suffer no major ill effects!

Anyone else got pics with icicles hanging off the sills? :D
 
Always kept in the garage for all the reasons mentioned (except the hanging basket) and it keeps the zed cleaner for longer which saves on wash days because theres nothing worse than spending best part of a day cleaning a car just to be left out in the rain the following day.
 
cj10jeeper said:
Of course if you park a wet car in an unvented garage on a regular basis it's probably the quickest way to destroy it.
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Just moving into a house with a double garage... may sound like a dumb question but do I need to "mod the garage" to stop it from destroying my car?! :|
 
No, every garage is vented. If it was not vented, water would run down the walls.
 
Mine lives outside on my drive 365 days a year.I have a hardtop for the winter.Doesn't seem to suffer any ill effects.
 
pvr said:
No, every garage is vented. If it was not vented, water would run down the walls.
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LOL!.. that makes sense... so CJ10jeeper was just trying to scare us! :poke:
 
Not being able to afford a garage in central London mine is kept outside along with my other (scratch magnet black).

I would say outside is def worse on the paintwork but especially bad on rubbers as they do fade over time. If you have to leave outside you also need to clean it more often and generally this will 'wear out' the paint unless you are brilliant at cleaning and can avoid swirl marks etc.

That being said if I had a garage it would be full of junk no-doubt....

Not to hijack the thread but has anyone used any paint protection stuff on their Zs - I have used Supaguard on my other black car and three months on it is still holding up to London weather+dust and smog pretty effectively and has offered some scratch resistance when an idiot opened his door into the side of the car.
 
pvr said:
Interesting topic with differing views I would say.

My view is that an outside car will suffer from the elements, rain continues to get in places it should not and the roof motor will then seize if the drains are blocked. Rubbish will get in the drains in the first place as the car is outside causing the above then.

The heat will age any rubber component, the cold will harden the rubber which will make it brittle. The more extreme the climate, the more damage would occur. Sunshine will bleach / damage the dashboard and the leather will age as well. Brake lines will get wet / dirty and can rust. Calipers can seize due to water / temperature effects.

As an extreme, my 1993 Golf has been parked in a garage for all its life and looks like new. I do not believe that a street parked car would be in a similar condition.
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absolutly agree tbh...... my Daily snotters are out front, the cherished are locked up and covered... my z4m has been garaged from new and actually looks better now than when i got it new.... pristine is not the word, if it had been left outside for 4 years, that would be very difficult to do, But i guess entirely possible.
 
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