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In southern Europe (latitude 40-45°) parking cars in garages is common, or at least many houses have garages for that. Old cars parked outside can be easily recognised due to ruined paint and rubbers.

In the Netherlands (latitude 50-54°, similar to Vancouver also concerning weather) apparently that is way less common. Even people owning garages don't use them for parking.

What are the long term (15-25 years) effects of parking outside in a very humid environment? (75-90% all the year long)

I list the ones I can think of:

  • ice on windscreen in winter
  • bird droppings

Overall rusting is probably equivalent, since garages have often vents.

I don't know whether paint ages significantly or not at 50-54°N, for sure in 20 years it does in southern Europe.

FarO
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5 Answers5

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I live in the Netherlands.

  • Ice on the windows is an issue, but can be mitigated. And we don't have too many days where temperature is below zero.
  • To avoid bird droppings, don't park under a tree.
  • With modern cars, rust isn't an issue, unless you live right by the coast (close enough that the air contains salt spray).
  • Paint fade happens, but only for colors sensitive to fading (mostly red), and is noticeable mostly in cars at least 10 years old.
  • Rubber can degrade, but again is only seen on old cars.
Community
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Hobbes
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The areas exposed to the sun are the most vulnerable. Paint, rubber trim and moldings, and the interior are the most vulnerable.

  • Keeping the car clean and waxed will prevent virtually all paint fading.
  • A windshield sunshade solves the interior problem.
  • Keeping the rubber moldings like new is a bit harder, but there are rubber dressings you can apply.

The colder climate is to your benefit as it's slightly easier on rubber parts, but the UV rays from the sun are your #1 enemy.

Nick
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I think the real danger is a tree growing up through your vehicle. Tree sap can be washed off, and a car can be repainted, but it's much more work if a tree grows through your car. Here's some pictures of the devastation that can cause to a vehicle...

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cory
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I live in the Netherlands, and i have a '76 Triumph TR7. It was imported to NL in '79, and it was stored outside most of its life until 2005. It was then stored under a carport until 3 years ago, when i started the renovation of the TR7.

I have resprayed the car, but the paint(Bright red!) was still rather nice. No blisters or faded areas were present. The paint as a whole was a little bit faded, but I only resprayed it because I could get it done for a small price.

Most of the rubbers, including the tyres, were still pretty nice. The rear glass rubber, the door rubbers, the rubbers around the head lights.. The suspension rubbers even felt like new. All thin rubber seals were dried and cracked though, as were the rubber gaiters of the steering rack and the shockabsorbers. The harder pieces of rubber to seal the side windows were also cracked.

The interior is still intact and looks quite nice. It's not as pitch-black as it used to be, but it's still fine. The interior is a combination of synthetic wool-like carpet, skai/leatherette, and cotton(seats). The skai lost it's stretchiness a bit but i reused it. The cotton of the seats was still really fine.

The things that got really ugly and broke, were everything made from foam(-rubber), and plastic. The foamrubber got brittle and had cracked down, the parts that didn't see sunlight had aged just as hard as the parts that did.

All the black plastic was faded. The bumpers, dashboard, and the interior were gray in an ugly way after all those years. I couldn't retouch them with wax, spray or anything else. They're still tough though, but they don't look so nice anymore.

Rust was present in hollow spaces, but I don't think it would have been really better if the car was stored inside. It's quite humid here. Parking your car in a grarage keeps it from looking old sooner, but it doesn't affect the quality that much i think. And believe me, Triumph wasn't really known for their outstanding build quality, especially not the TR7.

I hope this input is of some use for you. Are you planning to move to the NL?

Bart
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Couple of items that have not been mentioned yet.

  • Tree sap
  • Leaves in the vents
  • Interior plastic (dashboards in particular) can warp and crack
  • Animal damage or infestation (squirrels like to chew on wires)
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Mobius
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