What problems ( if any) can we expect if our 2yr old Octy 4x4 which spends most of each year parked up in the secure apartments underground city garage. ??? 1st year we did 40,000 km on business 98% motorway, that was OK, now 2nd year 15,000km covered, 98% motorway but on only 12 long trips out with 12 returns as round trip was around 1000+km, that means it left the garage on only 12+ times yr !!! Only other time out is on a very odd weekend to a large park for our dog. round trip 10km max, and on all occasions we keep the air conditioning working and always run with lights on. City living with all the transports one needs at hand, has presented us this dilemma, but who knows what next year will bring, so car has to be available.Thanks in advance .

Should not cause any real problems.

Rusting brakes are a possibility, if possible leave the handbrake off but may be ok in garage. Other issue I would have is flat battery so a trickle charger woild be recommended if feasible.

Hi

Thank you Simonshiel for your quick reply, doesn't the red flashing door lock light help to slowly run battery down, which I understand is more preferable than no discharge at all. Then firing up even after 3 weeks would replace that charge and keep battery tip top , or am I mistaken. As for brakes I take your point, but its warmer in the garage than outside so should be Ok

Standard car batteries like to be kept full, when you start a car a large amount of power is taken out very quickly and replaced quite quickly by the alternator. Hence I suggest a trickle charger to ensure it is always full as their are a lot of things that drain batteries on cars these days and a gradual drain for 4 weeks then recharge will kill the battery a lot quicker.

There are batteries such as Optima yellow top which dont particuarly mind being discharged but prevention is better than cure.

Ok thank you for that seems Im a bit out of date these days, have a charger if needs must. Thanks.

i reckon leaving the car in gear and the handbrake off is a good idea. My car was left stationary for 4 months when i was last in iraq, and it started first time, brakes sounded horrible though, took a good bit of braking to clean them up.

Many classic car owners who do not use their car for long periods, especially during winter months, safely leave one of these permanently connected to the battery.

http://www.ctek.com/EN-GB/Use-Charger.aspx

Many classic car owners who do not use their car for long periods, especially during winter months, safely leave one of these permanently connected to the battery.

http://www.ctek.com/EN-GB/Use-Charger.aspx

I've got cteck - great bit of kit.

I would have suggested a solar panel, but in an underground car park not a great solution...

i reckon leaving the car in gear and the handbrake off is a good idea. My car was left stationary for 4 months when i was last in iraq, and it started first time, brakes sounded horrible though, took a good bit of braking to clean them up.

4 months ? Was the battery disconnected or on trickle charge or did you just push the button to lock the door and walk away??? If you had vagcom you can put the car in sleep mode which will minumise discharge.

4 months ? Was the battery disconnected or on trickle charge or did you just push the button to lock the door and walk away??? If you had vagcom you can put the car in sleep mode which will minumise discharge.

locked the car and walked away. car was only about 7 months old then though

There has been a thread on this recently---you may have trouble with your clutch slipping or grabbing. Curable by pumping the pedal up to 20 times before firing up.

I've concluded over the years that raising a stored car to take the weight off the suspension can wreck the shocks.

What problems ( if any) can we expect if our 2yr old Octy 4x4 which spends most of each year parked up in the secure apartments underground city garage. ??? 1st year we did 40,000 km on business 98% motorway, that was OK, now 2nd year 15,000km covered, 98% motorway but on only 12 long trips out with 12 returns as round trip was around 1000+km, that means it left the garage on only 12+ times yr !!! Only other time out is on a very odd weekend to a large park for our dog. round trip 10km max, and on all occasions we keep the air conditioning working and always run with lights on. City living with all the transports one needs at hand, has presented us this dilemma, but who knows what next year will bring, so car has to be available.Thanks in advance .

I'd be tempted to disconnect the battery if you know you won't use it for more than 4 weeks. If you use it for a decent amount every 4 weeks it should be ok or *ensuring* it gets used at least every 4 weeks. Depending on conditions there's a tendency for condensate to get into the engine and oil (unless you're in a heated and humidity controlled storage place) compared to normal running, where moisture gets driven off etc. so each use after a long idle period is a 'sort of' running in for the first part.. There'll probably be a bit more engine wear than optimum and better keeping lube changes to the shorter recommended times.

I would like to thank all of you for your very helpful replies !! I used to run diesel engines on yachts for well over 20 yrs and was always told to " work the batteries" let them discharge on a trickle when boat not in full use !!! seldom run engine without a full load ( e.g ) prop turning .This was to stop polishing the bores, and as far as the batteries were concerned this was usually 24volt worth 2x12 capacity domestic + start, we would expect a heavy duty battery to last 3-4 yrs without a problem. Now it seems for a car its different they seem to need to be "full or topped up to max always. I can only presume its the electronics or computers within that requires this to be done. Brakes and clutch grabbing I can understand, so we will look out for this problem, Use of chargers within the garage would be a non starter as no points nr to our park space, also fire regs would probably make that a non starter , It seems that our dog is going to be the biggest winner !!! we will have to take the car out to the large dog park its 10km round trip through city traffic more often. Or find a park further a field , and try to do that at least every 2weeks or less, that should help don't you think ?? then the 1000km trip once a month or so should keep it all in order.

Alternately, take it for a good run around every now and then?

noisy startup, cam oil starvation until oil pressure is established. When an engine is stood for longer periods, the oil in the head will make its way back down to the sump.