How to Store Your Vehicle Safely

W-w-w-welcome back to the w-w-winter months, filled with mornings of scraping off your vehicle and sitting in it shivering and watching as your windshield slowly defrosts. There’s no arguing that the winter months can be brutal, especially on a classic car or convertible and that’s why we could like to give you the best steps for on how to store your vehicle safely for winter.

1. Covered/Garage

Your best option for keeping a vehicle safe for a long term, and not having to worry about anyone tampering with it, animals, or the elements is going to be covering your vehicle and storing it in a garage.

Whether it’s a locked personal garage or a public storage facility, this is going to be your safest bet…just avoid any sinkholes. If you do choose to keep your vehicle outside, make certain the cover is weatherproof in order to seal out any rain or snow.

2. “Wash Me”

Any dirt, sap, bird droppings, or leftover soap residue can eat away at your vehicle’s paint job over its next couple of months of hibernation. Give it a thorough wash, or at the very minimum take ‘er through a cash wash and if you can, waxed, for additional protection.

3. It’s in the Details

Now that the exterior is clean, vacuum out the inside to get rid of any crumbs because a few critters like squirrels and mice would love a warm, comfy, cozy car to spend the winter in, specially if its stocked with fast food wrappers and food crumbs.

Speaking of animals, make sure to cover up the tail pipe to prevent anything from crawling in, mothballs and peppermint extract are also said to help keep rodents from entering.

4. Fill and Fuel Up

Before you tuck your vehicle in for the next couple of months, make sure that it has fresh oil and a full tank of gas to top it off. Also, if the storage time is longer than a month, you may want to consider adding some type of fuel stabilizer to prevent the buildup of any gum or gunk. (Without these fluids, seals will dry out and moisture and residue can occur.)

We hope these tips for storing your vehicle have been helpful, and if you are looking for a vehicle that will be able to handle the snow, salt, and ice these upcoming months, be sure to check out some of the new and used vehicles we have here at Mazda of Lodi. If you need a tune up before winter, our service team members would also be happy to help!