Parking for extended periods

[Ade B]

Am off to sunnier climes for three weeks tomorrow. Am parking the CE in one of Heathrow's finest long stay car parks. Whilst not a huge amount of time, the car gets almost daily use so.. anything I should do to the car before parking up..? I've already disabled the alarm, can't really think of anything else.

TIA

Ade

 

[219]

If you're worried about something draining the battery , you could always disconnect it when you park up . Just be sure your radio isn't the type that requires a code if the battery is disconnected ( or that you know the code if it does ) and be prepared to re-tune all your stations on return .

The central locking should hold enough vacuum to lock the doors and boot once with the battery disconnected , but you can always lock up manually with the key , and likewise open up manually when you come back .

At least , with a W124 , you won't have the problems newer models encounter when the battery is taken off !

BTW - enjoy the trip !

 

[Ade B]

cheers, was wondering about disconnecting the battery.. radio is a face off Sony Xplod thingy, would imagine the drain from that is negligible.

Is it worth filling the fuel tank to prevent condensation?

Ade

 

[219]

I wouldn't have thought about that .

My inclination would have been to leave the tank as near empty as I dared , so if the worst happened and someone stole it , they wouldn't get far .... assuming thieves don't refuel cars they steal ?

 

[Uberwagon]

Hire a car to do it if you have a garage at home to leave the car in, far easier.

Dave!

 

[JumboBeef]

It's only three weeks: I wouldn't do anything different than leaving it for three hours.

Just go on holiday and don't worry about it, the worst that can happen is a flat battery (and if you battery is in good shape that will not happen) and the car park will undoubtly be able to jump you if that does happen.

 

[Ade B]

Hire a car to do it if you have a garage at home to leave the car in, far easier.

Dave!

Tried to book a cab as it's a lot cheaper for a start. None had baby seats + taking ours with us isn't an option. Storage at heathrow an extra £4 a day..

Used to be so much easier. 14 hours in a plane with a 16 month old will be interesting ..

 

[wemorgan]

I often leave my car standing for 3 weeks and it starts fine afterwards. If I leave it for 4-6 weeks then sometimes the battery is so flat the doors will not unlock.

If you're unsure of health of your battery you could buy a 12v solar panel battery charger.

 

[bpsorrel]

I regulalrly leave my cars for 6/7 weeks and haven't (yet!) had any problem with starting etc. One thing I was wondering though, what would be the most important thing to do if you were leaving a car for say 3 months?

 

[kwakdonut]

Park it up and leave it! Only bit of advie I would say is do not put the handbrake on - leave it in gear or 'P', if auto.

 

[Ade B]

Thanks for the input. Battery is in good health afaik. Will just park it and deal with what ever takes place on my return.

Trying to work my way out of the door... pesky holidays, the last 2 weeks have been a nightmare and I expect it to be a veritable **** storm when I return..


Ade

 

[Will]

I'm pretty certain it'll be fine whatever you do - just enjoy the holiday and forget about it.

I'd be more concerned with finding a nice safe(r)! spot in the car park

You could leave a W124 for 3 months and you'd be fine so long as the battery was strong. 3 years and I bet there'd be a good chance it would still start first time with just a jump (seriously )

Will

 

[KNU7S]

They will move your car once you have gone so dont disconnect the battery, i would remove the fuse for the radio and clock then im sure you will be fine

 

[Will]

I don't think I'd bother touching anything - it's unlikely to go flat in just 3 weeks - absolute worst case scenario (odds, 20:1 with a healthy battery) you can always jump it.

Even disconnecting the battery would be no guarantee that it won't be flat when you get back (if it's old or on the way out)

All IMHO

Will

 

[MrT]

They will move your car once you have gone so dont disconnect the battery, i would remove the fuse for the radio and clock then im sure you will be fine

Only if you don't go for self-parking. Would never park my car in a valet car park at an airport.

 

[Ade B]

Back from our quick tour of Indonesia.

Car started first time, (of course) found a nice corner spot next to the bus stop, relatively rapid progress through the morning rush hour back to the flat and now back at work...

Nice to drive the CE again after pootling about on shocking roads in various Jap mobiles.

Astonishing how much crap falls out of the sky, the car is filthy and was cleaned before parking up 3 weeks ago.

Ade

 

[Meldrew2]

Am parking the CE in one of Heathrow's finest long stay car parks.

I've already disabled the alarm,

Hmmmmm. Don't you want the car, then?

Most people just post an advert!

:bannana:

 

[Ade B]

Hmmmmm. Don't you want the car, then?

Most people just post an advert!

:bannana:

Fair point but it seems that the readership of this forum saw fit not to steal it

I perhaps naively considered parking costing over £10 per day would be secure....

Ade

 

[Mr Jadefox]

If you're worried about leaving it unused for a few weeks, just park it with one of those Valet Parking companies. They'll end up driving it every day for you!

 

[MrT]

Back from our quick tour of Indonesia.

Car started first time, (of course) found a nice corner spot next to the bus stop, relatively rapid progress through the morning rush hour back to the flat and now back at work...

Nice to drive the CE again after pootling about on shocking roads in various Jap mobiles.

Astonishing how much crap falls out of the sky, the car is filthy and was cleaned before parking up 3 weeks ago.

Ade

Where did you think the waste from the airplane toilets goes?