Morris Minor Owners Club

Good morning all

I have had my Minor for almost a year now and when I bought it I took out a 12 month contract on a garage to keep it in. The garage is dry but has no power, and is about a mile from home. The contract is up for renewal soon and the local council has increased the price to £80 per month. I am considering giving the garage up and keeping the Minor at home on the driveway. In my head, £960 a year is a lot of money to spend to keep the car, when it could potentially be better spent on the car itself (or on other things, if Mrs. cv01jw is reading!).

I guess the short version of my question to you all would be, is £960 a year worth it to keep the car garaged in the dry as opposed to outside on the drive?

Is your Minor a saloon, Traveller or convertible?

Keith - good question, it is a 2 door saloon

I keep my traveller outdoors - had it 5 years (after having the wood replaced as soon as I took ownership) and all seems fine. I just make sure to cover it up whenever prolonged rain is forecast and to renew the oil / fill the joints every summer.

I would suggest it would be fine outside if all of the seals are in good condition and function properly. A leaky windscreen, rear window, boot or bonnet would be pretty intolerable if the car is being kept outside. Perhaps an outdoor cover or one of those pop-up garage tents would also be an option on the driveway.

In financial terms I think the increase in maintanence, potential panel repairs and welding would be less than £960 a year.

Thanks all.

I will check the seals - they look OK (not great though) but I could budget for either new seals or a half cover for the car (or both!) to ensure there are no leaks.

We have a 2001 MX5 convertible which we keep outside. We know that these are prone to rusting and leaking and so we just take suitable measure to mitigate the risk. The underneath is fully Dinitrolled (other rust prevention products are available) and checked every year, all sill, cavities etc. are waxed, the bodywork is kept well waxed to protect it, the coolant is strong enough to cope with low temperatures, all the drain holes are regularly checked, the slightly leaky hood has been replaced, we put dehumidifier bags inside in the winter to reduce condensation and dampness, and we connect the battery to a CTEK charger whenever the car is not being used (although this may not be an option for you). In short, if the car is kept well maintained and you take suitable precautions then you should not have a problem keeping it outside. The main thing is to drive it regularly, even in the winter, although I appreciate this may not a desirable option if the roads have been salted. £960 per year buys a lot of repairs.

I also suspect that being stored a mile away there are occasions when you would like to take the Minor out but can't be bothered?

Keith - your last point is a very good one! The distance to the garage, whilst only a mile, does actually end up being an issue because you cannot just pop outside to work on the car or pop out for a drive easily.

I plan to use the car more over the coming summer, ideally taking it to work once a week (11 miles each way). At the moment my insurance policy is overly prohibitive (something I should have checked when the documents came through, but which I do not think was explained very well over the phone) and states I cannot commute and I cannot keep the car at home overnight - it must be garaged between 10pm and 6am every night.

For £960 you could probably put up a small car port to cover it, which is about the best way to treat a classic that is in frequent use, in my opinion.

I used to have an Austin 7 that was kept in my garage for 22 years (being used as well you understand)
When I sold it and bought my Traveller I had a car port built onto the front of the garage to keep it under, I had to change insurance companies because the one I had been with would not do an agreed value unless it was in a locked garage.

The one I now use is Adrian Flux, who will insure them when stored outside.
I agree that a car port is the perfect solution, it is easy to jump in and go without too much trouble, and being semi outdoors it allows the car to "breathe" rather "sweat" if it were stored in a garage when put away wet.

In winter when the car is used less frequently, I take the extra precaution of using a good quality cover over it as well, this helps keep the layer of dust to a minimum.

My car port cost £1500, so you could pay for that easily with the money saved on garage rent.

Phil

I think for nearly a thousand pounds a year, I would buy a decent car cover also consideration to having the car on you driveway rather than a mile away alows you to play whenever you fancy.

My wife's mk1 mx5 lives outside and is used all winter , we regularly (most weekends) place a dehumidifier inside during the winter, you can buy a small one for less than £100.

I have a moggy in a portable garage as garage prices have gone made, I paid just over £200 from ebay 2 years ago and it is still good, I got from the company below on their Ebay outlet.
https://www.dancovershop.com/uk/product ... s-6.1.aspx

Wow I didn't realise how reasonable these portable garages are, some of these would pay for themselves for less than the yearly garage rental.

I bought a Dancover garage last autumn and thoroughly recommend it. The degree of closure or ventilation can be varied to suit. Best used with a groundsheet.

Can the rear be opened so it is just effectively a tunnel? Thinking of adding one in front of a garage on a driveway.

Yes both ends can be opened or removed altogether.

Thanks for the replies. Unfortunately my driveway is shared with my neighbour and so I cannot easily get a portable garage on it, but it is useful to know they are so affordable.

Just a quick bit of input.
I've kept my Minor outdoors on the driveway for the past three years. No cover, portable garage or carport. The only noticeable deterioration is to some of the chrome which is of lower-quality from overseas sources. The paintwork, which previously suffered damage from condensation under a so-called 'breatheable' car cover hasn't got any worse. Hopefully not going to jinx myself when I say that it usually starts first pull of the starter - second pull in near or sub-zero temperatures.

If it's left out, the elements will undo a lot of the work you do. So yes, just under £20 a week is worth it. How much would the insurance go up by, if the car is left out? Not £960 but it would offset that.

You haven't said why you have no garage where you live. Sometimes, if you have a suitable offroad space, that doesn't lend itself to a conventional garage, there are alternatives, such as https://www.gazebox.net/ .