How to Store Your Mini

If you own a Mini that you only take out for light driving and special occasions, there is still a little preventative maintenance that you need to do to maintain it. These vehicles are designed for driving, after all, so it’s important to put a few preparations in place to make sure that they’re ready when you are.

Clean Your Mini Before Storage

The first thing that you want to do after you drive your Mini into your garage is to clean it properly. Even though you’re in a fairly controlled environment now, you’ve just driven it in from outside, so you have outside moisture and dirt that needs to be dealt with right away.

Cleaning the exterior from the top to the bottom is a good first step, but some clear coat after that can help to keep rust at bay and the exterior is pretty much done.

After that, go inside and remove any trash and be sure to vacuum up any crumbs that ants or other insects might decide to munch on, and add an air freshener for good measure. That way, when you’re ready to use your Mini again, it’s going to look and smell like new!

Check Tire Pressure Regularly

Your average Mini Cooper weighs anywhere between 2700 and 4000 pounds, give or take, and all of that weight is naturally going to be resting on your tires. That’s a lot to ask of them and while they can certainly hold your vehicle, air pressure is slowly going to be reduced over time and you need to compensate for that.

Check your manual for the recommended air pressure and invest in a pressure gauge – they’re cheap and a must-have item for any vehicle owner. This will let you see the current pressure and you can make sure that it stays at the recommended PSI.

Don’t overfill it – You don’t want to exceed the maximum in anticipation of losing air over time. Just stick to the recommended pressure and maintain it.

Don’t Forget Oil And Other Fluids

If your vehicle is going to be stationary for a while, then you need to top up your fluids and it’s a good idea to change the oil out as well. You’ll want to be thorough, so here are some examples of what you might change in advance of storage:

• Power steering fluid
• Brake fluid
• Coolant
• Transmission fluid
• Antifreeze
• Windshield wiper fluid

After you’ve changed the oil and topped off these fluids, don’t simply leave your vehicle parked. It’s a better strategy to take your car for a short drive. This will help to circulate those fluids so that your car will be good and ready when it’s time to get it back out of storage and take it on the road!

Mind Your Battery

While your car is stored, your battery is still going to be draining. This is especially the case if you have extra features such as a car alarm that need to be running, but even without them there is going to be a small degree of drainage over time.

You can combat this by investing in a charger that will stop charging when your battery reaches full capacity and simply use it once a month to make sure that your battery always has a full charge for when you need it.

While a charger that shuts itself off may cost a little more, it will save you a lot of time, as you can simply attach it to the terminals one night and just unhook it in the morning. That said, if your charger doesn’t have this feature, you can still use it – you’re just going to need to spend extra time monitoring it to avoid overcharging.

Trust Your Mini to Milestone Motors

Today we’ve talked about how to take care of your Mini if you’re not using it very often and as you can see, it’s really a piece of cake! You’ll want to clean it beforehand both inside and out, monitor your sitting tire pressure, change the oil and top off other fluids, and keep your battery fully charged and ready.

At Milestone Motors, we know all about Minis, as we specialize in these, as well as other European imports such as Audi, BMW, and Mercedes. That means that we can provide you with repair or preventative maintenance for your Mini to make sure that it’s 100% ready to stow away with confidence.

Give us a call with your make and model or simply stop by Milestone Motors today and we can get started. We service Royal Palm Beach, FL, as well as Palm Beach, West Palm Beach, and Wellington and we’re looking forward to earning your business!

* Black Mini Cooper Car image credit goes to: claudiodivizia.