Hi all. I took delivery of my MY23 911 C4S on July 29th and am still breaking it in, just hitting 1,700 miles (just haven’t had enough driving time unfortunately). I will be storing the car from Jan - April for the snowy winter months (I have other more appropriate cars to drive in the snow). Assuming the dealer will apply the included 1st service, should I change the oil prior to storing or store it as is and do the oil change on or around July/2024? what would you do?

I know it’s probably best to store it with fresh oil but am slightly conflicted since the car is so new and doesn’t really have a lot of miles to justify the service. Also, I’ve kept the RPM below 4k so the existing oil hasn’t really been stressed.

Thanks in advance.

 

I used to "time" vehicle oil changes with storage - I don't do that any longer. Oil is better now and with only a 4 month layup I think the concern is overkill. Enjoy the new vehicle - they're marvelous.

 

You should be fine waiting till July for your first service/oil change.

 

This week I took my 2023 911 for its first service I have driven it just 1900 miles - this summer the car sat for 5 months while we were at our vacation home and also in Europe for 6 weeks.

Last year my 2022 911 with only 900 miles also sat for 5 months while we were away.

I have no issue leaving cars for extended periods with the existing oil in the sump.

I have a BMW at my vacation home which typically sits for 9 months and I only change the oil in that when the computer in the car says its time !!!

 

I also live where there are winter months. I do DD my 911 Targa, but I always try to get on a late winter/early spring oil change (also the dealers are usually less backed up) - and usually take to a dealer during warranty period for oil and other things I want looked at. (I do most of my own oil changes post warranty (FWIW).

You might wait until Feb/March and have it done then, that way you are good during the prime driving months. Also your first oil change is included. Some dealers (not mine fortunately) will not allow you to do it much in advance (from what I have heard on this site). But being only a couple of months early a Feb/March time scale might be worth it.

I do it more out of timing and convivence for my fun summer cars, so I know I cycle all my cars around that time to do oil, service, etc. all around Feb/March - so they are ready for driving season, etc.

Just a consideration for you.

 

Oil doesn't really "age" if it's just sitting there.

 

Honestly you should really keep these opinions to yourself when dealing with fact based posts, as this is so not right at all. With opinion wanted posts, it is fine to state whatever you want, but this type of thing for people that do not know the answer is pretty detrimental and frankly not correct.

Oil sitting in a car for extended periods will develop moisture thus degrading the oil, viscosity, etc.

There are literally hundreds of scientific posts on this with a simple google search. Also, each brand new quart and gallon of oil comes with a 5 year expiration date, there is reason why this is as well within a sealed bottle not alone an oil based coolant system within a car.

How and where you store your car (open, closed, heated and cooled garage, etc.), temperatures when driving, when stored, etc. all can affect oil life.

For high-performance and cost of our 911s, I would always recommend changing the oil once per year (or close to) regardless of miles. Now with that said, do you have a few months on either side of that to not have to worry - sure. But oil does age, depending on environment and storage, or even if driven a little in what type of environment and what type of driving is done.