We store cars for a living in Stalybridge, so treat this page accordingly — we are one of the options, not a neutral referee. What follows is the framework we would use ourselves, the three kinds of facility available around Manchester, and what each one is genuinely good for.
If you only read one thing: the question is not who is best, it is which of the three types suits your car and how long it is going away for.
The three kinds of vehicle storage around Manchester
Purpose-built specialist facilities — £150 to £400 a month
Buildings designed for cars. Managed humidity, individual bays, staff who handle vehicles daily, and usually collection. Right for classics, anything with an interior worth protecting, and any car going away for a season or more. This is the category we are in.
What to check: the actual humidity figure and how it is measured, how often someone looks at the car, whether the site is gated and alarmed, and what the price includes before add-ons.
Self-storage with vehicle-sized units — £100 to £150
A big dry box on an industrial estate. No humidity management, usually no power, and nobody looking at the car between the day you drop it and the day you fetch it. Perfectly reasonable for a project car in pieces, or a short summer stay. Poor for anything with leather, chrome or an electrical system that draws current when parked.
What to check: whether vehicles are actually permitted, whether there is power for a conditioner, and access hours. Some sites do not allow you in after five.
Outdoor compounds — £35 to £80
Fenced hard standing. Better than the street because of the fence, and no better than the street in every other respect. Sensible for a van, a trailer or a workhorse. Not sensible for anything you would be upset to see marked.
How to judge a facility in one visit
Ask to see the building. Any facility confident in what it does will show you round, and the ones that will not are telling you something. Once inside:
- Look at the floor. Oil stains and standing water tell you how the place is run
- Ask what the humidity is held at and where the meter is. “Climate controlled” without a number usually means a heater
- Look at the cars already in there. Are they covered, spaced, and clean, or parked nose to tail under dust sheets
- Ask who is on site and when, and who has keys to your car
- Ask what happens if you want it out at short notice, and what notice they need
- Get the monthly price with everything you need included, so you are comparing like with like
What storage costs around Manchester
| Type | Monthly | Best for |
| Outdoor compound | £35–£80 | Vans, trailers, working vehicles |
| Self-storage unit | £100–£150 | Project cars, short summer stays |
| Specialist indoor | £150–£250 | Most cars worth storing properly |
| Specialist, humidity-managed | £200–£400 | Classics, supercars, long stays |
Ours are £150 and £200 a month for the first three months, then £165 and £225, including VAT. Full detail on the pricing page.
Where we fit
We are in Stalybridge, twenty minutes from Manchester, with humidity in the managed area held at 55% relative humidity. Every car gets a visual check every day it is here, and an eight-stage intake when it arrives. We collect within 65 miles at no charge, so the drive is our problem rather than yours.
Six of us run it and you can meet all of them on the about page. Come and see the building before you decide anything — that is the advice we would give about any facility, including ours.
What changes depending on what you drive
The right facility is not the same for every vehicle. The differences are worth knowing before you start ringing round.
Classic and vintage cars
These are the vehicles where managed humidity stops being optional. Older paint is thinner and less protected than modern clearcoat, chrome brightwork pits, leather and wood absorb moisture from the air, and cloth headlinings sag once damp gets into the adhesive. A classic can lose more condition in one badly managed winter than in five well-managed ones.
Ask specifically about humidity and about how often the car is started or moved, if at all. Our own view is that occasional short runs do more harm than good — they bring an engine to temperature without ever getting the oil hot enough to drive off condensation. See how often to start a stored car for the detail.
Supercars and prestige vehicles
Space and handling matter more here than anything else. Wide bays, room to open a door fully without touching the car beside it, and staff who move low cars without scraping the front splitter on a ramp. Ask how many people handle vehicles and whether there is a flat approach into the building.
Access frequency also matters. Most supercar owners want the car three or four times over a summer rather than once a year, so a facility that treats retrieval as an inconvenience is the wrong choice regardless of price.
Motorbikes
Bikes suffer more than cars from damp because so much of the machine is exposed metal — fork stanchions, discs, chains, fasteners. They also take far less floor space, so storage should cost less than a car and often does not. Ask whether bikes are stored on stands, and whether the battery is conditioned. Our motorbike storage covers what we do.
Everyday cars and second vehicles
A car going away while you work abroad, or a second vehicle you rarely use, does not need the premium tier. It needs to be dry, secure, on raised pressures and with the battery conditioned so it starts when you come back. A standard indoor bay does all of that.
The contract questions people forget to ask
Most comparison goes into the monthly figure and almost none into the terms. These are the ones that cause problems later:
- What is the minimum term, and what happens if you collect early? Ours is one month with no tie-in
- How much notice for retrieval, and does that change at weekends? Ours is 24 hours, Monday to Friday, 8am to 4pm
- Is the quoted price inclusive of VAT? A £150 quote that becomes £180 is not a £150 quote
- Who is permitted to release the vehicle, and what identification is required
- What happens if you are late paying — some facilities assert a lien over the vehicle
- Is the car moved, and if so by whom and how often
- What condition record is taken on arrival, and do you get a copy
That last one matters more than it sounds. A facility that photographs the car on arrival and gives you the record has removed most of the scope for argument at collection. We do it as stage one of the intake, before anything else happens to the vehicle.
Where storage clusters around Manchester
Geography shapes what is available. Outdoor compounds and self-storage sites concentrate on the industrial estates ringing the M60 — Trafford Park, Salford, Openshaw, Ashton. They are there because the land is cheap and the access is good, which is also why they are what they are.
Specialist vehicle storage tends to sit slightly further out, where a purpose-built building with managed air is economic to run. We are in Stalybridge on the eastern edge, twenty minutes from the city and straight onto the M67. Cheshire has its own cluster serving the Alderley Edge and Wilmslow belt, which is where a good deal of the region’s supercar population lives.
If a facility collects, this stops mattering. Ours reaches 65 miles at no charge, which covers the whole of Greater Manchester and Cheshire and stretches to Leeds, Sheffield and Liverpool. Choose the building, not the postcode.
Frequently asked questions
What makes a good vehicle storage facility?
A building that manages the air rather than just the rain, staff who physically look at the cars, gated and alarmed access, and a price that includes what you actually need. If a facility will not show you round, that answers the question for you.
How much does vehicle storage cost in Manchester?
£35 to £80 a month for an outdoor compound, £100 to £150 for a self-storage unit, and £150 to £400 for specialist indoor storage. Ours starts at £150 including VAT.
Can I visit my car while it is in storage?
Yes, with 24 hours’ notice, Monday to Friday between 8am and 4pm. The notice is so the car is accessible and ready rather than boxed in behind four others.
What is the difference between self-storage and specialist car storage?
Self-storage rents you a dry box. Specialist storage manages humidity, conditions the battery, raises tyre pressures, checks the car regularly and handles it properly. For a project car in pieces the box is fine. For a running car you care about it is not.
Do storage facilities collect the car?
Some do, many charge for it. We collect and deliver within 65 miles of Stalybridge at no extra charge, which reaches most of the North West.
How long can a car stay in storage?
As long as you want, from one month upwards. Cars staying more than a few months benefit noticeably from managed humidity and a conditioner on the battery.
The short version
Whichever facility you choose, go and look at it first, and ask what the humidity is held at. Call 0161 464 7494 or arrange a visit and we will show you round ours.
