If you're not going to be driving your vehicle for an extended period of time it is best to store your vehicle indoors and to properly prepare your vehicle for storage. Here are a few steps that should be taken when storing your vehicle to ensure that it is stored properly and its condition is maintained while it is parked.

1. Clean your vehicle before storing it for an extended period of time. Dirt and road grime will become more difficult to remove after it has been on your vehicle for an extended period of time, and to maintain an optimal finish on your paint, it is best to keep it clean (and waxed if possible), particuarly when the vehicle is being stored. If you clean your interior prior to storing it, be sure that the interior has completely dried (carpets, seats, etc.) before the vehicle is stored. If carpets are stored damp from a shampoo cleaning, it is possible that your vehicle could have problems with mildew if the carpets haven't dried.
2. Connect a trickle charger (also called a battery tender) to your vehicle's battery. A trickle charger safely monitors the charge of your vehicle's battery, and maintains a full charge so that your battery will not be damaged while your vehicle is being stored. Without using a trickle charger you risk running your battery dead, which not only is an aggravation when you go to start it, but more importantly, it damages the battery and your battery will no longer be able to hold as good of a charge as it did before being damaged.
3. Cover your vehicle with a car cover. Although we already recommended cleaning your car before it is stored, you want to ensure that your car stays clean while it is being stored and is protected from the elements. Especially if you're going to be storing your car in your own garage, a car cover is a good idea, as you want to be sure that nobody will damage its paint by accident. Car covers range in price significantly based on if they are universal fit or custom fit, and the materials they are made of; however, any soft universal car cover should provide you with a safe level of protection for storage.
4. Don't store your vehicle with an empty tank of gas. If a vehicle is stored with an almost empty gas tank, condensation will build up inside the gas tank over time, which can cause rusting and corrosion. The best way to store your vehicle is to have between a half tank and full tank of gas, and to add fuel stabilizer to the gas before storing it (so that the gas doesnt break down over time). After adding fuel stabilizer to your gas, drive at least 10 miles to ensure the stabilizer has circulated through your car's fuel system.