Settling In. Or Not.

[irishpaddy]

Not to hijack the thread
Normally i have the car washed and cleaned ......place a number of those dehumidifiers in the car ......put cover over it and hope for the best while i am gone .....i try to get back every 3 or 4 months ......i have a 2018 ford expedition ....is there something else i should do ?

 

[mobrouser]

So glad to read that you're finally back in RD.

 

[Buffness]

Not to hijack the thread
Normally i have the car washed and cleaned ......place a number of those dehumidifiers in the car ......put cover over it and hope for the best while i am gone .....i try to get back every 3 or 4 months ......i have a 2018 ford expedition ....is there something else i should do ?

Don’t know about other cars …but I’m guessing that there are so many variables to consider …such as age…condition…and where you keep the car…i.e. in a garage ..or outside with a cover ….

What works for us when storing the car for long periods in DR are ….

1. Never ask BMW in PC or SD because they will blame you for “not driving the car enough…” if anything goes wrong …🤔…and then try to sell you expensive extras like new $900 imported batteries 🤬….and trickle chargers etc …….

2. Join and get tips from “….(insert the make of your car here ) …owners group /forum”. Other owners with the same car as yours usually have the best “ been there done that “ tips for storing your car.

3. One poster in our BMW owners forum said that leaving your latest model BMW is like leaving your PC switched on and running….it won’t just start when you come back after a month or longer….so he posted some really good tips on what do to when storing…...ranging from spark plugs…handbrakes …battery…computer …and especially in DR …petrol , oil and coolant…including jacking up the car a little …or just be ready to fork out for new (rather expensive) tires when you come back.

4. Miesposa ignores all of the above and just takes the car to la suegra’s house …she pays one of the workers 500 pesos to take the car for a spin and wash once or twice a week . Job done ✔️. The Dominican approach works better if you know the right people or if you have good neighbors .

 

[AlterEgo]

Not to hijack the thread
Normally i have the car washed and cleaned ......place a number of those dehumidifiers in the car ......put cover over it and hope for the best while i am gone .....i try to get back every 3 or 4 months ......i have a 2018 ford expedition ....is there something else i should do ?

That’s exactly what we do. We had 4 of those dehumidifiers in car. The only other thing we always do is remove the battery. At least disconnect both terminals.

 

[RDKNIGHT]

Our car is a Toyota Venza, we’ve had it here for 11 years (it only has about 45-50,00 miles). We’ve left it every year for 6-8 months. We come back, install the battery, and it starts right up. After a good cleaning inside and out at the car wash, off we went. Covid changed things, and 3 years was a LONG time 😢

your health is more important than car tires. you can replace all the rest

 

[melphis]

Welcome back.
When we parked our car for 6 to 7 months yearly I would fill up the tires to 50psi, add some fuel stabilizer, disconnect the battery and hope for the best.
Most years it started right up but a few times I had to replace the battery. The brakes would creak a bit the first couple stops but overall we had no problems.
When we leave Canada I do the exact same thing. Pumping the tires helps eliminate flat spots.
The worst thing that ever happened here was a rat got under the hood and ate some wires. Time consuming and costly to fix.

 

[bob saunders]

Never off the ground for car storage..... use a tire cradle or Flat Stopper

in the air is bad for the suspension..... witness museums...... all on the ground

How to Prep Your Car for Long-Term Storage | Edmunds

If you let your vehicle sit on the street or in a garage for an extended period, you may return to a dead battery or worse problems. Follow these essential steps and your car will be ready to roll when you return.

www.edmunds.com

 

[lifeisgreat]

Before I leave I always spray wd40 all over rotors and calipers makes a big difference even spray on bushings ,hates squeaks on car..neighbor car sat 8 months seized calipers and pads to rotor..

 

[bob saunders]

How to Prepare a Car for Storage: 9 Steps (with Pictures)

If you plan to store your vehicle for longer than a week, you're going to need to do a few things to get it ready. Otherwise, you're going to have flat tires, a dead battery...and that's just the start of the problems that you'll have. If...

www.wikihow.life

 

[AlterEgo]

The worst thing that ever happened here was a rat got under the hood and ate some wires. Time consuming and costly to fix.

When we got here in 2020, we drove the car for a few weeks before we got around to taking it in for an oil change (we use synthetic in all our cars). We were sitting in the waiting room, and the guy came in to tell us there was a rats nest under there! He removed it, and we thanked our lucky stars they didn’t chomp on any wires.

Which reminds me. We also put either mothballs or those smelly cubes (name escapes me) on the garage floor and around inside the engine compartment (sitting on air filter and any other similar surfaces). I also spread a box of dryer sheets all around the interior and several in engine compartment.

 

[william webster]

Moth balls work well

 

[carlos]

When we got here in 2020, we drove the car for a few weeks before we got around to taking it in for an oil change (we use synthetic in all our cars). We were sitting in the waiting room, and the guy came in to tell us there was a rats nest under there! He removed it, and we thanked our lucky stars they didn’t chomp on any wires.

Which reminds me. We also put either mothballs or those smelly cubes (name escapes me) on the garage floor and around inside the engine compartment (sitting on air filter and any other similar surfaces). I also spread a box of dryer sheets all around the interior and several in engine compartment.

Are the smelly cubes the camphor cubes/blocks?

 

[AlterEgo]

Are the smelly cubes the camphor cubes/blocks?

YES! I just came back to say that! Thanks 😊

 

[XTraveller]

Where one can buy fuel/gas stabilizer? Santo Domingo or San Pedro. What will it be called in Spanish?

 

[bob saunders]

Where one can buy fuel/gas stabilizer? Santo Domingo or San Pedro. What will it be called in Spanish?

At most gas stations or many of the auto repair/parts places. estabilizador del gas

 

[XTraveller]

At most gas stations or many of the auto repair/parts places. estabilizador del gas

Thank you

 

[josh2203]

That’s exactly what we do. We had 4 of those dehumidifiers in car. The only other thing we always do is remove the battery. At least disconnect both terminals.

We left last September for Europe due to work and school (our elder needs to start thinking what he wants to do, so Europe is better equipped for that...), and left the car in a garage just as you did. I did careful research on this prior, and as it has been mentioned on this thread as well, some say it's better to lift the tires off the ground, but others say that the suspension is not designed to be in the air, so that might get damaged. So we did not lift up the car, just pressurized the tires properly and I'm prepared to replace any when we go on vacation to POP... I have only ever purchased used tires anyway, so the cost factor is not that huge...

We also put a whole box of dehumidifiers and made sure the gas tank was properly filled with stabilizer. We also applied this fogging oil to help with engine storage. Regardless, better to have it driven every now and then.

 

[RDKNIGHT]

Seems to me that you are on the lucky side, after 3 years absence.

There is always, always, something that needs doing in a house in the DR, it seems to me.

that's just not DR but anywhere always something needs to be done..

 

[AlterEgo]

Well things are improving. BIL delivered our car last night, a big relief. Rotors, tires, AC repaired. No clue of the cost yet, BIL paid and wasn’t sure of total. Marbete ready to go on windshield (we also have 2021 & 2022, do we toss those or add them to the line of stickers?)

Water pump is working! All the D batteries we left last trip are kaput, so haven’t used the on demand water heater yet 🤞🏻

Did a few loads of laundry today, and tested out the new and newly connected propane dryer, success!

Still opening tanques and separating baseball equipment and clothes into some semblance of order. Boy next door climbed up the wall between our properties and asked Mr AE for a metal bat. He said “Of course”, then the boy said he had a baby goat to give us in exchange 😊. Mr AE told him we don’t know how to take care of goats and he should keep it. Touched our hearts.

No rush on replacing the batteries, electric rarely goes off. If it does, it’s back in 5-10 minutes.

The rest is regular maintenance: kitchen faucet is leaking, window bars need painting, etc. We’ll get to the beach one of these days.

 

[JD Jones]

You're going to be emptying tanks for days... ha ha

How do the tires look?