Moving to the desert

MrCliveNYC · Thu Apr 16, 2015 7:31 am

I might be moving to the middle east for a job opportunity and may need to ship my 2011 Kizashi SLS AWD vehicle there. Would I have to make any modifications for that type of environment. Anyone here live in Arizona or in very hot weather. I have a white vehicle with cream leather seats.

Speed_Racer · Thu Apr 16, 2015 3:34 pm

MrCliveNYC wrote:I might be moving to the middle east for a job opportunity and may need to ship my 2011 Kizashi SLS AWD vehicle there. Would I have to make any modifications for that type of environment. Anyone here live in Arizona or in very hot weather. I have a white vehicle with cream leather seats.

I bought mine in Las Vegas.

Get your windows tinted and buy one of those reflective windshield sun blocker for when you park. And wax your car often using a wax with UV protection, or this will happen.

MrCliveNYC · Fri Apr 17, 2015 5:11 am

Thanks for the reply. Debating if it's worth shipping it.

Speed_Racer · Fri Apr 17, 2015 5:31 pm

MrCliveNYC wrote:Thanks for the reply. Debating if it's worth shipping it.

That white + cream is way better than a black on black car in the hot sun. Sounds like a cool opportunity!

SamirD · Sun Apr 19, 2015 7:01 pm

I wouldn't ship it. By the time you look at the price and time, you could just drive it there yourself. And there's no guessing about what happened to it, where it's been, etc.

Our Kizashi spends time between Milwaukee and Alabama, and it's black on black.

There's nothing special to do, except you do need to think about the interior temps when the car is parked as it will get super-hot. This can damage the plastics inside over time, so be sure to use a good protectant on a regular basis. The cream/white combination will definitely help to keep it cooler than our black on black combination. Tilting the sunroof when parked in the sun helps quite a bit.

You don't have to worry about snow and salt anymore, so give it a good solid cleaning in all those crevices and then put a protectant on it to keep it good from now on.

Oh, and you can now get some super soft meaty tires and tear up the streets all year round!

sx4rocious · Sun Apr 19, 2015 11:23 pm

My advice would be to either sell it, or put in in storage until you return. For the price of shiping it, you can purchase a Swift over there and we can all live vicariously through you. Of think of the Ladas, Citreons, Skodas, and so forth that you'd get to drive that a guy like me could only dream about...

SamirD · Sun Apr 19, 2015 11:50 pm

sx4rocious wrote:My advice would be to either sell it, or put in in storage until you return. For the price of shiping it, you can purchase a Swift over there and we can all live vicariously through you. Of think of the Ladas, Citreons, Skodas, and so forth that you'd get to drive that a guy like me could only dream about...

Holy crap, I somehow read that he was moving to Arizona.

Scratch my advice. Store it here and get something local out there. Someone down under or maybe even in the states stored theirs for a year and it cranked right up when they got back.

MrCliveNYC · Mon Apr 20, 2015 2:45 am

Yeah I think its best to just store it here till I get back at some point in the future. Would probably have to drain all the fluids? Would it be safe to even have any fluids in the car sitting for a year? I will at least come back every year to start it and move it around. Where I am headed they will give me a car, but not sure how nice of a car.

Mon Apr 20, 2015 3:46 pm

MrCliveNYC wrote:Yeah I think its best to just store it here till I get back at some point in the future. Would probably have to drain all the fluids? Would it be safe to even have any fluids in the car sitting for a year? I will at least come back every year to start it and move it around. Where I am headed they will give me a car, but not sure how nice of a car.

Don't drain anything. All I'd do is add a fuel stabilizer like Seafoam in the gas tank and disconnect the negative terminal from the battery. I'd also cover the car with a cover or a tarp. I know some people like to have their cars off the ground for the sake of the suspension and tires so they leave the car on jack stands. I'm not sure how necessary this is but I've heard of deployed military guys doing this with their cars.

Alternatively, if they are willing to give you a car, see if they will pay for shipping your own out there. If you can park regularly in a garage, I think the car would be largely saved from the damaging effects of the heat. I'd just bring extra engine and cabin air filters given the desert conditions and the famous sand storms of the Middle East. I highly recommend tinting the windows too. They will not only reduce cabin temps, but also save the leather seats from UV damage.

SamirD · Mon Apr 20, 2015 3:59 pm

Yep, you won't have to drain any fluids (in fact I wouldn't), but just be sure to change them before driving it regularly again. The tires will need some air and it would be best to pump them up a bit beforehand.

The storage environment dictates A LOT on how well the car will come back to life. A climate controlled enclosed storage car will be a lot different than sitting in the front yard.