How To Store Your Car In Ottawa

Winter is brutal on cars, especially in Ottawa. Consistently terrible driving conditions lead to bumps and scratches, and of course there’s the ever-present threat of salt eating away at your vehicle. Given this, it’s no wonder that owners of classic and summer cars are so keen on storing theirs for the winter. In all our years of business, we’ve seen some of the best and worst car storage methods out there, so if you’re looking to store your car this winter in Ottawa, consider the following Do’s and Don’ts of car storage.

Do: Fill the tank and use fuel stabilizer

If your tank is only partially full, then condensation will collect on every surface inside your gas tank that isn’t submerged in gasoline. This leads to damage to seals within your gas tank, and can rust any metal surface inside that is exposed to the air.

Without fuel stabilizer, the gasoline in your tank will evaporate over time leading to a sticky resin that will coat the interior of your gas tank. This resin will eventually mix back into the fuel once your driving it again, and make its way into the engine, leading to problems ‘down the road’.

Don’t: let it rest on it’s tires

If you let a car rest on its tires for a winter, you can expect a bumpy ride when you drive away. The constant weight on your tire rubber throughout the winter months can create flat zones on each of your four tires, ultimately wrecking them. To avoid this we recommend jack stands, as they will allow the weight of your car to rest on the chassis, not the wheels.

Do: Wash your car before storing it

This one seems counterintuitive. If nobody’s looking at it, who cares if it’s clean? The logic of this move makes itself apparent only after you’ve made the mistake of not cleaning bird poop off your hood and realizing it has permanently caused paint discolouration, or left grease on your wheel wells only to realize you’ve allowed it to eat away at your fenders.

Don’t: Leave the battery without a trickle charger

Few feelings are worse than seeing your shiny car for the first time in the spring, climbing behind the wheel and turning the key, expecting to hear the sound of the engine you’ve missed all year, only to be greeted by a nasty clack-clack-clack of a dead battery and the realization that you have to wait a little longer to drive your beloved car. To avoid this, invest $20-40 in a trickle charger to keep the battery primed for driving in the spring.

Now that you’ve learned some of the Do’s and Don’ts of car storage you are ready to take the next step. Contact us today and ensure your car is stored correctly all winter long!