Sorn or not?

[JeffL]

Someone mentioned on here the other day that they were going to SORN their car as they were not intending to use it for the foreseeable future due to the current virus situation. As we have two cars and mine is by far the more expensive to tax at £555 p.a. (£46.25 per month) I am thinking of putting my GS300 (2007) on SORN. I would welcome opinions from the very nice and knowledgeable people on here as to whether it's okay to do this and what should I do to ensure my car does not suffer any untoward problems. My car is garaged at home. I believe I can SORN it online with immediate effect, so I would do it by next Tuesday 31st. Also I believe that I can tax it again with immediate effect at anytime in the future whenever I want to. Let me know asap. Thanks.

PS

Just read the AA's Laying up you car advice. Basically, Full tank of petrol reduces chance of condensation in tank, connect to a trickle charger, parking brake off (no problem with an auto if left in Park), keep a check on tyre pressures. Seems reasonable to me, but I'm no expert.

[royoftherovers]

All seems fine and dandy Jeff.

[Britprius]

Hi Jeff.

You can SORN the car online in two ways. 
If you give the first 11 numbers of the VIN number on line it will SORN the car with emediate effect.
If you give all 18 VIN numbers on line it will SORN the car from the first day of the next month allowing you to drive for the rest of this month.

Your laying up procedure sounds fine, but would be helped by moving the car a couple of feet backwards or forwards each month to releave the possibility of flat spotting the tyres. This is not essential, but good practice.

John.

[Guest]

I would start engine once every two weeks to pump oil back to the top and drive forward and backward on the drive pumping brakes to keep calipers free and disc clean. Maybe have a cheeky reverse onto the road to park back up on a different part of Tyre. You could also over inflate tyres.

Sent from my Pixel 3a using Tapatalk

[JeffL]

OK, I have put my car on SORN this morning. All the above done apart from the charger which I'm about to order. I've just put another question up on thread 'CTEK MXS 5.0 Battery Charger' about M8 nuts.

About to show my ignorance re cars! Will anything become disconnected and need resetting if I remove the nuts on the Battery terminal clamps so that I can attach the CTEK Direct Connector Adaptor?  The other option is to buy some new M8 nuts and attach the adaptor without removing the existing nuts as the screws are just about long enough. The question then is should I buy regular A2 stainless steel nuts or A2 stainless steel nylon insert locking nuts? 

 

Looking forward to replies. Thank you.

[Britprius]

36 minutes ago, JeffL said:

OK, I have put my car on SORN this morning. All the above done apart from the charger which I'm about to order. I've just put another question up on thread 'CTEK MXS 5.0 Battery Charger' about M8 nuts.

About to show my ignorance re cars! Will anything become disconnected and need resetting if I remove the nuts on the battery terminal clamps so that I can attach the CTEK Direct Connector Adaptor?  The other option is to buy some new M8 nuts and attach the adaptor without removing the existing nuts as the screws are just about long enough. The question then is should I buy regular A2 stainless steel nuts or A2 stainless steel nylon insert locking nuts? 

 

Looking forward to replies. Thank you.

As long as you do not remove the terminal clamps from the Battery all will be fine. If you go the extra nut route do not use the nylock type nuts.
If a battery terminals does come off the windows, and sun roof "if fitted" will need resetting. To do this open each window half way then shut holding the switch in the shut position for about 5 seconds. Do this on the actual switches on the door concerned not from the drivers door.

John.

[JeffL]

Thanks very much John, much appreciated.