Secure Vehicle Storage in Denver: Why People Put Cars in Containers

A locked steel container on fenced ground is one of the better places to leave a vehicle you are not driving for a while, and it costs a lot less than indoor storage.

The reason is simple. A container has no windows, one door, and a lockbox welded over the latch so a cutter cannot reach the shackle. Nobody can see what is inside, and not being able to see inside is most of the battle. A car under a cover in an open lot announces that there is a car under there. A car inside a 40 foot container looks like a shipping container.

What actually fits

A 20 foot container is about 19 feet 4 inches long and 7 feet 8 inches wide inside. That takes a sedan, a coupe, a Miata, a motorcycle collection, most small SUVs. A crew cab full size pickup is close to 19 feet 9 inches long and will not go in, so measure yours before you rent.

A 40 foot takes two cars nose to tail, or one car plus shelving down both walls for everything else you were going to store anyway. The door opening is 7 feet 8 inches wide and 7 feet 5 inches tall, so width is almost never the problem. Height is, if you have a lifted truck or a van with a roof rack. A 40 foot high cube gives you 8 feet 10 inches inside.

The six inch sill

A container floor sits about 6 inches off the ground on steel rails, so you need a pair of ramps or two lengths of 2 by 10 to drive in. Low cars need longer boards and a shallower angle. Set it up right once and it is a twenty second job every time after that.

How to prep a car that is going to sit

Fill the tank and add stabilizer. A full tank does not sweat.

Change the oil before it sits rather than after. Used oil is acidic and it is going to spend the whole time against your bearings.

Put about 5 extra psi in the tires, or get it on jack stands if it is sitting longer than six months.

Pull a battery terminal or fit a disconnect. Yard spaces do not come with power, so a plug in trickle charger is out unless you bring a solar one.

Mice are the number one thing that ruins a stored vehicle. Steel wool in the exhaust and the air intake, bait stations outside the container, nothing edible inside, and no cardboard they can nest in.

Leave the parking brake off and chock the wheels instead, so the pads do not bond to the rotors.

Throw a few tubs of desiccant in and put the car on a breathable cover, not a plastic tarp. A tarp traps moisture against the paint.

RVs, boats and trailers are a different answer

Those do not go in containers, they go on open yard space, and the honest math matters here. If you have one travel trailer, a dedicated RV lot at $120 a month is cheaper than anything we rent and you should go do that.

If you have an RV and a boat and a utility trailer, three separate spots at $130 each is $390 and they are in three different rows. Our 800 square foot space is $530, it is all yours, and nothing has to be moved for you to pull the boat out in June. The full breakdown is in RV, boat and trailer storage in Arvada and Wheat Ridge.

What it costs

A 20 foot container is $200 a month and a 40 foot is $330 at Arvada and both Wheat Ridge yards. In Laveen Village, Arizona a 20 is $160, a 40 is $250, and a 10 by 40 parking space is $150. Houston has 40 foot high cubes at $215.

Compare that to indoor climate controlled vehicle storage in the metro, which starts around $250 and runs past $500 for a 12 by 40 bay.

What a container will not do

No climate control, no power, no dehumidifier. If you own something that genuinely needs 55 degrees and steady humidity, pay for indoor storage. For a daily driver sitting out a deployment, a project car, a convertible in January, or a second truck you only need in summer, a container is the right amount of protection at a third of the price.

If you are still deciding between this and a storage unit, read self storage versus a container yard. Current openings are on the availability page. Call 720-266-0400.