With winter around the corner, some car owners may be thinking about investing in some car storage in order to keep the vehicles safe from the elements. In this article, we’ll walk you through a few things that you should do before putting your vehicle away for the colder seasons.
Clean It Before You Store It
It may seem weird to clean your vehicle right before you put it into storage. Shouldn’t do you that after you bring it back out? Here’s the thing, though: if there are already any water stains, bird droppings, or other dirt and debris on your vehicle before you store it, they could cause further damage if left unattended for months. You might not be able to get rid of them anymore once they’ve set.
Make Sure to Change the Oil
Before putting your car in storage, make sure that you switch out the used oil for new oil. This is because old engine oil contains certain contaminants that may end up causing some damage to your engine. However, if you are only storing your vehicle for around seven to fourteen days, you may not need to carry out this step.
Keep Your Tires from Flat-Spotting
Flat-spotting occurs when your car stays stationery for too long due to the car’s weight pressing down on the tires. To prevent this process from happening, you could remove the tires and jack up the car so that you can put a jackstand under each corner, says Popular Mechanics.
Check the Parking Brake
If you leave the parking brake on, it might end up fusing with your car’s rotors. You can instead buy a chock (otherwise known as a tire stopper) to make sure your car doesn’t go anywhere.
You can’t just drive your vehicle into any car storage without at least doing a little bit of preparation. Keep these tips in mind so that you take utmost care of your vehicle.
