A sad day, hopefully just temporary though....
 

I've never done this before, though I'm sure many of us here are regulars………
A short while ago this afternoon I put my S8 on a SORN. :-(

Had a final outing earlier along the M40 and into the SW Chilterns, less than 100 miles in total, just to check everything is running fine.

Glorious day for a drive and a walk though, tragic shame the pubs weren't open, we passed 3 great ones in Skirmett, Turville and Fingest.
Here's a view of Fingest from the Chiltern Way heading over to Skirmett via the woods.

http://forum.a8parts.co.uk/attachmen...4&d=1590771461

I had a similar dilemma, the 8 hasn’t turned a wheel in nearly 3 months. What few trips I’ve had to take for supplies I’ve used the diesel chug-a-bug but the big old tax bill still needs paying. A quarter of a year of tax, MoT and insurance is a sizeable bill for no usage. Hopefully this will end soon and we can get back to making use of the 8s

I sorned mine in March :( I had a lot of jobs to do on it (including replacing all four calipers) which were thwarted by lockdown as all suppliers I needed were shut. They're open again now, but I've lost too much time and income so it will be back out to play in 2021.

Your not alone. I sorn every winter and back on the road for 1st May. Not this year. ��
I'll bring it on line once lock down is over and I can do some decent milage trips.

At least if I want to use it I can tax it again very quickly at no loss. Though there's some weird 5-day delay built into the system that I don't understand. :Confused:
And given cheap petrol, quiet roads and no limit now on travel in a day (in England) it's very tempting...……………

It's been quite a while since I've driven it on near-empty roads and I'd forgotten just how unaware you are of the performance, even though by modern standards it's "only" about 350bhp.
I just kept passing slower vehicles..... :rolleyes:

Have to agree with the joy of driving with no traffic.
Had to head south on the M6 into Cheshire yesterday evening at 17:00 and no Friday evening rush hour? It was like flying.
Oh and every one was well disciplined in lane using.

The road fund license is an annoying cost... In theory its trivial given the cost of fuel, but is a sizeable monthly cost for the older big engine cars.... Esp when they are just stood there.

I've paid Band M prices for a very long time, and with at least 2 cars on the drive was the best part of £100 a month for probably a decade or so.

The Tesla and Q7 are about 16 quid a month combined I think, combined with the fact that the Tesla earns me money when I charge it up

I'll enjoy it while it lasts, once most of the dirty gas guzzlers are gone i'm sure the taxes will rise again.....

The typical argument is get rid of RFL and put it on the fuel, but given that you are being paid to charge I can't see that working either :Confused:

Put it on the tyres? :ROFL:

:rolf:

And it's back on SORN again, starting yesterday. :-(

But they need a good thrashing every now and again otherwise things like the F125 switch and calipers seem to object to idleness. SWMBO does mention SORN word every now and again but I try to rationalise that its cheaper than playing golf. :) Took mine out today and it purred along. The gearbox was serviced at Mackies* a few weeks back and seems nice and smooth.
(*5HP24 service is now £175+VAT)

I have learned that paying the road tax and taking them for a thrash now and again is considerably more cost effective than fixing the stuff that breaks when they get bored!

What do you think I did with it immediately before logging on to SORN it? :rolleyes:

+1. And six months is waay too long to leave them without running. Even when my Coupe was SORNed over winter, I'd still take it for an occasional run :rolleyes:

What is SORN?

It stands for 'Statutory Off Road Notification'. What it basically means is that we in the UK can take our car off the road (SORN) and don't have to pay the VED (Vehicle Excise Duty, commonly called 'Road Tax' here). We would SORN a car if it won't be used for several months, say over the winter months, or as is happening now with all the lockdowns. We still have to keep the vehicle insured though.

Every little bit helps in saving a few pounds. My VED costs £325 a year and that's for a 3.7. The 5.2 D3 S8 I used to have costs £580 a year.

Thanks for asking that. I didn't know either.

Sadly mine are also off the road since spring. I SORN´d my car only a month ago. When I realised that I have no idea when I might have it back in one piece :-(

It's not a legal requirement to have it insured but you may want to keep it insured in case of fire, theft etc +++

Another learning day at school. Since my return to the UK in 2012, I was led to believe by my insurance company that you needed to have your car insured at all times, as part of the 'continuous insurance enforcement' introduced in 2011, so never questioned it.

On the other hand, as you say, probably best to keep it insured in case of any mishaps.

Just following up on CIE, it says here https://www.gov.uk/vehicle-insurance/uninsured-vehicles that you don't need to if the vehicle is SORN'ed.
Having not even started mine for a while I decided today to see if the AA large solar panel had been doing it's job and keeping the battery alive.
It started fine so I went back and forth on the drive a few times to check it all moved OK then ran the engine up to normal temperature.
It was nice and sunny so I sat in the Recaro and relaxed while testing the sound system with Led Zeppelin at an "appropriate" volume...…. :D

I did a quick test on the panel and it's putting out a small current but at 20v so should be doing something.

It's been a month, though very little sun and very low when it is out so I did another check. Presumably the worst time for solar panels until we're well into February.

Voltage on the battery was below 12V but it did start quickly despite turnover being a bit sluggish.
Left it running for quite a while to get thoroughly warmed up and blow some dry air through the cabin.

It's been a while and it's been on SORN for over 6 months now, with the big AA solar panel plugged in.
That seems to look after the battery to some extent, but not completely, enough to keep the basic electrics (locking, radio codes etc.) alive for sure over winter.

I have connected an external charger just once in those 6 months and run the engine 2 or 3 times, more to blow its cobwebs out than for the battery.
To be honest I'm not sure the battery is in tip-top condition despite being relatively new. I think it's a Halfords/Yuasa that others have had issues with.

Today I have connected a charger again just to make sure the battery is back up to starting power. It's my birthday this weekend so I might just have a little run round the block.....