Leaving Car At Airport Car Park

[Alb]

I'd never allow someone else to have control of my car at an airport or any other car park.
Before I retired, my work routine had me flying every week and I eventually found it cheaper doing a pair of one way car hires (corporate rates) rather than paying for parking!

 

[pjmuk]

I am flying from Luton, I ask them on twitter about if they have EV chargers. They referred me to this page which provides more questions than answers.

Electric Vehicle Charging Points at London Luton Aiport

London Luton has 6 Tesla Chargers, and 4 type 2 points available to the public. These are free to use but normal car parking charges apply.

www.london-luton.co.uk

What capacity are the chargers?
Do they really expect you to pay £17:50 just to access the charger for an hour?

Thinking at the moment to charge at Toddington Services on the M1 instead.

Well they do charge £5 for 10 minutes drop off plus £1 per minute over. So £17.50 for an hour is a bargain ?.

 

[Les burrows]

Hi Jon, I totally agreed I to don’t give my keys over to anyone, I see from your profile your in Shropshire so at a guess about 80-100 miles may be a bit more from Luton this is no problem in the 5, if you set off fully charged or almost, you should even have around high 40s -50s% left in the car in June when you get there, so here’s what I would do on your journey to Luton have a little top up charge somewhere 15-20minutes if that on a rapid along the route will suffice and arrive with somewhere in the mid 60-70% and your all set up for your return go and have a great honeymoon and with no worries Good Luck.
Les

 

[smokie]

Do you let the mechanics drive your car on service days, or for MOTs, or do you stay there and move it around for them?

 

[Les burrows]

Do you let the mechanics drive your car on service days, or for MOTs, or do you stay there and move it around for them?

There’s a big difference in giving your car to a trained EV service mechanic who knows how to use the car than giving it to some guy in a car park who might not have a clue smokie, and the car is all but new so forget MOTs for the time being.
Les

 

[smokie]

The sole job of the parking guys is to drive and park cars though, unlike the mechanics.

They have a job to do, and probably drive 10 or 20 different cars a day. I don't imagine they are interested in ragging around in your car any more than a mechanic might be.

And the parking company must surely be insured.

 

[Les burrows]

The sole job of the parking guys is to drive and park cars though, unlike the mechanics.

They have a job to do, and probably drive 10 or 20 different cars a day. I don't imagine they are interested in ragging around in your car any more than a mechanic might be.

And the parking company must surely be insured.

Well I have seen some of these guys at work, and some don’t give a sh-t, as for being insured when you come back from your trip or a couple of weeks holiday it’s your word against theirs that any damage wasn’t there when you give it to them, a family member of mine with a six week old Range Rover came back from a holiday to a deep scratch in its rear wing and door cost £750 weren’t there when he handed it over, but trying to make a claim no chance, they couldn’t even remember which one of the drivers had driven the car.
You go your way and I do what you do, me I always park the car myself and take my keys with me or get a cab or a friend to take me to the airport or cruise terminal and leave the car at home. Bon voyage
Les

 

[smokie]

I do remember using a Gatwick greet and meet many years ago and inadvertently walking off with the key in my pocket. Luckily I realised before we'd gone through for boarding - and they weren't quite so hot on how long a car was in the departures drop-off area for back then!!

 

[bwanamdevu]

Well I have seen some of these guys at work, and some don’t give a sh-t, as for being insured when you come back from your trip or a couple of weeks holiday it’s your word against theirs that any damage wasn’t there when you give it to them, a family member of mine with a six week old Range Rover came back from a holiday to a deep scratch in its rear wing and door cost £750 weren’t there when he handed it over, but trying to make a claim no chance, they couldn’t even remember which one of the drivers had driven the car.
You go your way and I do what you do, me I always park the car myself and take my keys with me or get a cab or a friend to take me to the airport or cruise terminal and leave the car at home. Bon voyage
Les

It’s recommended by many people that you take a full series of photos of your car and it’s current condition before handing the keys over. That way they can’t say that the bumps or scratches were there before you dropped it off. Make sure that the bosses are aware that you have done this and get their name!

 

[Deleted member 7171]

Do you let the mechanics drive your car

Not for a fortnight I wouldn't.

 

[jamesie]

I seem to remember that there was a documentary that showed a Meet & Greet company parking cars on an industrial estate (public road) some distance from the airport. They weren't hanging around when they were driving the vehicles either!

I don't even like parking the car myself given the idiots that park too close and tend to open their doors onto the car in the next parking bay. Better to leave the car at home if possible.

 

[Alb]

Better to leave the car at home if possible.

Always the best option if you can manage it.

 

[Slipstream]

I am shortly to take delivery of my MG5 which we will be my first EV. Really looking forward to it.

I am also looking to book some airport parking very shortly for our Honeymoon in June. I can’t seem to find any information about leaving an EV in an airport car park for an extended period of time. Is there anything I should be considering?

I left my zs at Stansted for three weeks over Christmas with about 40% battery. Still on 40% when go back. Plenty of chargers on A1 on the way home.

 

[GeoffJ]

I am shortly to take delivery of my MG5 which we will be my first EV. Really looking forward to it.

I am also looking to book some airport parking very shortly for our Honeymoon in June. I can’t seem to find any information about leaving an EV in an airport car park for an extended period of time. Is there anything I should be considering?

I recently left my MG5 (standard range) at Heathrow Terminal 2 (multistory) car park. I was staying at a hotel there overnight and planned to arrive about 4pm, charge my car (Podpoint free chargers in the car park) for a few hours before moving it to a standard parking bay. I had 70% when I arrived and plugged in as planned. Unfortunately 2 hours later when I returned, the battery was still at 70%. This was probably my fault as I've done it a few times before - the MG seems a bit fussy about the order of connecting cables, using the PodPoint app to confirm charging, and then locking the car. If for example, I've left something in the car and unlock it and open the door, then lock it again, it seems to cancel the connection. Now I always chack by looking at the dash through the driver's window when locked, that the display shows the time left to full charge. Anyway, I returned 9 days later and the battery was still at 70%. This was early January when temperatures were pretty low.

 

[ZoeMan]

Thanks for that. The car park I am using you park and take your keys with you. My main concern is not having to immediately worry about your car after arriving back from a lovely holiday. Already some great advice on this thread.

There are some airports which have parking providers that offer EV parking where the car is charged during the stay. I Googled and found APH as an example: APH Park and Ride Manchester Airport (EV Charging)

Theres probably options like that at many airports? Could be worth a look.

 

[smokie]

Reminds me that I paid a bit extra once to have the Ampera charged at airport parking.

It wasn't.

But it was my fault as it was set to only charge during my cheap overnight period and I guess they charged it during the day and didn't know how/understand how /bother) to check it was charged.

The next time I booked the same was after a lockdown, and they had dispensed with the option primarily because it had also gone self park.