kDub

I just purchased my first Porsche, a 2011 987 Spyder with 8.5k miles. I know a lot of you will say "you only live once so put as many miles as possible on it!!" However, I do not plan to put a ton of miles on it so I am looking for some recommendations on best practices for running a car ~ 5k miles per year. I plan to drive it more frequently but for shorter distances / miles. Luckily I have some good twisties very close to my house so I plan to give it hell when I do drive it.

So far my short list is a battery tender, a cover for in the garage since I plan to keep the top off (I live in San Diego) and a good tire pressure gauge to maintain the tire pressure. I also plan to do the annual maintenances knowing the mileage won't be going over.

I know this sounds nerdy but what is good practice for how long the car should warm up prior to driving it and what is a good general rule of thumb for how long / far to drive the car to prevent any odd things from happening that I would never think about. Anything else to consider from others who have some lessons learned on owning second cars and driving lower miles?

Thanks!!

andy7777

I've had 3 Porsches, two 987s and a 981 in the last 4 years that accumulate between 3 and 6K miles a year. I don't do anything special that I haven't done to any car, don't drive it hard until the oil temperature has gone up a bit, usually 2-3 miles, and occasionally get it going for an hour or two. I have made plenty of 1 mile supermarket runs in between track days and trips lasting 4 hours. Keep it on a tender if you're not going to drive it for a few days, not because a battery will discharge (it won't) but so it doesn't deplete and have to get charged back up often. There really aren't any "odd" things that happen with these cars due to low mileage or inactivity.

Unless you have records showing a battery change, I would certainly put in a new battery on a 2011 car. If you're at all concerned that the car may have been driven hard in spite of the miles, get an alignment and make sure the numbers are factory spec, and check the tires. A 2011 car is wearing out of spec dated rubber. Get a brake fluid flush and keep a lookout for oil changes. That's all I can think of.

daylorb

Agree with those comments, battery tender probably makes sense if you think it will sit quite a bit.

On getting the oil warm - min takes more than 2-3 miles. Be careful of that. I have an AIM Solo DL plugged in and the oil takes significantly longer to warm than the water. I'm at at least 4-5 miles before getting to a point where you can drive it care-free.

As far as a cover for it - I don't know. Putting a full cover on probably takes longer than putting the top on/off, and there is a downside to rubbing a cover on the paint frequently. I'd probably just put the sun shade on it/not the back in the garage. Pretty easy.

Congrats on the purchase - you are going to love it!

Marine Blue

Congrats on the purchase!

I usually drive similar or less miles per year and haven’t had any issues. The only thing I can add to what was already suggested is that when I start the car I typically wait for the idle to settle before I leave the garage.

Post up some pics when you get a chance and hopefully you can make it out for some of the runs.

Kitc2246

Check the age related maintenance. The battery, brake fluid and tires have been mentioned. You don't want to learn how to jump open the frunk. My manuals are in my car at the Indy, but the serpentine belt comes to mind. Mine looked brand new, but changed it anyway.

09 Boxster PDK Sport/Sport+

crossroads

I have the Carcraft Dustop cover for my 987 Spyder. One of the previous owners had originally bought it. Very easy to put on. The only downside is that I don't put the rear part of the cover all the way down until the engine cools. It is very convenient because I tend to keep the top off most of the summer.

The Spyder seems like it was designed for SoCal. Mine started life out there but now resides in the midwest.

danschy

Yeah, I've had my 07 Cayman about 5 years and have put about 12k miles on it. Many of those miles were long trips, so I make A LOT of short trips, including some, gasp(!), that don't get it fully warm, however when I send my oil to Blackstone for analysis it looks perfect, including 0.0% moisture. Probably the most important thing I've learned is to use a battery maintainer. During winter I don't drive it enough to keep it charged, so I'd recommend one of those if you go several days between (short) drives.

f4 plt

What a shame , this is a great car drive it . I would consider my 2012 Spyder low mileage with 41, xxx mileage on the clock. Porsche recommends 6 k miles per year . The car is too much fun to leave sitting in the garage battery tender or not
by the way I am the original owner and my wife and I have been all over the country in ours

kDub

Thanks for all of the suggestions!! Luckily my vehicle was just serviced so new tires, break fluid flush etc. were just performed in January 2019. I did not think about the serpentine belt so I will look into that as well as the battery. Good to know ~ 3 miles for the oil to warm up before getting on it and letting it idle for a few minutes after ignition. Good point on taking the cover off and on could potentially wear down the paint and not putting a cover on until its cooled off. The main reason I thought about a cover, ironically, is due to Spiders. SoCal must have perfect weather for spiders and they are constantly making webs in the garage. I will randomly find them in my daily driver if I leave the sunroof cracked - so I can only imagine an open cockpit in the garage.

Car ships from New York on Wednesday so I should likely see it by next weekend!


Next on the list is to search the forums to see if I can track down the original owner by VIN.

Thanks again for the responses!!

gartzspeed

Ya but, you have a trailer hitch for your spyder.
How many of those 41k would be missing if you didn't have the nifty little pull along?

John McM

Can you share a pic of the car cover?

MidEngineRules

Did someone suggest this? It's not needed. You can drive as soon as the rpms fall to normal idle. In Germany, it's even against the law to just sit with the car idling so German car makers aren't going to build something that requires this. It's far better for the car to move under power than just sit at idle. For one, there are other components you're warming up other than just the motor. Of which sitting idle doesn't do anything for.

And even after a few minutes of driving, the oil isn't close to being at operating temperature. So I wouldn't redline the motor after some pre-determined single digit minute mark. In the end the DFI engine is very rock solid ... just use a little restraint. The next owner will appreciate it!

Wish I still had my 2011 Spyder. Bought it 3 years ago this summer with 2,000 miles on it. It was like new. Wish i never sold it, but test drove a also like new 981 Spyder and that's all it took. In retrospect I wish I kept the 987 Spyder. More power isn't necessarily more fun. A hard lesson to learn.

ekam

I don't get this. I don't get into the driver seat thinking, oh, I got to save it for the next owner!

Someone actually made a good point, he said "do you not screw your wife so you can save her for the next guy?"

MidEngineRules

It was a joke. Guess I could have added lol but I'm a baby boomer and that stuff is for 'tards or dolts ... take your pick "lol"!

Exclamation points were often used to indicate a lack of seriousness... !!! Think of it as voice inflection.

Ok, I'm having a bad sense of humor day.

But the point you missed is that there's no point to misuse anything you happen to appreciate.

kDub

The previous poster mentioned letting the idle even out - I am not sure how long it takes but luckily I live in the USA so I should not get arrested if I let it idle too long!!! So how do you know when the oil is warmed up? The previous post suggested 2 - 3 miles. What do you suggest?