I first want to apologize if this topic is becoming monotonous but I just wanted to confirm the exact steps I’m taking when storing my 2010 XF Prem will not be problematic.
My first step is to wash/wax my XF. Next I would drive it for about 45min then fill up with Shell V-Power (my norm). I would also add the recommended amount of STA-BIL. At that time, I would inflate my tires to around 50PSI as I will not be placing it on stands. After it reaches the garage I would remove the battery and hook it up to a battery maintainer (1.5 amps) once or twice a week. I do not plan on starting the vehicle unless absolutely necessary which gets me to my next question.

I will be moving in the next several months (around Late December to late January) and my chances of driving in snow/salt are very high. I’m assuming I would repeat my steps above correct? Or should I not “store” my vehicle until after the move even if it sits untouched for those several months before the move?

 

Modern cars do not need to be babied in this way. A thoroughly dirty car will be fine, everything you mention is just overkill so you can do it again or not.

My XF hardly ever gets washed during our dirty winters because it is impractical. My XF is a year round car running winter tires on all four wheels from October to June and summer tires for June to October. It is a superb winter ride considering it is rwd only. Why are you storing yours?

Washing is actually merely for esthetics, the paint could care less. If washing were actually to be important then only the underbody needs washing as this is where all the structural damage from wet salt would occur. If you wash any part of the car before storage then you need to put it on a hoist and thoroughly wash the underbody and everything you can reach under there. The upper painted bodywork will last 30 years easily without being washed at all. Actually, so will the underbody unless the corrosion protection gets chipped down to bare metal. As I say, washing a modern car is for looks and actually eventually erodes the paint.

Fuel stabilization is important as there have been reports of "carbon" issues, especially with direct injection engines and especially with Midwestern fuels which apparently sometimes have more ethanol in them than is good for the car (ethanol does absorb water which is good for regular driving and very bad for storage). I would avoid filling the tank, add the correct amount of STABIL for the amount of fuel remaining, drive around to stir things up, then store the car. First drive in Spring should be to fill that tank.

 

I'm storing the vehicle because I'm fortunate enough to also have a newer suburban I use day to day. The XF was initially purchased as an essential vehicle but recently had become nonessential. This way in my mind I will appreciate my XF even more not having to worry about it during winter. I tend to be particular (****) with my interests and have several things I plan on taking care of while it’s stored (e.g., cleaning the rims, floor mats, applying touch up paint). As I see it my XF will feel brand new again for next year.

Another thing I won’t have to worry about is a salty interior. That stuff got everywhere in my Q7?!? Not to mention I got stuck in it on the main road last year for 9 hours when we had an awful blizzard. I was lucky enough to have a full tank of gas (and shovel to keep snow from blocking my exhaust). Another one of those and I would disappear in the XF.

 

Looking at the winters you have in the USA, I think I would store my car too !!

I am lucky like you, as my wife has a VW New Beetle, with plastic wings, bumpers and inner wheel arches. UK roads get LOADs of salt, even if there is a hint of frost, and the salt dust gets everywhere. Other thing is there are more crashes in winter as people seem totally ignorant about driving with ice around. I am sure you don't want your car wrecked by some stupid idiot driving an "old banger".

Whilst modern cars do not need to be "babied", the constant salt spray will degrade a lot of cosmetic parts on the car. The wheels will soon degrade, and the extra grit on the road will chip your paint badly, in fact undissolved crushed salt is a marvellous little way of both chipping and starting corrosion. The spray gets in everywhere and starts off the rust demon.

So....if you're a fairly fastidious owner like me, you will use your car less, or store it when it is really bad out there. However, try to keep the battery connected and keep it charged with a trickle charger, these are widely available for just this purpose. You don't really need to do much about the petrol stored in the tank, unless you have lots of ethanol in it. It is this stuff that absorbs water and starts off tank and line corrosion.

 

The above is mostly hearsay in origin. Much of the continent has been using E10 for decades, long before it was called that and was known as 'gasahol' instead. Boats stored in marinas with open ventilation systems have reported actual problems. Modern cars (early 70s and up) have sealed fuel systems that do NOT suffer any such problems. Each of my toys sit in storage for approx. 6 months per year with E10 and no 'stabil' or any other miracle juice and suffer no ill effects. Been doing it this way for 30 years or so.

 

Wheels have very thick paint to protect them. They will never corrode seriously. Even if the wheel paint gets nicked aluminum only corrodes on the surface, light grey colour, almost unnoticeable.

Storing a car like the XF for winter is a waste of a good drive. A Ferrari maybe but not an XF.

Heck, I'd drive a Porsche all winter if I had one. Great winter cars.

 

Well Finalfan, you now have heard the opposite arguments ! The bottom line is there are more collisions in winter when snow and ice is around.

 

I agree! My XF already went through an unfortunate event this summer, no reason to add to that.

 

The flying stones that can damage your windscreen can certainly damage the paintwork. And then the rust will start creeping in bemeath. Some cars with sufficiently thick zinc coats may do well for a while but there is a reason why even the best rust warranties are 6 years for rusting through, i.e. holes! I give my cars which see a lot of stones, sand and salt an anti rust treatment every three years. So if you want to keep your car pristine, baby it

 

Not true actually. I owned a 1986 SAAB 9000 turbo and never bothered to paint the stone chips. With electrophoretic zinc primer that car did not rust in the stone chips for the 18 years I drove it. Newer cars are actually galvanized with zinc and will not rust for decades. Now i realize that different climates involve different corrosion risks but it is just not true that you need to refresh the paint or the rustproofing. I have a 1991 Alfa Romeo 164 which has been driven year round in all weather since I bought it new and has not rusted in any stone chips. I have repaired some minor rust but that was cosmetic at the time. The 164 is partially galvanized.

 

I see newer cars with rust on these shores. But Norway alternate between gravel, sand and salt in a way that I have never encountered elswhere. We also get a lot of suspension wear out failures that are not seen in other European countries due to the atrocious quality of new and refurbished roads. Some cars stand up to this abuse better than others, but when they go they go quickly!

Temperature stability seem to matter too (which is logical to me). If the temperature swings around zero all winter rust seems to be worse than during generally cold winters. That is why rust is far worse around Oslo than in northern Norway or southern Norway.

The zinc layer is "electroplated" to get even coverage while keeping it down to the designed thickness everywhere on cost reasons. Simple physical Zinc dipping may leave some bare patches but in general gives a thicker layer. I have only come across that method in aftermarket applications (using industrial processes aimed at industrial equipment).

 

Salt is not a problem. Water and salt have to be present together. Brine, salt and water, on bare mild steel will cause rust by electrolytic corrosion. Zinc is sacrificial to mild steel and protects the steel by oxidizing instead. Under normal conditions ,I.e. not submerged in brine, zinc protects itself by oxidizing. Zinc oxide, like aluminum oxide (anodizing) does not further oxidize unless the film of zinc oxide is further disturbed. The odds of a stone striking the same spot twice are long. Bottom line is zinc coated car bodies corrode very slowly, superficially and do not require washing to prevent rust. Some types of washing actually promote corrosion. Never use a contact type automatic car wash for example.

Damp climates where salt is prevalent such as by the sea or in winter conditions cause more aggressive corrosion than drier climates. Zinc protects well in all such environments.

 

My point was that the zinc layers are thin, and the eternal presence of salt and water combined by the scrubbing effect of sand after the initial nick underneath and cases of deep and wide nicks with microscopically speaking ragged edges in the metal in the front especially will tell. Or how will you explain rust roses on 6 - 7 year old cars with zinc coating that have not been collision damaged? If the manufacturers applied thick enough coats they would not hestitate to give 10 or 15 year no-rust guarantees would they?

But you make your choice, it's your car and maybe the conditions are less bad where you live.

 

They are better here because it is very dry especially in winter. Damp is the big problem when combined with salt.