I almost bought a Dino, my personal choice for the world’s most beautiful car. Before making the jump into Fezza-land, I consulted an independent expert. “There are two kinds of Dinos,” he counseled. “Ones that have been completely restored and ones that need to be completely restored.” After I found a perfectly restored car, the Dino guru pointed out the next hurdle, “Will you drive it every week?” As a father of two small girls with enough work on my plate to keep me busy through several incarnations, I couldn’t hand-on-heart promise to give the Dino a proper weekly workout. “Then plan on regular rebuilds,” he said. I ended up commissioning a resto-mod Jaguar XK120. But point taken. Even modern cars don’t like sitting around doing nothing. AOL Autos warns that all those new cars piling up on lots not selling are devo. In other words, like the rest of us, they aren’t getting any newer. In fact, quite the opposite.
A strange and impressive sight currently greets drivers zooming over the Vincent Thomas span bridge across the sprawling California ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. Thousands of imported cars — about 245 acres to be precise — are parked in a huge lot amid the port’s heavy industrial machinery that are testament to a glut in car inventories as consumers cut back spending in a slowing economy…
Ken Lavacot, of 2carpros.com, says cars that sit on a lot for too long can develop a variety of problems a consumer should look out for. He recommends checking the battery for leakage, and says that hoses and other componentry including belts and intake books that are vulnerable to “natural decomposure” should also be checked.
A full fuel system flush should also be undertaken to clean out “bad fuel that can gum up and clog the injectors,” and Lavacot also recommends a full replacement of air, oil and cabin filters, and engine oil and coolant.
How much was the zero mile Chrysler Crossfire again?
Seals and gasoline are the only things that are going to significantly deteriorate from sitting around for a year or two. The seals are the potential biggie, though I wouldn’t worry too much about it if I were getting a new car from last year at a used car price.
Many dealerships start and run vehicles on their lot intermittently. There’s not much that can go wrong. AOL Autos is mistaken.
Letting batteries drain completely flat surely doesn’t help their overall lifetimes. I see a number of premature battery failures in the futures of “new” car owners.
Flushing the coolant just because it sat for 6-12 months is a pretty extreme measure with modern coolants.
I’ve been wondering what the car makers are planning to do with inventory they can’t sell. I assume those acres of Mercedes Benzs are all 2009’s. What happens when the 2010 models start coming out? Will they (or can they) rebadge them as 2010’s? I don’t know of any car metric that accounts for a car sitting around doing nothing for over a year out of the factory. Can the still be sold as new? When does the warranty clock start ticking?
I might need a car in 2010. Perhaps I should wait for these “stale” cars to hit the market.
Another thought. Won’t the tires be warped from sitting in one place for so long?
Many dealerships start and run vehicles on their lot intermittently
What about the 245 acres of cars sitting at Long Beach port, or the thousands of acres of cars stockpiled at ports around the world?
@yankinwaoz: Hyundai is still trying to push 2008 Tiburons on us. Eventually every car finds a buyer. They don’t rebadge them with a different model year, they just up the rebate some more. And yes, the tires get a flat spot if the car sits too long. It’s kind of embarrassing to have to jump start a dead battery on a new car, then explain away the jittering of a flat spotted tire.
Funny you should mention the Crossfire. I’ve seen an enormous influx of them on the road lately. I can’t help but wonder if they’re coming from the same Chrysler dealership that’s offering brand new 07 Sebrings for 12 grand.
One sure problem is “pad imprinting”; the brake pad area is the only spot on the rotor that doesn’t slowly corrode.
Brake pulsation is a result of “lot rot”.
Can’t drive your Dino regularly? I’m sure many people would volunteer to help you out on this. The line forms behind me.
I have a pickup truck that I drive to work at least once a week. Even if I let it sit for 2 or 3 weeks I have to spend a couple of hours on it to clean it up of leaves, bugs and sometimes animals. Even my Elva Courier with blown motor needs regular attention.
I’m learning the opposite of this problem right now.
I’m driving an 06 Ford Freestyle on an 40 mile one way counter-rush hour highway commute after 15+ years of stoplight-to-stoplight city traffic. My wife has done similar driving over the same period.
While the Freestyle isn’t a bad car, it would not be fair to say that it is more reliable than the two Toyotas, a Volvo, and a Subaru we’ve owned in that time. At first glance, it would sure look that way so far.
This sort of highway driving just seems to agree with the car. I can’t see any wear on the replacement tires at almost 20K miles.
I bought a new 2006 Dodge Dakota in August of 06. It was built in Sept. 05. So it sat for nearly a year. The tires (Goodyear Wranglers) sucked. But the battery, coolant, everything else has been fine. No problems so far (he said, as he knocked on wood…)
A friend works for the local Chrysler dealer. Even before Great Depression 2.0 blew into town, some of their cars sat for many months before they were sold. The only problems the cars seem to suffer are corroded brake rotors and tires with flat spots — if bad enough, both are replaced before the customer takes delivery.
It’s my understanding that well used cars, that are left to sit for months at a time, suffer many more problems.
Brake pulsation is a result of “lot rot”.…
My first new car went 10 months sitting on a dealer lot. I guess lazy people don’t like cars with manuals. Anyway, the rotors warped to hell in 500 miles. I had to find a dealer to change the rotors while on vacation in Lake George. (Route 9N is a bitch’n road to blast on, BTW) The look on the guy’s face was amazement when I told him the mileage! But, he ordered the rotors from Ford and had them installed the next day. I was very pleased and wrote Ford a note about the dealer. No reply from Ford, of course.
Lot Rot did not cause any other problems, though. Even the battery lasted 7 years.
patrickj: your reverse commute is cake on a car. Compared to the slog you endured for 15 years, you will be amazed how stress free your car (and you, too) will be.
I’m sooooooooooo tired of hearing about lot-rot. When you finally get that first-evar (or is it last-ever?) Pontiac G6 of your dreams … the least you can do is change the brakes.
For the children.
Of Detroit.
Or not.
I read that there is a 400+ day back log of Aveos on dealer lots. Imagine how good they will be.
No Robert… those models go straight to ‘buy-here pay-here’ auction land and will be going head-to-head against 1995 Honda Civics at these sales.
yankinwaoz : Another thought. Won’t the tires be warped from sitting in one place for so long?
Many manufacturers over inflate their tires to avoid flat spots. The dealer is than supposed to adjust the tire pressure during the prep. Most dealers don’t. Most of these cars should be fine after about 20 miles. I remeber taking a new 2.5L Jetta out with 4 miles on it. It was smoking and clattering like crazy when I started it up. By the time I got it onto the road from the parking lot, it settled down and was fine.
Long Beach CA is one of the most polluted areas in S. Calif., and the nation. Its ozone attacks rubber parts quickly; wiper blades can rot within 3 months. Particulate fallout will accumulate on and possibly damage paint. Tire flat spotting’s already been mentioned.
In Portland OR, the many cars also being stored get hit by numerous rain storms and (earlier this year) freeze-thaw conditions.
Ironically, one Honda dealer in Wilsonville OR has their entire inventory indoors (their lot is entirely covered by a huge metal tent).
Batteries probably suffer first since they discharge (which decreases the pH value and deteriorates the lead).
my father in law had a Jetta that was on the dealer’s lot for 6+ months and after 1 year the car didn’t start int he middle of the day. the dealer repalced the battery and VW paid for towing. VW service said it has to be towed and it took VW “technicians” 3 days to figure out. After hearing the 6+ month story I knew right away what the cause was, but under warranty the dealer has the saying how to fix the problem…
coolant is not an issue since that detoriates with heat and that is not the case here. I suppose oil, fule, seals detoriate. since the seals don’t get lubricated they dry out.
Robert Farago: Driving that hing every month is sufficient if you keep the battery charged. People here in WI have convertibles and they stand around for 4 months and if the battery is maintained they start fine and don’t take damage. Actually they are better off since they avoid the salt :-)
When GM was trying to convince the thousands of people on their waiting list (and CARB) that they actually didn’t want their new EV1, the company let hundreds of brand new second-generation EV1s rot away on a lot in San Bernardino for the better part of a year.
The damage to the cars was substantial. Virtually every last car needed paint correction including wet sanding and some needed re-sprays. The outgassing of interior parts was caked all over the glass, some of the interior moldings had separated and shifted (particularly where the speedometer housing met the dash structure), and the new car smell was, uh, different.
The cars were substantially deteriorated in comparison to an assembly line-fresh model. I suspect the cars at the Port of LA and other storage facilities face the same fate. Buyer beware.
Yeah, I get my info from AOL Autos. Right.
Friends store their muscle cars from October to April and no flat-spot issues and they used sta-bil for gas. Mice chewing the engine hoses & such was sometimes a problem, though they now put kil-bait underneath the car
Ohhh, the Dino….
My new 02 Passat sat for 8 months before I bought it. It immediately needed 4 new rotors, requiring two trips to the dealer.
It later suffered from numerous electrical problems, which *probably* weren’t related to its long sit on the lot.
I’d be a little concerned to buy the new 06s or 07s I’m hearing about for this reason.
If the car sits outdoors You can get a cheap 2-5 Watt solar module that plugs into the 12V outlet to keep the charge on the battery up.
If you are truly paranoid about flat spotting the tires you can put the car on jack stands.
Holy crap, RedStapler! You’ve given me a brilliant idea!
1. Invest in both solar charger and jack stand companies.
2. Get a law passed in California that requires new, unsold cars to be stored on jack stands with solar chargers.
3. Profit.
245 acres of cars… unfathomable.
People are going to have to start checking their car’s manufacturing date, just like tires, if purchasing new. That or I forsee a humongous port-side wildfire coming in the near future.
I had a friend buy a brand new Nissan that turned out to have a flat battery, so there’s truth to the story (to the naysayers).
A friend of mine picked up an unsold 2008 M3 with 14 miles on it for 15k off sticker. Not a bad deal. Drove over a bridge near Port of Long Beach recently and saw the thousands of cars sitting there like a giant pile of matchbox cars. It’s quite a thing to see it in person.
The only common issues I have seen from cars sitting on the lot for long periods of time are dead batteries and flat spots on tires. However, whenever we sell one of those vehicles we test to make sure the battery holds a charge, as well as a longer test drive to make sure the tires aren’t shoddy, if either problem manifests the offending part is replaced before the customer takes delivery. Keep in mind that when you are buying a new car the dealer is more or less obligated to make sure the car is in like new condition when you take delivery, and can replace certain wear items like tires, brakes, and batteries under warranty if they are out of spec at obscenely low miles.
IIRC it is not the Aveo with a 400 day inventory, but the Saturn Astra. There won’t even be a 2009 model in the US.
I can’t find the link, but there was a story about car industry in the local paper. They were speaking to a car Chrysler dealership, and the guy was discussing the problems he’s having with storage. He said that they had to store their cars in a field…with horses. He said it was a real drag because it took them forever to dig them out of the snow drifts. And, get this, they had to replace a lot of mirrors because the horses running between the cars kept knocking them off! I kid you not.
Ever taken the first flight of the day on a commerical airliner where on takeoff the whole jet is rattling and vibrating until the wheels finally lift off. Those soft tires get flat spots after sitting just for 8 hours or less. They are fine after the 1st or 2nd cycle of the day. Flat spots on road tires will eventually correct themselves. I’d worry more about the rubber of the tire rotting. Regardless of miles, the rubber isn’t too good after 5+ years.
I know lots of motorheads that have more cars then they know what to do with. Just recently went to help a friend fire up a ’96 Impala SS. Had been sitting for about 30 months he figures. Wheeled out the battery charger but for grins tried to start it without. Started up just fine…and on very old gas. I would suspect that late model cars can sit for quite some time. Now brand new cars that haven’t been through a break-in period might be a little tougher. Those cars in Long Beach are not yet “well oiled machines” if you will.
Who on Earth keeps up with the keys to all the cars that can fill 245 acres? Seriously how are the keys managed to all these cars?
Just like in the Great Depression: what you see on dealer lots and at the seaports are….
The Lost Generation of cars. We well remember them down through the years.
Something everyone appears to have missed in storage failure items is wheel bearings. You leave a car for more than a few months and the water will coalesce out of the wheel bearing grease. Your nice hardened wheel bearing which you couldn’t touch with a file will have ole Mr. Rust giving it cavities….and about 2-3 month after it goes back on the road you will may very well have some or all of the wheel bearing come up bad. Every now and then I come across someone who got a steal in a barn find….I let them run on and then ask them, “And you had to replace the wheel bearings after you had it on the road, right?” The response is often, “Yes, how the hell did you know?”
The proper way to store is to put your crittur on jack stands and spin the wheels every month or so.
And of course there are varmints. Mice nests in wiring harnesses can total a car.
I don’t really trust sitting cars. In the summer I mostly ride the motorcycle, but take the STi out at least once every week or two for a 30+ minute drive.
Maybe I’m being superstitious…?
How much was the zero mile Chrysler Crossfire again?
Well, since you asked, my 44 mile Crossfire was about $20,200 off sticker. I bought my ’05 SRT-6 in June ’07. It was manufactured in late ’04.
Within the first 1,000 miles I changed the oil, oil filter, air filters, cabin air filter, coolant and brake fluid. If you don’t hit the mileage limits then the service schedule calls for brake fluid every 2 years, coolant every 4 years and the oil, all 9 quarts of it, once a year.
(Insert reminder to folks that brake fluid, due to its hydrophilic nature, should be replaced at least every two years.)
While my particular Crossfire didn’t have flat-spotted tires, two of the other new-but-old SRT-6s I test drove had pronounced flat spots that didn’t drive out during the test drives. It had three small spots of lot-rash on the paint and a few faded areas on the interior door panels where sunlight got by the cardboard shipping protectors. I’ve had no problems with anything other than the cup holder, though I have only driven the car about 9,800 miles in the past 22 months. It has spent two Connecticut winters in my garage, hooked up to a battery tender, without any storage incidents.
The real challenge is going to be getting parts that don’t have a Mercedes cross-reference after Chrysler takes a dirt nap.
(I plan on changing the rear-end lubricant at 10K, which I’m due to hit in the next few weeks. I’m still debating having the transmission fluid and filter changed at 15K. It’s a 90K service life fluid, but it is 4.5 years old now. I’ve done all the other work myself, but the transmission fluid/filter change is right on the edge of my comfort level.)
And as a site note:
According to google, 245 acres is almost 11M square feet. Taking the square root yields a square ~ 3267 feet per side.
I can’t imagine a lot like that full of cars.
My 2003 Jetta was built in March of 2002 based on the Volkswagen de México stickers in the engine compartment. It’s a black 5 speed TDI, which no one (but me) wanted back in 2003 when gas was cheaper than dirt. I’ve got 106000 miles on it now, and am still on my original front rotors and pads. So apparently a car can sit for a year or so and be fine.
As an added bonus, vehicles that are parked in ocean ports get free access to saltwater air exposure. Most people pay top dollar to enjoy such exposure to fresh ocean breezes. Feeling that salt on your skin can be quite refreshing.
Think of the wonderful things it can do for a car, too!
Here’s a Google Map link to at least one of the lots in Long Beach (just south of Pier B St):
I don’t know when this photo was taken, but seeing as how the lot is not crammed full I’d guess it’s at least a year old.
There never seems to be enough pictures of the holding lots. I know they exist, but why no pics?
Slightly off topic (well, off coast, anyway) why are there never pics of the “sales bank” Chryslers in the Detroit area? And aren’t there others from other domestic manufacturers?
I believe these lots (both types) exist, but is it like Area 51 or something?
It was 6 weeks ago, but this very site ran a group of pictures of unsold cars from around the globe.
https://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/worldwide-auto-inventory-glut-in-pictures/
Based on the comments in that post, the pics apparently came from here:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/gallery/2009/jan/16/unsold-cars?picture=341883529
Just so everyone knows: Gas goes bad in about a month.
Your car will still run on it, but the additives that prevent varnish build-up either break down or evaporate. Without those additives, the orifice tubes and needle valves in the carb (not sure about fuel injection modules) will gunk up and the engine won’t run right. Eventually you’ll need a carb rebuild. BTW, you may get a lucky fix by spraying gumout in the carb, but it will eat the needle valve seals, which are rubber.
Avoid this by using a fuel stabilizer.