Storing my Accord, medium term

[timmeh]

Hi everyone

The worst nightmare for anyone with such a beautiful piece of machinery to their name as an '07 Accord Euro Luxury Edition is to suddenly not be able to drive it. I have had an epileptic seizure and am off the road for probably six months. I'm absolutely gutted. :(

Is there anything in particular I need to do in order to store my angel? Should I be storing her, or leave her as is and get a friend to take her for a spin every couple of weeks? Will the sat nav be affected if the system is powered off for a length of time? Is there anyone else poking around here who is in a similar predicament? If so, I feel your pain.

At the moment, I have a cover over her and she's in the car port, and yes, I always refer to her as female.


-tim

[yfin]

My car was stored for 12 months whilst I was overseas. My dad drove the car every 2 weeks. There are things you can do to store the car long term (it is in the Euro manual) but I would suggest you find someone to drive it every few weeks rather than take that option. At the end of the 6 months do a full service and change fluids.

[EuroAccord13]

In between driving, it's also good to just start the car now and then to let it idle and warm up....

[tknova]

You poor fella :( I feel you pain already..... And being on 07 model it's still brand spanking new.. :(

Remove the car cover asap and find a garage to keep the car out of the weather completly.

your best off putting her up on jack stands, drain the oil & remove the battery, and as bad as it sounds, just let her sit there....

Letting the engine sit there for weeks at a time, and only starting a few times a month will not be good for the engine.

I reffer to mine as a girl aswell!! There is always something wrong :zip:

[tron07]

Starting the engine every few days and letting it idle for couple a minutes is not good to the engine, especially a new one. The engine wouldnt get warm up enough, the oil will not get properly heated and all the moisture will not get evoperated.

Either you start it and take it for a drive or just leave it alone. Get someone to drive you around in the weekends would be good, a lond drive to the country, get you some fresh air and run in the car. You should still be able to go around with epileptic seizures, just not suppose to drive.

While the car is idle, engage in gear, , put some stoppers at the tires, dont pull the park brakes so tight, give it a wash and wax to protect the paint.

I think to maintain the car's warranty, you will still need to follow the service instruction, at least first 1k or 1 month and 10k or 6 month or somewhere thereabout... If you were to say do the 10k service in 1 years time, they might shift the blame if any defect happens to the engine.

[Tobster]

Take things easy and all the best for health...

If you're not going to drive the car, leave it on stands or else you'll get flat spots on your tyres (happened to a silly friend many years ago who lost her licence for drink driving). She was faced with driving with a constant thump-thump vibration or getting 4 new tyres...

[EuroAccord13]

Don't forget to fill up the fuel tank to prevent moisture as well....

[SiReal]

just go out with your mates and get them to drive your car (within reason of course)

[timmeh]

I think to maintain the car's warranty, you will still need to follow the service instruction, at least first 1k or 1 month and 10k or 6 month or somewhere thereabout... If you were to say do the 10k service in 1 years time, they might shift the blame if any defect happens to the engine.Thanks for your replies guys... She's up and out of the weather in a car port, with a dust cover over her. 10,000km service is due in August so I guess I'll get someone to take her out in the next two weeks, and then again at service time. I'll know by then how long I can't drive for, and can do more planning then.


Seeing as it's a drab day out I might have to go vacuum the floors and wipe the dash down! http://www.themixingbowl.org/image/smilies/innocent.gif

[tron07]

Unless its 100% dry, I think you should loose the car cover, moisture trap between the cover and the paint doesnt sound good...

[timmeh]

I took the cover off today, and I could feel the dampness everywhere on it. Sure enough, there's spots all over the car, I'm going to have to wash it. Lesson learned.

[yfin]

I took the cover off today, and I could feel the dampness everywhere on it. Sure enough, there's spots all over the car, I'm going to have to wash it. Lesson learned.

That is because you don't have a good car cover. You need something waterproof yet breathable.

[timmeh]

Yah, I just bought the first one I found. In retrospect I should have thought more about that. Oh well, any excuse to fuss over her! http://www.themixingbowl.org/image/smilies/wink.gif