Learn me outdoor winter car storage

In a few days I will have a new 2012 WRX. I now live in the soon to frozen tundra called Minnesota and couldn't torture my Mazdaspeed Miata with a 30 mile each commute in the snow. Figured I could buy a hardtop and a set of snow tires and have at or just buy another car. Long story short, my winter beater plan turned into a brand new WRX. I do not have the garage space for 4 vehicles and the Mini is staying inside. I also want to keep the daily drivers inside. That leaves the miata outside. I'm thinking of one of those tentlike garage type buildings behind the house under the deck and parking the Miata in it till spring. Another choice is some super beefy car cover and leave it in the driveway. I'm not looking to pay to store it somewhere or buy a lift. Thoughts?

Miata just has factory soft top.

Kinda missed the boat on the whole "winter beater" thing, ehh?

I like the tentlike garage thing idea.

Osterkraut wrote: Kinda missed the boat on the whole "winter beater" thing, ehh?

Winter beater and new garage < 2012 WRX

I have a similar problem with my E30 this year. Right now, the only viable plan is to put it in my back yard on 2x12 runners (to keep it from sinking into the lawn) with a all-weather cover. I have some extra 3/4" PT plywood and may put down as well to keep something between the rust-free floor and the wet ground.

I'm hoping to pick up this temp. shelter when the budget allows:

http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200411388_200411388

Not one of the cheaper shelters, but it has a more defined peak for shedding snow and appears to be just wide enough that I can get the E30 and my crusty 1800ES in side-by-side.

More seriously though, I'd give these guys a call to see how they'd handle outdoor storage: http://www.autosportcatalog.com/index.cfm?fa=p&pid=3962&sc=58446&adpos=1t1&creative=1045192982&gclid=COuXk72HnawCFY5Y7AodCG19FA

trucke wrote:

Osterkraut wrote: Kinda missed the boat on the whole "winter beater" thing, ehh?

Winter beater and new garage < 2012 WRX

Funny but true.

There is something stressful about owning a winter beater. Walking to your beater after being in class or work all day with the wind whipping you in the face only to not be able to start your beater in sub zero temperatures can suck...or breaking down on the side of the road during a snow storm...

That said i'd do the winter beater thing only because I HATE rust and salt and sand is good at making lots of it!

I store my Miata outside with a Mazda cover. I make sure to get as much snow off it during the winter because the aluminum hood and soft top aren't made to hold a lot of weight. The brakes are rusty and the engine is not happy with me in the spring but the M3 stays inside and the wife gets the other garage spot so it is the only place to keep her. Congrats on the WRX, make sure you bring it to the car wash at least a few times a month. My dad washes his cars weekly and he keeps all of them for 200k+ miles without rust.

I used a tent garage for this exact purpose. I picked it up at Sam's Club a few years back, and it was around $240. It was a King Canopy 20X10 model, and the frame was very well made. The cover held up well for about 5 years, and then this year it deteriorated rapidly.

My father-in-law helped me to build a platform out of 3/4" pressure-treated plywood, and we used some 4X4s for extra support in the key jacking points. The cost of the platform was somewhere around $300, but it gave me a level surface to work on our vehicles. In addition, I screwed down the feet of the tent to the platform. It survived heavy winds, heavy snow loads (although I tried to brush snow off when possible), and generally was a very good temporary garage for 5 years.

The only downside is that after 5 years of direct sun, sub-freezing temps, and hot summers, the cover disintegrated this year. The cost of a replacement cover was higher than the cost of a new garage, so you're almost better off buying a new one every 5 years. In my case, we're looking to move soon, so I just took the garage down (and will do the same to the platform during the winter).

I will say that during the winter last year, I saw a ton of collapsed tent garages. I'm not sure what all the issues were, but I saw tubing that was tiny (mine was 2" diameter tubing all around), and I'm guessing they just weren't that well made. In addition, if the feet of the garage aren't anchored into something solid, it's strength is going to be suspect. So, that's a risk that you need to consider when choosing a tent garage.

Overall, for the $550 I had into it, I got 5 years of excellent use out of it.

Another option that I came across was this one: http://www.costco.com/Browse/Product.aspx?Prodid=11523335&whse=BC&Ne=4000000&eCat=BC|50126&N=4047221&Mo=18&No=0&Nr=P_CatalogName:BC&cat=49275&Ns=P_Price|1||P_SignDesc1&lang=en-US&Sp=C&topnav=

I put up a Lifetime 8X10 shed last year and have been very impressed. That model seems like a step between the platform/tent garage I had and one of the shed-type garages available out there like this one (they typically run about $7-8K for a base model):

http://www.thebarnyardstore.com/sheds-and-single-bay-garages/single-bay-garages

Hope that helps!

I think I could build the tentlike structure under my deck to minimize snow load.

I agree that a brand new car is an expensive a rapidly depreciating winter beater, but it is what is is. Can't build anything permanent as the house is a rental.

My only advice if you go "temporary garage" is that you often get what you pay for -- and anchor, anchor, anchor. I see many that are not where they were erected. Often with a scratched and damaged car left behind.

The WRX will be out in the weather, just leave it out there. 2012 WRX: I assume you got seat heaters, yeah? Leave the Miata in the garage. Wind will blow a car cover around enough to abrade your paint no matter what you do. Convertibles leak. Animals will seek shelter in all the nooks and crannies.

David

Other than the animals, the worst part of winter car storage for me was parking on top of dirt. Sure, there was a thin layer of gravel over it, but I think not being on a "dry" surface and having a cover on contributed to some rocker rust on my Miata. The cover may have trapped moisture against the car and the dirt may have contributed extra moisture to the equation. Also, having snow drift right up against the covered car was probably not a help...

So: don't park on dirt, shovel the snow off the top and away from the sides/bottom.

Don't park it on grass, dirt, etc. The moisture comes up and rusts the chassis. If you have to do that then lay a cheap tarp down and drive the car on to it.

I keep the GT6 in a shed in the backyard, and the e30 project is taking up one half of my garage. My wife's truck takes up the other half. That leaves my 2009 WRX (our newest car) sitting outside in the driveway.

It's fine. Just park your DD in the driveway. It's not gonna get rusty just sitting there! Plus you don't have to open the garage and let all the heat out when its 20 degrees outside.

Also you don't want to be warming your daily driver up in the garage. When it's really cold, you can let it warm up outside.

That, and brushing snow off builds character ;)

another thing to think about: any car that you're not driving that you leave outside is just gonna get covered with leaves, snow, ice and you'll just leave it that way until the spring. you will. we all do.

But with your DD in the driveway, anything that is "on" it you'll get off as soon as you need to go to work. No worries. The crap from the highways is way worse than anything your new car is going to get sitting in your driveway.

The thing about leaving a daily driver outside in Minnesota is it may not want to start on those minus 30F mornings...even in an unheated garage it will stay warmer than outside, and sometimes that makes all the difference between getting to work on time or having to call AAA. Also, having to scrape the windows every morning is a drag.

As far as warming up the daily driver, it's best to just let it run for 30 seconds or a minute or so, and then go (but drive easy for the first mile or two)...leaving it to idle in the driveway for any length of time isn't the best way.

I've kept cars outdoors over the winter with no ill effects. Snow piles up on them, but it's not going to hurt anything. Around here for the most part, once it gets below freezing it stays that way until spring, so you don't have to worry as much about freeze/thaw cycles.

However, I would be cautious about leaving a convertible outdoors. At the very least I'd make to keep the snow cleaned off the top.

Want the WRX inside so I can eliminate scraping and brushing it off every morning.

Maybe I can convince the wife to park the van out in the driveway.

irish44j wrote: That, and brushing snow off builds character ;)

Sounds good. When it snows you can come to my house and build yourself some more character... One reason I kick myself for buying my E30 in the first place is that I don't have a large enough garage to store it. My garage is long enough to fit a Spitfire and my TDI nose-tail, but the E30 is too long to fit with the TDI.

Few things piss me off more in the morning more than scraping ice off my car when I have a garage. It's bad enough the TDi was outside all of last year because the E30 was laid up on the lift with a broken rocker arm all winter. Eff that. The E30 can rust before I'll put up with scraping for another year. If somebody doesn't like it, they can buy the car from me.

Search Sam's Club for Canopies. Lot's of good options, but considering your snow, I would want full coverage to the ground, and I would reinforce that sucker as well.

T.J. wrote: I'm thinking of one of those tentlike garage type buildings behind the house under the deck

If it will fit under the deck, you're already 75% of the way towards having a sturdy structure to protect it from the elements...I'd think about a getting a decent quality blue tarp and fastening it to the underside of the deck to create a temporary garage. Use another tarp underneath the car to protect the underside of the car from any moisture rising from the ground, as long as it can be sloped so moisture won't collect on top of the tarp.

Actually if they use salt in your area then leaving your DD in the driveway is the best idea. Putting it in a warm garage lets the moisture and salt activate. Leave it outside and the salt can't work because its too cold through much of the winter.

My DD Ford Explorer starts with no plug-in all the time 5W30 Synthetic and away we go.

Buddy of mine stores his FB outside in the winter. He parks it on some boards so it doesn't sink into the mud, car covers it, and wraps it in blue tarp. Works like a charm. Alternatively, if you feel like payin' a few bones, I know for a fact that the State Fair grounds in St. Paul offer indoor storage. I was looking into it for my ms3 before plans changed and I was allowed to keep my garage space.

I stored my Mustang outside for a few winters. Here is what I would do in your case.

1) A good car cover, because you have a convertible, I would add clearing snow off the miata to your normal driveway clearing efforts.

2) Get big garbage bags and put over the wheel+tire. why? well it helps a bit with tire exposure to UV that makes it hard, but more that it keeps the rotors dry. I put bags over the wheels on my mustang, no rotor rust!

3) If you miata rides on soft sporty tires, you might want to get something in the used, crappy, round, black, and holds air catagory. why? Flatspots SUCK!

4) mothballs inside the car for mice

5) steel wool in tailpipe / engine air inlet for rodents! learned this one after clearing acorns out of tailpipes of my mustang.

6) disconect battery / full tank / stabil / wax before covering/ etc.

honestly, I think a shelter is more trouble then its probably worth.

Ian F wrote:

irish44j wrote: That, and brushing snow off builds character ;)

Sounds good. When it snows you can come to my house and build yourself some more character... One reason I kick myself for buying my E30 in the first place is that I don't have a large enough garage to store it. My garage is long enough to fit a Spitfire and my TDI nose-tail, but the E30 is too long to fit with the TDI. Few things piss me off more in the morning more than scraping ice off my car when I have a garage. It's bad enough the TDi was outside all of last year because the E30 was laid up on the lift with a broken rocker arm all winter. Eff that. The E30 can rust before I'll put up with scraping for another year. If somebody doesn't like it, they can buy the car from me.

calm down.... the "wink" icon means "I'm kidding" here on the internet.

btw, the windshield wiper de-icers on the WRX work great, in case you care.

Apexcarver wrote: 5) steel wool in tailpipe / engine air inlet for rodents! learned this one after clearing acorns out of tailpipes of my mustang.

Other option is to use cut soda bottles or cans. Red Bull cans with the tops cut off fit perfectly over the tips of the GT6 exhaust, which is "average" diameter I'd say.