Part time car use

[Rusty]

Does anyone only use their S2 for the summer and SORN it the rest of the year?

How does it work out for tax and insurance?

What do you need to do to protect a car over the winter? Drain fuel? Remove brake pads? Remove wheels?

[AquaS2]

I used to so with my old s2, fortunately most of the time it was left in a garage.
I would still run it up to temp every few weeks and move it in and out the garage.
Never had any issues with brakes and tyres
So it was never just left completely...
Tax wise it's real easy now, just stop the direct debit whenever you want and re start it whenever you want.
Whilst being SORN insurance is optional, I think depending on location it's advisable to insure it. Otherwise if it's out the way then why would you?

The only rain pain was connecting and disconnecting the battery, in the end I just left the back seats out.

[Christophski]

I too only use the car occasionally now as I only work 1 mile from home so don't use it for work runs. It goes out every other weekend if the weather is nice. So sometimes it's longer between runs. I usually start it every week if I can at least and leave it running in the garage. I try to take it out every other week to move the tyres around. These cars don't like sitting hence why it gets moved and used. In the summer I keep it out and use it in the evenings. The only issue I've had is the occasional flat battery from lack of use.

[Rusty]

Thanks, it was more the legal side of insurance and tax tbh. I hav a spare car top beat about in but am moving house and with increasing bills, I was looking to save some money... don't want to sell up just yet.

[Christophski]

I did read somewhere about an insurance policy for garage storage that was minimal cost but I can't remember who it was with for the life of me.

As said, do the monthly tax thing and sorn it when not being used

[East Woodclint]

I don´t know how it works in the UK, but in Germany you can use a "season-plate" from less 2 up to 11 months. And only for this time you pay insurance and tax.
That's the way I do with my S2. The plate is from April to October. So every year the first day I'm allowed to is the 1. April and the last day is the 31. October. After that day you have put the car off a public street.
From November till March the car stands covered in a garage with full tank.
Every year in end of October I make an oilchange and put the "winterwheels" on.
Also I grease the doorseal, clean the car inside and outside. I disconnect the battery and check it twice during this time. If it´s necessary, I charge it.
And on the first of November I'm already looking forward to the first of April.

[Greg_S]

I've been doing simile for the last few years with house and family commitments. When I looked into insuring on a garage policy vs fully comp the difference in price was minimal so I just insure all year and have the cover in place. As for tax the uk rules mean you have to pay entire months for tax but refunded any full month's so buy a 12 month tax when you want to use in summer and then cancel when you are done and Sorn.

I make sure I start up the s2 and move every few weeks and occasionally run a dehumidifier inside to keep moisture at bay. When I run up I usually have the heat blower up high and warm up fully.

Battery conditioner connected.