Your Porsche winter check list.
If you are putting your Porsche away for some of the winter these are the things we recommend…….
Clean it inside and out.
The cleaner the car is when you put it away, the better it will look every time you check in on it. I usually do a complete wash and a put a quick coat of wax on just for that added protection. Don’t forget the wheels. The last thing you want to do is leave brake dust on your rims to sit and eat at the finish for the winter.
Fill it up.
Make sure you have as full a tank as possible. I make it a point to gas up at the station closest to my garage right before I put away my car. With a full tank you help to keep out any unwanted condensation or water build up that can happen when a car sits all winter long.
Tyre Pressures.
If you’re not going to put your car up on axle / jack-stand (which we don’t recommend), the next best thing is to get a good amount of tire pressure in each tire. Make sure you don’t over inflate past the manufacturers recommend capacity, but you should go over the recommend driving pressure. In general, tires can lose 1 psi per month under normal conditions and an addition 1 psi per ever 10 degree (Fahrenheit) drop in temp. As a general rule of thumb, put 50lbs of pressure in each tire. You have to remember to do this when the tires are cold or you won’t get an accurate reading and you may end up with flat spots. There is nothing worse then taking your Porsche out for the first time in the spring and having damaged tires due to flat spots from storage. Properly inflated tires will avoid this.
Charger it.
Some people like to take the battery out of their cars or at least disconnect them. We recommend some kind of Charger / Battery Maintainer to make sure my battery is always fresh and I’m ready to go. It would be a shame to get a nice spring day, go to start the car and find you have a dead battery (not to mention, it can get expensive replacing your battery every year). Let’s face it, the electronics in a modern Porsche tend to eat up a battery pretty easily if the car isn’t used frequently. So, either disconnect it or put on some type of Charger / Battery Maintainer . What you definitely want to avoid is starting your Porsche and letting it “warm-up” or run to charge the battery. This simply allows condensation to develop or collect in your motor (you won’t get it hot enough to burn it off) and can possibly cause long-term damage. Look in your manual you will see this is not recommended. Remember, if you do decide to disconnect the battery, you will need to have your radio code handy in the spring to get your system functioning again.
Cover it.
Even if your car is in a nice heated garage, securely tucked away with the key hidden, I’ve always thought it a good idea to keep my cars covered. This way, you don’t have to worry about anyone or anything bumping into or crawling on or over you nice paint. We recommend to use a thick, padded, indoor Porsche car cover or an outdoor car cover, If you do use a cover make sure it covers your exhaust pipes. If you don’t use a cover, you might want to think of covering your pipes with something (those big 16 oz keg cups work great). The idea behind this is to keep out any rodents that might want to try and build a nest for the winter. You laugh, but I’ve seen it happen to a customer’s car and it can be very frustrating and expensive.
Seal It.
We recommend you don’t storage your vehicle if the weather strips and rubber seals are perished or leaking in water, change the main seals before your put your car away, this will save your interior and carpets
DRIVE IT
This should probably be up at the very top, but I don’t want you to forget. The most important thing you can do prior to putting your Porsche away is to drive it and enjoy as you may not have her back on the road for another few months.