leave RX-8 sitting for 3 months...advice?

[plas87]

So, I am planning to travel for around 3 months and coincidentally my insurance just lapsed a new days ago. I thought now is the time to register my car SORN and I can renew the insurance when I come back from my travels. Besides removing the battery is there any other advice before leaving an RX-8 to sit for a long period of time? I can get someone to turn it on and leave it to idle for 20 minutes until the engine is warmed up and rev it a little but that's pretty much all I could do while I am away.

[Dazza44]

Wouldn't start car and just leave it idling at all,leave the handbrake of if car going be sitting for 3 months to.

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[plas87]

Why is it bad if you let the engine idle? Stationary rotor bearings? So best thing just disconnecting the battery and leave it?

[New Duke]

Can you leave the battery connected but hooked up to a battery tenderer? Admittedly that's easier if it'll be in a garage.

Some people also use ramps (like these:https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00FMT7SRC/ ... cDbKVE1AKN) to prevent tyre damage. 3 months doesn't seem long enough for that to me though. Some people here routinely keep their RX8 stored over winter.

Why is it bad if you let the engine idle? Stationary rotor bearings? So best thing just disconnecting the battery and leave it?

Cold idling does the most damage to the engine. It takes about 30 minutes for a cold RX8 to get up to temp when idling, regardless of what the coolant gauge says. There's a fun YouTube video demonstrating it. That's why people suggest to get in the car and drive it straight away when the engine is cold.

So anybody being kind and turning it over for you while you're away is likely doing more harm than good.

[bigpete8]

If its too be left outside..
Solar battery conditioner.

[warpc0il]

Leave battery connected as long periods of disconnection can cause problems with the power steering.

A battery conditioner (solar or mains) to keep charge and, if somewhere secure enough, disable internal alarm (4th button on fob) to reduce residual current.

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[goodeggbob]

if it can be done securely,leave the windows cracked open a bit,even if inside. a bit of ventilation always helps with condensation, which,if left,can rot your car from inside out.

[Rudolph]

Store my REX-8 HP each winter during 5 months (1st Dec. - 1st May) in the barn of a cattle farmer in my village.
I take the battery out and connect it at home to a trickle charger for 5 months.
Further Increase the tire pressure to 44-50 psi(3,0-3,5 bar) and lift the wipers; nothing more during 5 months.
On the 1st of May I reconnect the battery and the car starts at the first attempt, within 1-2 seconds........really! (I premix heavily 1 0z/Gallon)
Then only relearning the steering angle, etc, etc and everything is fine for the next 7 months.
And that since 10 years already.

[SteveTroman]

I think you still have to have it insured now. Maybe wise to ask you're company.

[dac69er]

i just pump the tires up to around 45psi and leave the windows cracked (it is inside though). handbrake is left off and i remove the battery. i also leave one of those dehumidifier pots in the car (but this probably isnt as important over the summer for only 3 months)

every month or 2 i roll the car forward or backward a bit so its not always sitting on the same place on the tires for a very prolonged period.

i took it out last weekend and it started and ran perfectly


if the car is not on the road you dont need to insure it. just make sure you sorn it as questions may be asked as to why you have tax but no insurance (unlikely, but you never know).

[qwakers]

google continuous insurance enforcement. if its taxed, it must be insured. so yes, if you pause or cancel the insurance, you must sorn it.

[PeteH]

Sorry for the thread derail, but this has peaked my interest...

Well that's interesting. The .Gov.uk site says two potentially contradictory things:

"You must have motor insurance for your vehicle if you use it on roads and in public places."

and:
"You do not need to insure your vehicle if it is kept off the road and declared as off the road (SORN). This rule is called ‘continuous insurance enforcement’."

I'm no lawyer, but I think there is some slight of hand here... The key (it seems to me) is the use of the word "must" in the first statement, and the use of the words "do not need" in the second. If the second statement said "You must insure your vehicle if it is kept off the road and not declared as off the road (SORN)", then it would be clear that all non-SORNed cars must be insured. But it doesn't say that.

I think this would be an interesting legal case. It seems to me that the actual law is that a vehicle used on roads and in public places must be insured. But I'm guessing that, to make enforcement easier, they reserve the right to try to prosecute registered keepers of any vehicle which is uninsured and not SORNed (presuming it has been used on the road). My guess is that if you can show that your uninsured car has not been used on the road (I don't know how you do that), then you can prove that you haven't actually broken the law, and the prosecution would fail.

Of course, you'd be daft to deliberately tax a car then keep it off the road. Might as well just SORN it. But policies like the 'continuous insurance enforcement' policy are far too Big Brother for my liking.....

[goodeggbob]

in my experience,unless you intend keeping the vehicle off the road,ie sorned for any great length of time,say 4 mths or more,it would pay to keep the insurance valid as you would still be insured against theft and accidental damage while its parked up,presumably on private land.
you would only need to cancel and restart insurance once to have spent more on charges and admin fees than by leaving it to run on unbroken.
obviously ,if kept on anything other than private property,it would need to be fully legal ie taxed,insured and mot'd.

[stewartm]

When I bought the current 8 I switched the insurance from the old one. There was still several months tax on the old one. My plan was to leave it like that and then take out short term cover to deal with any outings when selling it (Sky were doing some deal). A couple of weeks later I got a letter from the DVLA = Insure it or SORN it or we are going to do you.

[Dazza44]

A vehicle has to be insured and taxed if kept on any public road.
If it is kept on private property/land, it is not legally required to be insured, but does require to be signed otherwise it would be assumed it is being kept on.piblic highways.

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[stewartm]

... but does require to be signed otherwise it would be assumed it is being kept on.piblic highways.

Yep and that is the annoying bit. Presumed guilt in a country with a legal system supposedly founded on the principle of presumption of innocence. The car never left private property other than on the back of a recovery truck whilst uninsured.

[Dazza44]

I think as u say they assume if a car is not sorned then it must be on a highway as why would one not sorn as it's free and u can just 're tax as and when u want .

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[warpc0il]

IIRC You can only tax for whole calender months, so it costs you a whole months tax even if there's only a couple of days left that month when you want to re-start the tax.

<rant>Every time a used car gets sold the gov'ment gets that months road tax paid twice, as it immediately cancels the remaining tax for the seller and the buyer has to pay for tax back from the beginning of the month <rant>

[Dazza44]

IIRC You can only tax for whole calender months

<rant>Every time a used car gets sold the gov'ment gets that months road tax paid twice, as it immediately cancels the remaining tax for the seller and the buyer has to pay for tax back from the beginning of the month <rant>

Wouldn't even like to hazard a guess as to what they make a year on that

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[Dazza44]

IIRC You can only tax for whole calender months

<rant>Every time a used car gets sold the gov'ment gets that months road tax paid twice, as it immediately cancels the remaining tax for the seller and the buyer has to pay for tax back from the beginning of the month <rant>

Wouldn't even like to hazard a guess as to what they make a year on that

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I suppose an answer could be buy a car on the first of the month .

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[Ollie]

Its absolute money grabbing. There was nothing wrong with the old system where the trax was transferrable. But the government decided it wasn't making them enough money so decided they'd double dip on the used car market.