What to do with a car on extended absence?
Posted: Thu Apr 12, 2007 1:17 pm
It's not confirmed yet, but Sandy and I may be moving to Taiwan. Right now, we're in the stage of figuring out how much things will cost, the technical details (it is shockingly complicated), and stuff like this. The company that wants me over there will relo me, but they don't ship cars. I've also heard some bad things about cars over there (like vandalism is very common on "nice" cars), and horror stories about traffic conditions and fatalities.
This has me thinking that it might be best to either sell the car or store it here. This bothers me because storage is always bad for a car (my Z just went into the shop after seven years of storage, so I'm dealing with it firsthand right now), and they can get stolen or damaged right from storage.
I can't sell the car because we're both totally in love with it and also because I think we're right about break-even on it right now.
Ideally, the way to "store" the car here would be for somebody to take possession of it (or responsibility for it) while we're gone (which could be as long as 2-3 years), and just drive it enough that it goes through a tank of gas every couple months. This way it gets its oil changed, the gas doesn't go bad, the rubber stays good, etc. But, it's kind of a big "favor" to ask of a friend.
I've never heard of anyone doing that. Its almost like I want to lease the car to somebody I know, so that they can drive it and enjoy it while we're gone.
Also, the way the 08's look makes me really not want to buy a new one. I figure (like a couple others did) that I got in right before they got hit with the ugly stick.
So, thoughts? Are there services that do this sort of thing?
This has me thinking that it might be best to either sell the car or store it here. This bothers me because storage is always bad for a car (my Z just went into the shop after seven years of storage, so I'm dealing with it firsthand right now), and they can get stolen or damaged right from storage.
I can't sell the car because we're both totally in love with it and also because I think we're right about break-even on it right now.
Ideally, the way to "store" the car here would be for somebody to take possession of it (or responsibility for it) while we're gone (which could be as long as 2-3 years), and just drive it enough that it goes through a tank of gas every couple months. This way it gets its oil changed, the gas doesn't go bad, the rubber stays good, etc. But, it's kind of a big "favor" to ask of a friend.
I've never heard of anyone doing that. Its almost like I want to lease the car to somebody I know, so that they can drive it and enjoy it while we're gone.
Also, the way the 08's look makes me really not want to buy a new one. I figure (like a couple others did) that I got in right before they got hit with the ugly stick.
So, thoughts? Are there services that do this sort of thing?