Leaving a car parked up for long periods

[Iceman299]

I'll be parking the 306 up for a while from tomorrow and was wondering apart from disconnecting the battery, is there anything else worth doing?

Does the handbrake being on/off affect rear brakes seizing?

[Midnightclub]

Putting it on stands, covering the discs/calipers wouldn't be a bad idea depending on how long you're planning on leaving it stood for. Better to leave the handbrake off than on if you can help it, better it seize whilst it's off than on worst case.

[Iceman299]

I'm contemplating selling but don't think i could do it. 
Have no real idea on how long it will be stood for at the moment but have off road parking at the apartment and have a drive to leave it on when we move in a few months

[Poodle]

Tbh i think midnightclub has got it. I'd drain as much of the fuel as you can too, fuel can go off after a few months, be a shame to waste half a tank at todays prices. :S If you have the time/inclination it'd probably be worth detailing it and applying a few coats of wax, will make it easier to clean up when the time comes to put her back on the road. Perhaps park it in the shade so the paint doesn't fade on one side... Scraping the barrel now lol.

[Paul Baldwin]

How long's a while? Tyres perish over time, I used to take wheels off my kit car when laid up to keep them right.

[Iceman299]

Tbh a year tops, if i decide to keep and not sell. If after a year the shitty astra is still going strong then the 306 will unfortunately have to say bye bye. 

Just don't want to park it up then pay for caliper refurb, new battery etc will still be starting it up every couple of weeks and letting it run for a bit

[Toms306]

Cars really don't like being sat tbh. I've watched my step Dads car disintergrate over a relartively short period of time after he got a company car. Such a waste imo, personally I'd sell it, if you want another in a years time, buy another...its an old 306, not exactly rare or expensive.

[bashbarnard]

Cars love being sat. I pulled a Citroen ax diesel out of a farmers filed that had a tree growing through the floor and 2 weeks later it drove me an 800 mile round trip to cornwall no issues. Apart from the ants nest that still lived in it. Lol.


Seriously though. Basically what others have said.

[Toms306]

2 weeks later after changing every rubber part, brakes, fluids, top mount bearings, battery, exhaust, etc...?

[Iceman299]

Cars really don't like being sat tbh.  I've watched my step Dads car disintergrate over a relartively short period of time after he got a company car.  Such a waste imo, personally I'd sell it, if you want another in a years time, buy another...its an old 306, not exactly rare or expensive.

Yeah they're cheap and 90% of the time need loads of parts thrown at it including clutches. Just spent a fair amount making it damn reliable and want to keep it as insurance incase the astra fcuks up lol

[7057sam]

Lol I left mine for 6 months battery got so low the remote central locking would nt work

Lesson learnt,battery on charge everthing fine

[bashbarnard]

2 weeks later after changing every rubber part, brakes, fluids, top mount bearings, battery, exhaust, etc...?

Yeah. I changed all of that off another one i had just crashed. In all fairness when i saw made it with ni problem i mean just made it lol

[Toms306]

Cars really don't like being sat tbh.  I've watched my step Dads car disintergrate over a relartively short period of time after he got a company car.  Such a waste imo, personally I'd sell it, if you want another in a years time, buy another...its an old 306, not exactly rare or expensive.

Yeah they're cheap and 90% of the time need loads of parts thrown at it including clutches. Just spent a fair amount making it damn reliable and want to keep it as insurance incase the astra fcuks up lol

Leave it in a damp environment for a year it'll probably want another clutch anyway.

2 weeks later after changing every rubber part, brakes, fluids, top mount bearings, battery, exhaust, etc...?

Yeah. I changed all of that off another one i had just crashed. In all fairness when i saw made it with ni problem i mean just made it lol

Lol, good job you crashed the other one for parts then.

[C2K]

Meh. I left my hdi for 7 months twice. All I did was take battery off. Threw in some new rear discs and did an oil change, that's it.

[tigerstyle]

Meh.  I left my hdi for 7 months twice. All I did was take battery off. Threw in some new rear discs and did an oil change,  that's it.

Left my hdi for 5  months (6?) didn't disconnect the battery, needed a new one on my return and it started right back up.
Cars are tough.

[procta]

what you want to do, is put the car on axle stands, as that will save the tyres and suspension, remove the radio and other items, as you don't want the car blagged. ( some classic car owners even remove the steering wheel)
give the inside a f*ck off clean too!
Leave off the handbrake,
Disconnect the battery, but start the car every few days to a week, just to keep the engine happy.
you could cover the car up, but some times that fucks the paint work!
keep it insured so its covered, your choice on keeping it taxed, if you keep it taxed, you have a back up car straight away!

[Poodle]

Tbh if you start it and leave it to idle for a few minutes every week you're more likely to cause problems than help, it's not good for them.

[Eeyore]

Definitely get it off the floor otherwise youll get flat spots on your tyres. Depends if you have nice tyres of course!

[welshpug]

nope, no flat spots on my tyres, they've been sittign for a while, pressures always checked, battery off of course.

I would not jack it up as that'll stress cv boots and suspension bushes.

[Paul Baldwin]

One other thing is to leave one window down just a touch. You may get a few drops of water get in in the heaviest showers BUT the air movement thru the car will soon dry anything that does get in out. That means you won't have a manky mouldy steering wheel and mouldy seat belts and seats which you will get if you seal it up tight.

[Iceman299]

Just went to take things out of the boot and one side is completely soaked. Took the light off to find it completely full of water! Good job i realised that now as I was preparing it to be parked up!

[maxzy]

I had the problem with shock absorber after lift up the car for a long period.

You can only park the car on a flat surface and just always check the tire pressure or you can over-inflation to prevent the tire flat spot same as the new car in the yard before selling, That's no problem with tire and suspension.

The better way if you want to lift up the car, You can use the stand to support under the lower arm same as the usual condition that they sit on the ground.