I just got my orders the other day. I got last minute orders to deploy to Afghanistan in mid-late january. So my 8 is going to have to go into storage for the next year. Breaks my heart to think of it just sitting there while i make payments on it. Guess its time to get a car cover and some fuel stabilizer. I'm wondering if my tires will flatspot from sitting in one place that long. My wifes MX5 is going into storage too. it only has 1200 miles on it. (My 8 has 4200, bought the same day) Shes taking a traveling x-ray job so we got there a used grand cherokee to drive while she does that. Anyhow i just thought i would share.


BTW my CO called me into her office to ask if i was into anything illegal because i now have 4 cars (05 RX8, 06 MX5, 99 Grand Cherokee, and a 95 integra GSR) 3 of which were bought in the last 4 months. I assured her i was not.

I'm sad to hear you are being deployed to Afgan. My prayers are with you. I know the heart break, my car was in the shop after a wreck for 5month an every month I payed my car payment an INC.
As for your CO, come on what did she think you where selling M.U.F.?

SGt, you might want to consider putting the car up off the tires( on blocks or stands).

but in the meantime...keep your head down, complete the mission, and come home safe... :Peace:

^ Good Idea

BTW my CO called me into her office to ask if i was into anything illegal because i now have 4 cars (05 RX8, 06 MX5, 99 Grand Cherokee, and a 95 integra GSR) 3 of which were bought in the last 4 months.....

What a sticky nosed bitch she is. Can you imagine your boss asking you that question if you worked at Walmart? Unbloodybelievable.

God Speed SGT...my thoughts are with you.

Come home safely and fear not, because your beautiful RX-8 will be waiting for you.

Hey SGT sorry that you have to go to AFGAN! Be safe and come home safely!

if you want i can drive the 8 for you and keep it in tune so then i'll have two 8's haha jk, i'd do what rodrigo said, or you can fill your tires up with enough air, and put it up on a lift so that the tires arent touching the garage floor. just a thought!

Good luck SGT

dave

My brother got orders out of the country and the long term storage he was offered included starting the car and driving it periodically. Good luck and come home safely.

stay safe.

thanks for all you do for for your country and mine; cheers and come back soon;

Don't forget to disconnect the battery or attach a float charger. Otherwise the battery will be dead in a couple of weeks.

Good luck and stay safe.

just a suggestion, depending on your situation, you might be better off selling your 8 and buying a brand new or used 8 after you get back. the first 3 years of car ownership is the critical years. because on average a car depreciate around 50% of its value in the first 3 years, some depreciate a bit more and some a bit less. After that time period, the depreciation slows down because the value of the car has hit a criticle point where while the rate of depreciation remains constant, the actual dollar amount being depreciated is becoming less significant compared to the first 3 years.

with this in mind, if you are able to sell it to a private buyer at the current market rate, theres 2 advantages.

1) you essentially freeze your investment (in this case your rx8) by turning it into cash, which prevent your self from taking the financial hit of losing a year worth of depreciation with nothing to show for since you wont be able to drive it. that should be around 50 divided by 3, so roughly 15%. so lets hypothetically say that your car is worth X amount of money, say.. 25,000 bucks right now at this moment if you sell to a private buyer. it will depreciate about 3700 bucks in the year that youre gone, this is just a ball park number/guestimate

2) oppurtunity cost -- you can use the money you have and invest it in stock or bonds or wahtever, and end up better off by the time you come back. Or a safe way, just put it in the bank and pick up interest. say you make 4% interest on 25000 bucks, thats about 1000 bucks. if you buy stock like apple computer or something, which is more risky, you stand to gain much more than that. Or in your case since you dont actually fully own your RX8, you wont have to make payment on a car you arnt using for a year. and invest that money else where.

so in this scenario, you are ahead by 3700+ (whatever your monthly payment is x 12) bucks. By selling the car, by freezing your investment from depreciating and investing it so it will make you money instead of lose money in the year that youre gone.

Then after you come back to the states, you can buy another brand new RX8 with the latest updated technologies etc. or buy a used 3 years old RX8 that has lost around 50% of its original value.

This is a lot of hassel, and it dosnt always work this way, its a lot of work selling a car. but its sometimes helpful in your special situation where a car of less than 3 years old not get used for a long period of time. Im not saying that you should do it, but im presenting the information for you so you can look into it and do whats best for you :)

http://www.cars.com/go/news/Story.jsp?section=news&subject=recent&story=121505storyaAN
this gives you a general idea of how cars depreciate in 3 years.
im not sure but i believe you can actually look up the residual value of your particular car with your options at edmunds.com


ohh and most importantly be safe and be careful. godspeed and good luck.

what they all said, and thank you for your service to our county.

if you dont sell.

jackstands
carcover
battery tender jr. (google it) you dont need to disconnect the battery. been using them on my bikes for years.

beers

I'd probably have someone crank it up every once in a while so the oil seals don't dry up...

Best wishes and sincerest thanks for your service SGT.Cap

From what I've read on these forums, I have chosen to put the RX8 into covered storage rather than leaving it outdoors. I already have some baking soda from the commissary that comes witih plastic lids, and they fit into the cup holder! That is to control moisture. Furthermore, the storage services will maintain my specified tire pressure and can trickle charge my battery. I will tell them not to start my car up periodically and have that put into the contract. I will also deny any of their other services. What bugs me is that they want me to leave the keys with them in case they need to move my vehicle to another slot in the warehouse... Plus the fact that they will park my car for me. So I will have to inform them about not turning the engine off cold, and will post these instructions somewhere in the car. I will need to ask them about not setting the parking brake, see what they can do.

Cost is the only thing, about $129 per month. Yes there's long term base parking for $10 a month, but outdoors, with the moisture and the sun coming up everyday to burn in those water spots... no way. No way.

Have all the supplies already in the trunk for use upon return. First stop would be the auto hobby shop to change out the oil and antifreeze.

Looking forward to tax free, will help with the payments. Good luck to you.

One suggestion for you both - put this sign in the car - especially User24 who must leave keys in the vehicle and face the possibility of someone moving his car while in storage.

http://www.rx8club.com/showpost.php?p=1132077&postcount=23

User24 - $129/month sounds like a lot, but if people are actively guarding the vehicle and checking the charger and checking the tires and it's indoors that sounds like good service. It's your car and if you like it enough to keep it then I say more power to ya.

Besides, you ought to save far more than $129/month during your tax-free deployment.

Stay safe,

SGT,

From one service member to another. If you can sell it do it. That will free up your payment for a year, and you can always get another one when you return. Remember you will be earning your pay free of federal tax while in Afganistan along with hostile fire and imintent danger pay as well. You will be looking at almost 5,000 dollars a month free of tax. So, if I were you I'd sell the car and save all that money. I returned from my six months in the Persian Gulf with almost $25,000 saved up. Ended up paying off all my credit cards and now have enough to buy a house when I leave Hawaii. Good Luck and watch your six.

From what I've read on these forums, I have chosen to put the RX8 into covered storage rather than leaving it outdoors. I already have some baking soda from the commissary that comes witih plastic lids, and they fit into the cup holder! That is to control moisture. Furthermore, the storage services will maintain my specified tire pressure and can trickle charge my battery. I will tell them not to start my car up periodically and have that put into the contract. I will also deny any of their other services. What bugs me is that they want me to leave the keys with them in case they need to move my vehicle to another slot in the warehouse... Plus the fact that they will park my car for me. So I will have to inform them about not turning the engine off cold, and will post these instructions somewhere in the car. I will need to ask them about not setting the parking brake, see what they can do.

Cost is the only thing, about $129 per month. Yes there's long term base parking for $10 a month, but outdoors, with the moisture and the sun coming up everyday to burn in those water spots... no way. No way.

Have all the supplies already in the trunk for use upon return. First stop would be the auto hobby shop to change out the oil and antifreeze.

Looking forward to tax free, will help with the payments. Good luck to you.



Wow, we pay $60 a month at Pearl Harbor for covered storage in an old aircraft hangar. A car cover is necessary since sea gull shit isn't healthy for paint.