under the elements?

[noise]

Hey guys,

I am moving soon and have an important question about car storage. I am very worried about getting a hosue that has no car port or garage, How bad is leaving your car in the sun and rain? does it make it age noticably quicker? Is a car port much better then leaving it in the open? Does the sun damage in the interior?

any information would be handy.. thanks...

[NJR 34GTT]

Sun and rain most definitely damage the interior and the paint.

Sun dries out leather and also some plastics causing fading, cracking and brittleness.

Rain can carry nastive corrosive chemicals from the atmosphere which will fade and even pit paint. Cities with worse pollution or next to the sea are worse with this.

Unfortunately all cars will suffer to an extent as its not exactly possible to avoid it. Just best to minimise it by keeping your car under cover and cleaning at regular intervals. Sun shades for when parking on hot days are always a good idea (prevents people from seeing any inside goodies too).

Worst comes to worst, maybe look into car covers? No idea how feasible and effective they are as mine is always parked inside at night and undercover during the day.

[SkylineSII]

Dont park your car under trees either thats bad as well. U get all the sap over your windscreen then your wipers dont work properly and u have to polish your windscreen,

Also parking under trees the leaves fall into your skuttle chamber and can cause rust becasue they slowley turn to mud seen it happen a fair bit even saw it so bad on one persons car that the whole front end was rusted out.

[Dr_GTST]

This is probably a bad case but after leaving my car out for a year ( not my choice ) my paint has faded and started oxidising ( too bad to polish out), rust has poped up, lots of shrinking of my r32 dash and trim around the rear quarter windows. The car was parked near the coast so that sea air probably wasnt real good for the car. If you have no choice buy a car cover. Theyre a pain in the arse but well worth it.

[ylwgtr2]

my car lives outside....it holds together well

[lwells]

my car lives outside....it holds together well

Troy: you car is a R34 GT-R isn't it? In which case it will have relatively fresh paint anyway. Its when the clear coat layers start to break down over the years that paint starts to look dull and lifeless.

LW.

[MANWHORE]

buy my carcover, lol. I've used it twice because I wanted to prevent all this shit from happening. THen I got a garage. The kenco one is the most expensive one sold by any shops e.g. autobarn, supercheap, repco, auto one etc.

[predator]

I reckon if you're going to have a nice car, you need a garage. Depends on where you live, but expect multiple breakins and even just shitty little kids keying it, etc.

For about 6 months I had my R33 outside in the QLD sun and the signs were starting to become obvious, although nothing happened to it like the above. 2-3 years like that and I know the paint may have needed attention.

Rain isn't a problem as long as the car doesn't have any leaks.. It's that tiny leak where the water always runs down and always sits somewhere hidden away that causes the probs.. That is where your rust will develop.

I bought a cover from kmart for $70 (just a standard "large" one).. it didn't scratch the paint or anything like that. I would be using that if its going to be outside for weeks at a time. If somebody starts ferretting around the car cover it might be a bit more obvious, its also a tiny extra security precaution.