I did a search for this info, and didn't see anything. So I apologize if this is a repeat Thread. But I'm looking for some advice and experience.. for my '07 Base model.

With living in the dark dank North, I have the looming winter season on the horizon. I'm not a fan of winter, and have a large disdain for snow. This year is going to be tougher, as I'm going to be forced to look at my dream car....under a cover....in my garage....for a LOOOOONG time....while not getting to drive it (a whole new level of self-torture!!)..
But anyway - enough of my rant.. I'm looking for advice and experience from other Cayman owners, on how to correctly store a car for the long sleep. What are some of the things you do to keep your car perfect, and healthy, while it sits? I'm sure I need to keep my battery tender hooked up. But how long? Do I just always have it plugged in? I'm planning an oil change soon - before it's parked. Is there anything else I should do - mechanical wise - for this long period?
I have no plans of starting the car, and letting it sit and idle, at intermittent periods - as I've understood this is not good for the engines. Even the hardy 2.7l version.

I'm trying to drive it, as long as possible. The weather has been (surprisingly) great, lately! But we're likely to start seeing snow, within the next few weeks. And it typically 'sticks' by November. So if I make it into early November, before she goes under the wraps, I'll be very fortunate! But it'll be a VERY long wait for April/May....when the crappy snow is hopefully gone.. So that's 6 to 7 months, on a good year!! Sometimes it's longer....uhhgggg!!!

 

Say it ain't so!

Here's one thread that I've found on the topic, https://rennlist.com/forums/987-foru...r-storage.html

 

Geez. I even typed in "winter" and "storage"... I guess I didn't go back far enough. Thanks!

 

Hi from over in Saskatchewan!

My storage is pretty simple, fill the tank, air the tires up to 45psi, put on the charger and the cover and call it a day. I've stored my car the past 3 winters and have had no issues, other than last year where my bad battery totally failed over the course of the winter.

Sometimes I think of getting some Nokian Hakas in the stock 17" size and driving the car in the winter. It would be a riot, but for every good winter driving day (fresh snow!) there are 20 when the roads are a salty, mushy, disaster and the car would end up sitting anyways.

 

A good battery maintainer will cycle on and off as needed to keep the battery charged, so leave it on all the time. In addition to the things you mentioned, over-inflate your tires to prevent flat-spotting and be sure to do something to prevent mice from attacking the wiring on your car. I've had good luck with the most recently developed electronic rodent repellant devices (but other people haven't been as impressed by them). If you have/get mice in your garage, set traps and keep resetting them until you don't catch any more. Mice run along the base of the walls, so check there periodically for droppings. Also, eliminate or seal food sources (Pet food, bird feed, etc.) in metal containers so that mice aren't attracted.

 

and make sure all your "cats" are working properly.

 

I say, drive it in the winter! Porsche tested these cars for winter service (a few example pictures here: https://www.stuttcars.com/porsche-models/boxster/986/). Sure, maybe you don't want to drive it ALL the time in the snow, but from what I'm seeing it's a pretty capable vehicle in the snow.

Blasphemy, I'm sure... but I plan to run mine a few times at least... but I'm also further south (Connecticut, USA) than you... but I've seen others post photos of their cars in the snow, too!

 

Snow is fine, it's the chemicals on the road that I'm not intested in testing on my Cayman. I always say, if I was dictator of our world I would ban caustic chemicals on the roads and people would be forced to buy good winter tires and learn to drive. Alas, not going to happen. I've seen first hand what nasty chemicals do to corrode cars and I'm not interested in reproducing that on my Porsche.

I think of it this way, if I daily drove my Cayman in the winter here it would last for about another 10 years. If I keep it for summer driving it will last the rest of my life and I can pass it down to my son when I'm dead assuming the Porsche e-fuel thing works out. I'm going with the latter, and besides, my Golf R is still pretty darn fun to drive in the winter.

 

Some great responses here! Thanks!

Hello KrisA.. Been a while since I've graced the quiet Province of Saskatchewan. Still lots of (distant) family, out that way..

I'm pretty confident that I won't have to worry about rodents. The car will be in my heated attached garage. We've lived here for over 4 years now (newer house, and area), and haven't seen any evidence of such critters. I'm out in my garage quite often - doing all sorts of projects, and whatnot. And my indoor cats do pop out with me, once in a while. They'd definitely alert me to such things.
Driving in the winter.. hrmm.... It is something I long considered. Even before getting my car. At first, it was a way to justify such a car purchase, living in a place where sports cars typically only have about 4 to 5 months of driving season. As well, these cars were designed to be driven - no matter the conditions! Put on winter tires....and away you go.. A few friends thought it would be utter sacrilege, to hoon around in such a car...in the winters we get. And I partially agreed. But.... I really considered it! However, the problem (for me) is that the car I ended up with is in such 'cherry' condition!! And as a couple people above mentioned, the crap that is put into the snow removal, is really not 'healthy' for such a car. They put a LOT of sand and pea gravel on the roads around here (not sure how much salt gets used anymore - I think that's no longer in practice, in these parts). So the sand and gravel makes our roads very rutty, and very messy! That kind of abuse on the underside, and paint....not sure I'd want that.

The tire inflation sounds like a good plan. But I was planning to take it a step further. I'm a bit of a wood craftsman - and have a bunch of scrap wood around (always). I was thinking about building some tire cradles. Nothing fancy. Just something with a matching curve - to help keep the roundness.
Seems like the amount of fuel left in the tank is a bit of a debate. And adding some stabilizer. I'll have to do some more research there..

 

+1

Love driving a P-car every day.

But to each his own.

 

The 2.7 doesn't borescore so I would drive it in winter

I drove my 2000 Boxster S and 2006 Boxster S year round in salt, snow, slush, you name it

 

Here's what I've been doing when I store my 987.1 for the winter:

1. Clean it inside and out. There's nothing like the first spring day for a drive and the car is clean!
2. Fresh oil service. So when spring arrives I'm ready to go.
3. Over inflate the tires a bit to prevent flat spotting. Once the tires warm up flat spotting goes away anyway.
4. Hook up the battery tender.
5. Lock it up so I goes into hibernation mode.
6. Give one final look and go have a drink

Matt

 

if i knew for sure i wouldn't be using the car for months, i would disconnect the battery cables completely and leave it that way. i would then top off the battery and reconnect it before the next use.

 

I used to store the car in a barn with no access to electricity and I would disconnect the battery. You get a PSM warning when you connect it back up, but that goes away in a few feet of driving. You also lose training info in the ECU. If you do decide to disconnect the battery, do yourself a favor and stick something through the frunk latch so that you can be absolutely sure it doesn't get closed on you. I used a cut off chunk of an old hockey stick (extra credit if it is carbon fiber), it fits through the "u" on the frunk lid and there is absolutely no way for the frunk to latch. If you are going to disconnect the battery and anticipate having to get into the car at all, it is important that you lower your windows slightly so that you can open/close the doors without banging the window on the door surround trim.

I would add to Matt's post above:
1. Put a cover over the car to protect it from bumps/scratches
2. Some people shove steel wool up the tail pipe to prevent mouse invasions
3. You can throw some desiccant packs in the interior, the trunk and the frunk.

I liked having a checklist for both putting the car to sleep and for bringing it out of sleep (for example, you don't want to forget about the steel wool in the spring).

 

I stuff a few dryer sheets in the tailpipes, few under the body, etc. Mice hate the sweet smell of them. Hasn't let me down yet. We came home from our only 7-day Disneyworld trip to find a mouse ate my wife's sienna main ECU harness under the hood so since then I'm nuts about it.