Apart from the usual things like blocking it up, leaving it without a full tank of fuel etc is there anything else i should do? (Tips for preventing problems!!!)

Im trying to squeeze every penny at the mo and i need to take the car off the road for a year or so
Or sell it, but the latter is not an option i will accept....


Also what does layed up insurance generally cost

I have the Mehari on laid up insurance with Bishop Calway & Peter S Taylor. It's £45 agreed value, fire, theft, etc... and also covers accidental damage as a result of being laid up.

Thats v cheap

The savings are'nt great on laying it up but every penny!!

Bit of info in this thread from Oboe when he went traveling

viewtopic

I parked mine under a cheap cover only for four years and was very pleasantly surprised by its state when I went back to it. It hadn't deteriorated much at all, the only thing I would change would be better ventilating it. I had left the vent flap open but the interior was still fairly mouldy.

EDIT: thinking about it I did take the wheels off and put them inside to stop the tyres perishing.

Itll be in an open barn......

I remember trawling through the internet to see whether tyre manufacturers still recommend blocking up the wheels to avoid damage to the tyres. And I don't think they do: it's recommendation dating back a good fifty years when tyres weren't as well made as they are now. I believe there was a warning that a modern tyre might be a bit distorted after being parked for a few months, but that if you drive carefully for the first few miles (until the rubber warms up) they will be back in shape.

Of course, if you don't believe that (and feel free), it's a damn sight easier just to drive it onto a couple of thick sheets of polystyrene foam - the stuff that computers come packed in - so that the tyres don't have a flat spot where they touch the ground.

Some advice from Michelin...

Take the weight of their feet
If storage is for one month or more, eliminate the load on the tyres by raising the vehicle or by removing the tyres from the vehicle.
If not, it could result in damage, premature aging or sudden tyre failure.

http://www.michelin.co.uk/tyres/learn-s ... rage-story

I presume they meant, "off"?

Ken - Mr Michelin certainly says, and as Luke pointed out, illiterately, "take the weight of their feet", though curiously the rest of that link is about storing tyres that aren't on a vehicle at all.

What I found (now and when I looked previously) is that tyres do develop a flat spot after a few months without being moved, but that the flat spot normally disappears after driving for just a few miles. Obviously the tyre manufacturers would recommend anything that reduces flat-spotting, as they have a liability to users of their products, and a flat spot is potentially dangerous.

What others recommend is that it's better to take the car out for a short run every now and again (so the best way to store a car is to not store it at all), and you're not very likely to do that if it's up on blocks.