Classic car storage in Dublin and Wicklow: options and prices

A classic kept in a dry garage and driven every few weeks will outlast one kept under a cover on a driveway by decades. For many Dublin owners storage is the biggest running cost after insurance, and it's the main thing a shared car can solve: one good space, split between co-owners.

Your options

A co-owner's garage

The cheapest and most common choice. Make sure it's dry, lockable and has power for a battery conditioner. Agree how the others collect the car, and whether the garage owner gets anything off their share of the costs.

A rented garage or parking space

Private garages and secure spaces come up on DoneDeal and parking marketplaces. Around Dublin, long-term secure spaces start at roughly €80 a month on the outskirts and can pass €200 in central areas. Garages in Wicklow, Kildare and Meath usually cost less. Check there's no damp, that your insurer accepts the address, and that everyone in the group can get access.

Self-storage drive-up units

Some self-storage sites will take a car. They're secure, but many units have no power, and some ban vehicles or need the fuel tank nearly empty. Ask before you sign up.

Specialist classic car storage

Dedicated facilities offer dehumidified space, battery charging, alarms and sometimes collection and valeting. They cost more than a plain garage, but for a valuable car (an E-Type or a 911, say), the protection and the insurance discount can be worth it. Most are outside the city, in Kildare, Meath and Wicklow.

Farm sheds and barns

Cheap and spacious, but often damp, dusty and open to rodents. If you go this route, use a breathable cover, traps, and check on the car every couple of weeks.

What to look for

• Dry air. Humidity under 60% is the goal. A dehumidifier in a sealed garage is a good investment.
• Security your insurer accepts: locks, alarm and CCTV for higher-value cars.
• Access hours that suit everyone in the group, and a way to hand over keys.
• Power for a battery conditioner.
• A location near the M50 or the N11 so collecting the car doesn't eat half the day.

Laying a car up for winter

1. Wash it, including underneath, to get rid of any road salt.
2. Fill the tank and add a fuel stabiliser.
3. Fit a battery conditioner, or take the battery out and keep it charged.
4. Pump the tyres up a little or move the car every few weeks so they don't flat-spot.
5. Leave the handbrake off with the car in gear and chocked, so the brakes don't seize.
6. Use a breathable cover. A plastic sheet traps moisture.
7. Put a few traps down. Mice love seats and wiring.

Better still, don't lay it up at all. A run every two or three weeks on a dry day keeps seals, brakes and the battery healthy, and that's easy when a few people share the car. Winter weekdays cost the fewest points on the Mile Club calendar, so a short January run costs almost nothing. See the rules.

What storage adds to the bills

Our running cost estimates assume storage of around €900 a year for an everyday classic and more for valuable cars. If one of the group has a garage, that figure drops to almost nothing. Try your own numbers in the running costs calculator.