# Cheapest was to store an ATV or snowmobile

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheapest-was-to-store-an-atv-or-snowmobile/807099>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [January 21, 2018, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheapest-was-to-store-an-atv-or-snowmobile/807099 "2018-01-21T03:06:35Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![molten](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ec9cab/32.png) [@molten](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/molten)\
**Post date:** [January 21, 2018, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheapest-was-to-store-an-atv-or-snowmobile/807099/1 "2018-01-21T03:06:35Z")

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I am thinking of buying an ATV or snowmobile to use a couple of times a year in Wisconsin as the prices are high for a rental.

Is there a way for me to store it near the location that would make it cheaper to buy?

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**Author:** ![ZonexandScout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zonexandscout/32/544_2.png) [@ZonexandScout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZonexandScout)\
**Post date:** [January 21, 2018, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheapest-was-to-store-an-atv-or-snowmobile/807099/2 "2018-01-21T04:49:49Z")

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Since this is the IMHO board, I’ll throw out my opinion that the most expensive way to have a big toy is to try to save money by buying one. (This is based on several years of experience with a boat, then a jet ski, then…I forget, but it was big and noisy.) It’s almost always cheaper to just go ahead and rent it, unless you are going to use it a lot more frequently than a couple times a year. Again, just my feelings about it. It’s also why I rent a convertible when I want the wind in my hair (all four of them), instead of owning one.

If this verges on threadshitting, I apologize. On a more positive note, I’ll mention that many marinas have storage facilities that might be appropriate.

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**Author:** ![Athena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/35a633/32.png) [@Athena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athena)\
**Post date:** [January 21, 2018, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheapest-was-to-store-an-atv-or-snowmobile/807099/3 "2018-01-21T15:02:49Z")

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I’m with **ZonexandScout** : if you’re only going to use them a couple times a year, just rent 'em. In my experience, it’s tremendously difficult to maintain motor vehicles that you use so infrequently. Inevitably, you’ll pull them out of storage, and they won’t start, or the mice got to them, or something else, and instead of spending that long weekend using them you blow a day or two getting them running.

At least, that’s what we dealt with when we had ATVs. We used them seasonally, and there was always something we had to do when we pulled them out of storage in the spring. It was no big deal since we used them a fair bit throughout the summer & fall; it would have been a huge hassle to deal with if we were only going to use them once or twice a year.