COLT601

Have my 992 put away and covered in the garage (heated) for the winter. Its on a battery tender.

Would you start it up every now and then or just leave it sit until spring? I think the last time I drove it was sometime in September or early October.

ryandarr1979

Up until this winter, I would store my car, but I’d start it and drive it at least once a month, but cars like these are designed to sit for months unused.

detansinn

Starting it up and not driving it can do more harm than good. Condensation is your enemy. The best thing that you can do is take it for a spin that’s long enough to get the oil up to temp.

Tupper

Unless you live in some extreme polar climate, why would you not start it up since September? You probably wasted at least 2.5 good months of driving.

Like you, mine is in my garage and mostly covered, and I live in an area with cold winters and I only have summer tires.

To answer your question, no it’s not recommended that you start the engine just to run it idle.

In my case, I’ve started the engine twice since December 24th. Both times to drive it, and on both occasions the roads were dry and it was sunny and close to 40. I’m waiting for a solid over 40 day to go out again, and to get a good wash as well

Penn4S

Fill tires to 50-55lbs, if you have tire pads or carpet squares even better, add Stabil gas stabilizer to a full tank of gas, make sure all windows closed up if you are rural rodent deterrents a must, plug it in and let it hibernate. A good car cover is also a plus. Stating it and not driving it is not recommended. Used to store my Porsches when I lived in Maine for 5-6 months, then would uncover, deflate tires, always started the first turn and off to the races.

LexVan

Parked my cars in Mid-October. Won't fire the motors till Mid-March the soonest. Covid-19 and weather dependent. Same routine (sans CV-19) for the past +15 years.

mathus7

Depending upon road conditions and weather take car out for a 40-60 mile drive every two weeks or more often if conditions are satisfactory. Main consideration is lack of snow or rocks on road and temperature of at least 45 degrees. Outside of December - February, generally no problem for extended drives in Central Oregon (a high desert climate). Usually also avoid mountain passes in November and March.

Tupper

^ This. Except for the 45 degree part.

Drives perfectly fine in the upper 30s on dry roads. Now, I would save the more “spirited” driving for higher temps, but otherwise no issues.

Also, because of road salt you should do a complete wash after every few drives. That’s my plan at least.

Dan Nagy

Same here. I had snow tires for my 991.2 in Reston but haven’t bothered with this one. Southern Delaware along the coast has rather mild winters, up in the 50’s today, so taking it out for a nice cruise today.

CodyBigdog

Not to seem snarky, but I thought cars like this were designed to be driven, not parked in a garage for 3-6 months each year? As a few others have pointed out...unless one lives someplace that’s perpetually snowy/icy, there are always a few weeks, every month, that are suitable for driving. While I appreciate the desire for people to want to baby their new expensive toy, I think not driving for long periods of time (unless you are physically away from the car), sort of defeats the purpose of buying such a great driver’s car. That said, I have, and have had, cars as expensive as the 992, and have always periodically driven them in the Winter. But I would not recommend simply starting, and letting the car idle...but get out and drive 20-40 miles...if not for the car’s sake, for your soul’s sake.

As a side note - when I first started looking to buy a Porsche, I started looking at used Porsche’s. One thing that became very obvious - Many Porsche owners don’t drive their cars much. I’d look at 3-4 year old Porsche’s with less than 10k miles on them. Unless one expects their particular model to become a collector's item, I’m really puzzled why many owners choose not to drive (much) such a wonderful driver’s car? It’s a car - wear and tear are going to happen. While the re-sale value of a low mileage car is higher (everything else being equal), but by not driving for long periods of time, personally, i think you miss out on the enjoyment the car brings....and after all, isn’t that why most of us chose a car like the 992?

COLT601

Should have mentioned: arctic climate, deep snow, -30*F yesterday, and I live down a mile of gravel road. In fact the snow on my own driveway is so deep the car would get stuck. Also never bought winter tires.

Sure I could plow my driveway perfectly smooth, get some winter tires, only to be pelted with rocks and sand by other vehicles everywhere I drove. Parking it is more of a convenience factor than babying the car itself. Ever tried to wash a car when its below freezing? How about below zero? It's a 7 speed and doesn't have remote start. After work the interior would be super cold vs my truck I can just leave running and be nice and toasty.

Gentian21

My Porsches are seldom driven long distances in the winter because I run summer tires. I agree that starting the car and letting it idle should be avoided. Does anyone know whether very brief starts-- to move the car out of the garage bay so that I can wash the other-- risks condensation? If I were to do this, it would only be a couple times a month, for maybe two or three months in a row. Can condensation, if it occurs, be burned off if the oil temperature never reaches 211 degrees? (In the winter, I can't seem to get my oil temperature much above 200-205 degrees).

Bxstr

I store in October. Car doesn't get started until March/April.

If you do start it, either let it run for an incredibly long time, 30 mins to an hour, to be sure that the car gets up to operating temperature, or go and drive it. But even better to just let it sit.

butrcrm

I think there’s a fine line between taking good care of things and being overly ****. I’ve lived in the Midwest my whole life and have had cars varying lengths of time. Rust and damage from salt, etc. can happen, but it is nowhere near what you’d expect based on reading these forums.

And on the expensive toy, babying front, let’s not lose site of the fact that even Lincoln SUVs are now easily north of $100k. And I’m not seeing those parked for winter out of potential salt damage concerns in 17 years (and let’s be real, very few, if any people on here will have a car anywhere near that long).

Get some winter tires and enjoy it.

Tupper

Another issue that I believe is way overblown. Think of how many times you’ve started one of your cars just to move it a few feet, or park it somewhere, or run a 2 minute errand. Never did those things do damage to your car. There is too much fear-mongering about these things.

Now, if you simply ran your car idle in your garage for 10 minutes for no reason, and did this repeatedly, I’m guessing that it would make sense that there could be condensation issues. Even then, the worry is probably 10 times worse than any real harm to your car