Damp Garages And Corrosion To Underside

[square1]

Hi,

In the Aygo manual it says that the car should not be parked in a damp, poorly ventilated garage. My garage has a damp problem which is sometimes an issue when the weather has been very wet, like lately! It is one half of a unit shared with next door, with the partition stopping around a foot short of the ceiling. There are no doors or windows except the up-and-over garage door. Therefore, I presume this means that it is not particularly well ventilated.The car spends most nights in there, and very often much of the daytime. I also live around 1.5 miles from the sea. Should I be concerned about corrosion? I haven't noticed any, but I haven't checked as it hadn't been on my 'radar' until I read about it the manual yesterday. I should note that this is my first car. The car is due for a service in around 3 months' time, so I'm wondering whether this is something that would or could be checked then. Nonetheless, should I regularly hose down the underside of the vehicle? Advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Toby.

[FROSTYBALLS]

I would have thought there would be enough ventilation around the garage door. Where is the garage getting damp?

[square1]

I think the damp comes in through the roof and there's often a film or patches on the floor. The garage is in a compound and they're horrible old things, containing asbestos. Obviously the garage does get some ventilation, when the door is open.

[FROSTYBALLS]

There would be some ventilation between the bottom of the closed door and the garage floor, as the doors seldom fit too closely to the floor. If the roof is asbestos, the damp is probably due to condensation.

[SandyCat]

People who put their car away wet in a garage think it's better than leaving it outside. In fact leaving it outside the wind dries the car off and you can then put it inside or just leave it out. I have parked our cars outside for the last 15 years and never had any rust appear anywhere.

The manual is trying to avoid sudden changes in temperature causing condensation inside the bodywork where there is less protection. If you put a warm car in a cold damp garage it can cause condensation. To be fair, modern cars are a lot better protected and corrosion is rare these days. They tend to wear out before they rust away.

My advice is not to worry if the car is put away dry but if it's wet leave it outside to dry off (assuming the rain ever stops!). Have a good look around the car including under the sills once a month and brush out the wheelarches with a housebrush now and again.

[Jejo]

I cant see that leaving your car inside a garage would cause any damage to the body work. Unless you leave it for long periods and the garage is very humid.

Before getting my Aygo, I kept my vw beetle in the garage for years, if it had been raining when I parked her up for the night then she would still be wet in the morning, but she didn't rust at all in over 10 years - body work still as good as new!

[Jejo]

I cant see that leaving your car inside a garage would cause any damage to the body work. Unless you leave it for long periods and the garage is very humid.

Before getting my Aygo, I kept my vw beetle in the garage for years, if it had been raining when I parked her up for the night then she would still be wet in the morning, but she didn't rust at all in over 10 years - body work still as good as new!

Just to add - my garage has no ventilation, and has a bit of a leaky roof!

[FROSTYBALLS]

The scenario to avoid is to putting a wet car away in a heated garage, as the heat increases condensation on the vehicle.

We use two garages - both in a separate blocks to the house and both watertight as regards the roofs and walls - and haven't suffered any undue deterioration on our cars, despite putting them away wet at times. As regards ventilation, they have no windows and are reliant on the ventilation around the up and over doors and the joist areas

[SandyCat]

Like I said it isn't so much of a problem these days as cars are much better rust proofed but it's in the handbook for a reason. You can also ask people like HonestJohn for the Telegraph and he will say the same thing. A wet car cannot dry off properly in a garage and anything which creates condensation inside the bodywork should be avoided. At the end of the day it's no huge deal and your Aygo isn't going to rot away and you will probably have sold it long before it rusts anyway. :)

[Uncle Bob]

I think the damp comes in through the roof and there's often a film or patches on the floor. The garage is in a compound and they're horrible old things, containing asbestos. Obviously the garage does get some ventilation, when the door is open.

As and when the rain stops, you could attempt to seal the roofing sheets from the inside ( well unless the sheets are damaged ) use a tube of black roof sealer, I done it to my dads garage last week and now is bone dry.