Daily driver to part time toy.... advice please

[Tom]

It is with some sadness that after 12 years and 80 k miles great service (and 8 years and 51k with previous owners), I've decided it's time to retire the old girl from daily commuting duties. As I'm totally new to the concept of keeping a car off the road most of the time, could anyone advise on the best approach to things like:

- Storage when not is use - disconnect battery, charge it regularly, both? Anything else to keep an eye on? Is it a good idea to run the engine occasionally etc?
- Insurance options: Can you get "laid up" during the winter only? Or is it better to just get a "Classic" policy with limited mileage. Or just insure when on the road?
- Tax discs and SORN. Is it best to get 12 months and cash it in at the end of the summer?
- What servicing do you really need if you're only doing a 1k a year?

Apologies if someone has already done a thread on this - please point me at it if there is one.

 

[andy watson]

Hi Tom

My baby has always been a weekend toy, first few years she only did 1K to 1.5K a year took her off the road end of October until the end of March kept her snuggled in the garage with battery conditioner and on SORN.

Did not do the old girl much good at all, they are better off being used as many weekends as possible, plus when it was a nice bright sunny day during the winter the car was on SORN..GGRRRHH

My advice would be to tax her for the year, insure on classic with ltd milage (I am on 5K per year for £135) buy a trickle charger and use as much at the weekends as you can, the best thing is she will always be ready to go when you want her.

Regards

 

[944 man]

Id say trickle charge if you can, but failing that disconnecting the positive cable is a good alternative.
Classic policy with agreed value always. Youre probably looking at under £200 for an S2 with agreed value and a laid up policy will probably cost as much, whilst offering far less cover.
If you buy a six month disc you pay a premium which isnt refundable, so a twelve month disc is better value, yes. Id pobably tax for the year and leave it taxed though, because this way you can regularly drive the car, which is better than simply starting it and letting it tick over...


Simon

 

[DavidL]

Is there a reason you aren't going to use it much any more? Longer distances, poor parking?
Generally they stand up to daily use very well (as you seem to have found) and less use doesn't help. From the sound of things it seems you going to lay it up for a while which is perhaps slightly different - storage properly is quite hard to do - tyres, battery, dehumidifier etc
I use 2 or 3 cars all week and run them every other day depending on the weather and that seems to work fine, evens out the mileage and keeps everything going. Could that work for you?