Car storage

[Dingbat]

Good evening all,
I have an interesting development on the little estate where I have my workshop, several units have become available mostly as the previous occupier has been sent to prison for four years, my landlord has suggested that he would like to turn one over to car storage, the idea is to provide storageneral and basic maintainance to make sure that when you turn up to take your car out its actually ready to go, including MOT's , the storage site is secure and situated close to the Kent side of the Dartford tunnel, the cost would be seventy five a week, so my question is does anyone on here think it's a goer. thanks Bill.

[yoda]

Hi Bill

I have had a good look into storage (as a customer and to share facilities with friends) and unless it is a very very comprehensive service, that is too expensive IMHO. I think you will find limited takers at that price in that area.

Regards

Feroz

[Tosh]

I don't think the climate controlled places advertised in the back of the magazines are that much

[Dingbat]

Thanks for the replies, yes it would seem expensive, the idea is to provide a bit more than a corner to put a car in, and have someone on hand to take care of the minor issues that can get in the way of classic car ownership, such as blown bulbs , grotty points, flooding carbs and the such, kind of like the convenience of an idea like the classic car club but with your own car.

[squirejo]

I pay 120 a month at Bicester heritage which has many experts on site or very nearby (auto farm, Neil.bainbridge, tuthills). That includes monthly exercise. Your proposition sounds very expensive indeed.

[Darren C]

Sounds like an overpriced recipe for disaster.
Classics are unpredictable and any claims of ensuring the cars are road ready are sure to backfire (no pun intended)

As squirejo suggests, plain storage in a suitable environment with local independent assistance when needed at a separate cost is a better business model.

Check the going garage rental in the area for a lockup/council garage and pitch costs based on that. Not everyone wants to have their car alongside strangers and they want 24-7 access. You have to weigh up ease of access and cost v security and environmental conditions which is why pricing needs to be in line with garage rental in the local area.

I'd suggest around £25 a week, after all you're only offering 10m2 floor space.

[redrobin911]

There are no real storage issues here in Northern Ireland, always someone with a shed or barn and I've never had to pay, so no idea what would be a good price or not, that said £75 a week or £3900 a year is some amount of money to pay - I'd suggest even half of this is still way too much. The fact that there are others on site is not relevant as 95% of the time a car is in storage it needs for nothing. If it does need something then is easy to trailer or drive to get the work done nearby. You'd be much better to charge £100pm per car and have a "menu" of additional costs should owners what work carried out on their cars/MOT etc.

[oldtimer]

Agree with everyone who has already pointed out that £75 per week is too expensive . You can get basic security controlled storage in South of England ( Surrey ) for £25 / week which includes trickle charging being supplied . Even one of Sir Alan Sugar's would-be apprentices would struggle with selling the original proposition

A bit of market survey by phoning around a representative sample of the existing suppliers would give a realistic picture of where pricing versus services offered map out .

[Dingbat]

Yup too dear, the most local places are £25.00 to £35.00, with everything as extras , so I guess it's a non starter, at the going sort of rate there is more money in just letting the units, but thanks for your thoughts, going off on a tangent would anyone in the South East London/Kent be interested in workshop space for their project, with tools and equipment and asistance/advice to hand for £70 a week or so, I have the opportunity to take on a bigger unit and may need to subsidise it , thanks Bill.