Auto storage

Maintenance/Repairs
1

i will be dividing my time between thailand and virginia. i am considering purchasing a bmw or mb, diesel or gasoline. is there a marked advantage to choosing one type of engine over the other for long term (6 month) storage? i plan on keeping the vehicle storage in an unheated underground garage. what measures should i take to store the vehicle from about november to april? or should i go to the trouble and expense of storing it in a storage garage specializing in long term vehicle storage at about $100 per month?



thank you.



cornelis m. keur

2 
 There are a lot of factors.  The only one I can think of is diesel has a longer shelf life, but it will suffer more if moisture gets to it. Diesel plus water can grow algae, not good. 

 For six months I would not worry much about it.  

 Other than that, I would remove the battery (that makes it a lot more difficult to steal as the bad guys seldom carry an assortment of batteries with them) and keep it on a battery tender (type of charger just for this situation) to keep it in good condition.
3

We have a diesel that is parked from November to April and a gasoline car that is parked from April to November; have been doing this for many years. I use no fuel stabilizer; never have. We are located in the northern midwest US if that matters. Either vehicle starts instantly after being parked. Fuel injection seals the fuel from the atmosphere with both cars so stale fuel has not been a problem for me.

I just park the car dry in an unheated, well ventilated garage with a fairly recent oil change and a full fuel tank; that is all. My gasoline car requires a battery tender or the battery goes flat due to computer power drain. Disconnecting the battery will stop this if you don’t lose the radio code but it’s still good to give your battery an occasional charge to minimize sulfation. A battery tender or maintainer will suffice and then you don’t need to disconnect the battery. There is no need to periodically “exercise” the car; you are better off leaving it parked in my experience.

4

thanks so much for your response!

5

thank you so much for your reassuring response. do you inflate the tires to the limit? do you do anything else other than just maintain batter charge and keep the fuel tank full?