This might be a really dumb question...
 

But why does nobody drive their boxsters in the winter? Are they more prone to break down? Or is it just because convertables are "fair weather cares"?

Dude,

I drove my car through 3 Buffalo, NY winters. If I hadn't moved south I'd be doing it again. I know that others on here do the same. The cars handle just fine (and are actually quite fun) on a dedicated set of snows!

Snow = salted roads
Salted roads = rust

Plus, people slide around on slick roads and Porsches are usually totaled with very little damage done to them compared to many other cars involved in fender benders.

There are lots of boxster owners who drive them all winter. However, given the garage space and an extra car, most would not if they had the choice.

I'd drive mine in the winter. Luckily I have an Audi Quattro for the cold days. It is just more practical...

Earlier I used to drive my 911 in the winter with wintertires, fun and no problem!

I think the reason for storage is some people don't use their cars as daily drivers. I for one don't, and because I don't my car stays cleaned, waxed, gassed, and ready to rock my world when I call (unlike my wife :cool: ).

I detail and work on my car during winter, nice to have the down time to fix long lead tasks (rework and paint on all four rims, total brake job[rotors, pads, lines, fluid], etc.) Boys and their toys. :cheers:

My wifes '98 is a daily driver. 127K trouble free miles so far. On snowy days I take it to work since my job is only 2 miles from the house and all side roads. On those snowy days, my wife takes the Explorer because she has to drive 15 miles each way and use the freeway. :chicken:

My car is a daily commute and I have no problem with it during the winter. I live up in Seattle, WA. As well as the snow we've had some pretty dreadful rain. I recently had some Pilot Sport A/S Plus fitted on the car and it's been nothing but a dream to drive this winter. I'm yet to lose the rear end and I drive pretty spritedly. I hope these perform as well during the summer. As for cleaning the car, I seem to be washing it every week!

Our cars use galvanized steel, as long as you spray the salt off on a regular basis there'll be zero rust.

I agree about the body being galvanised, but have you seen what the salt does to the underside bolts, hangers, clips, brake calipers / pistons etc. If you do your own maintenance, I found that you spent more time trying to release frozen & broken bolts than anything else

I saw an article in one of the UK Porsche magazines last month where there was a step by step procedure on how to replace the fuel lines that had rusted through... :eek:
And some other poor guy was asking where he could get the pipework for his rusted out power steering connection pieces! Now thats the downside of driving in winter.
When I worked in the UK, I found it was cheaper to buy an old clunker and lock your good car away 'till Spring is sprung.

Salt is part of the reason I don't drive on snow and ice. The main reason is that I don't want to get creamed by some stupid cow in a minivan.

Cows driving minivans eh. Is that legal in your part of the world??

I'd sooner resort to hitchhiking, cross country skis or sled dogs for that matter, before I would subject my "garage princess" to any kind of snow or salt . :)

"Cows driving minivans eh. Is that legal in your part of the world??"


Apparently, sadly, and unfortunately. They can frequently be spotted driving in heavy traffic while talking on their cell phones.

.........cell phones, putting on make up, talk to unruly kids, eat, drink...............

Why no winter driving? No winter tires and 24" of snow in the last 48 hours. Correction... I have winter tires.... their on the DD.

I am in Melbourne, Australia.

I drive my car daily all year.

We don't really make much distinction between winter and summer tires, or winter or summer oil here.

I had no issue removing my stock exhaust 2 years ago after one winter season. In fact my friend was so surprised there were no rusted bolts and everything came off like butter.

Porsches older than 1988 do not use galvanized steel bodies.

Re: rusted fuel lines... hence why I said you need to spray the car & underbody as often as you can if you decide to drive it in the winter.

+1 on the cows
I wouldn't want to leave it to chance that someone else
didn't put winter tires on their car. ..then slide into the boxster

#1 reason for me. --> ROCK CHIPS

I see the odd 911 or boxster on milder days but
up here. ..its truck territory during winter

It sure is legal in India :)

On the galvanized body panels comment, I have a couple of rust spots on my 97 box about the size of a dime and a quarter. I've been meaning to do something about them but didn't want a hideous patch of whatever there that would be more noticeable. It's growing though.

I mention this because boxsters do rust. My car was originally a DD driven around in Salt Lake City, according to the title search I did before I purchased the car.

I don't understand the thinking behind owning a great car and not driving it everyday? Why on earth would someone own a Porsche and leave it in the garage to drive some other POS?

I bought my Boxster to drive every minute of every hour of everyday that is humanly possible. And when it wears out, I'll buy another one and do the same ad infinitum.

A Boxster isn't an appreciating asset. Driving a Boxster less might preserve some of the original value of the car (because Boxsters depreciate more on miles than years) but the value is still going down every year regardless of how many miles driven. For example, the difference between a 2000 Boxster with 100,000 miles ($10K) and a 2000 Boxster with 40,000 miles ($16K) is only about $6K - which is almost nothing compared to the original $48,000 price.

I agree with you, I drive my car through the winter snow but I understand why others put their cars away for the winter and if you're in LA, it's easier for you to say "drive it everyday" than someone living in Western NY who has 48" of snow on the ground with the state spraying rock salt on the roads.

I'm in the south. Drive all year round.

Kinda hard to describe to someone who doesn't feel the same way. I don't see these cars as disposable, to be driven into the ground and then discarded, especially the older ones as there are fewer of them every day. I want my car to last for a very long time, forever if possible, because I really like this car.

And so I protect it from harsh environments that will shorten it's life, like Canadian winters. My car is 12 years old and it still looks almost like new. I guarantee it would not look this way after three winters, never mind twelve.

Does the car still have original paint? Was it in any fender bender? If you don't know the answer to these then all chips are off.

I bought my Boxster specifically to be a daily driver, year 'round in Chicago. It's great in the snow with snow tires on it. In fact, it's one of the best winter cars I've ever driven.

Although the cars are far less prone to rust than older cars, stuff like bolts do rust. So if you're going to drive your car in the white stuff, I'd get some Boeshield and spray any screws and bolts exposed under the car.

On my drive home tonight, there was a Porsche advert on the radio.
It said "Porsches can handle just about anything and with proper winter tires they can handle the snow fine, especially an AWD 911. The only thing Porsches can't handle is being trapped in a garage."

+1 on this, My Box Is a 99 also W/58K miles on it and it looks and drives like I just drove it off the show room floor.

I would not dream of driving mine after Dec 1st, I am not saying you can not drive are cars all year,I just do not have the hart to drive mine in Michigan winters. :)

I'm mainly trying to avoid the salt in the winter

I'm driving the 98 this winter, not much fun on bumpy ice potholes. I usually drive the 924S in the winter but it needs a water pump, head gasket, and tranny.

Winter is San Diego is definitely not most peoples' idea of winter. However, with the rains (heavy and light) my '01 daily driver does just fine.

My only issue was with tires. When I have Kumho Ecsta ASX on, they grip well on wet or dry. When I have Hankook Ventus V12 Evo K110 on, the rear end likes to let go a bit quicker on hard cornering. They LOVE the dry pavement and stick like glue.

My car doesn't know what snow is and likely never will. :D

Porsche's own winter driving school:
http://www.porsche.com/canada-pde/en/yourcamp4/learn/

A bit pricey at $4995 CAD

Why on earth would I destroy my mint condition Box S, when my Grand Cherokee goes through the white stuff so easily?