Care & Feeding Of A Garage Queen
 

No, the title does not refer to me, it refers to my car. :D

I have noticed that I tend not to drive my car. I've had it for 10 months and put about 600 miles on it. I drive it a few miles every couple of weeks. I'm wondering what I should do to maintain it. If I wait for 3,000 miles to change the oil, it will be 5 years before it's changed! That doesn't sound like a good idea.

And what about all the other bits: those little rubber seals around the windows, the tires, the battery, the top? I plan to keep it about 10 years, so I want it to be okay. No issues so far, knock on wood.

The environment is very humid, hot, never below freezing, garaged. I'm thinking about putting one of those buckets of desiccant inside the car to pull the humidity out of the air so the leather doesn't get moldy (I had that happen in another car. The steering wheel was actually furry :eek:). Maybe a battery tender? It starts well, so far.

Any other ideas?

I've always changed the oil each year regardless of miles as the stuff gets contaminated and dirty fairly quickly.You don't want that junk sitting in there.In a perfect world, the short drives should be long enough to thoroughly warm the car--maybe 30 minutes and after it is completely warmed,run it pretty hard.Let it cool down a bit before parking.

Don't know where you live, but Arkansas is Captain Humidity King with nothing separating us from the constant gulf air but soggy Louisiana! Have never tried a desiccant but seems like a good idea.

My 2000 S,purchased last year,could use a good rubber treatment to keep the very expensive weather stripping/trim soft and pliable.There has been a very recent thread on "rubber moldings" within the last day or so.I'm getting the stuff they recommend and applying it to my car.

Keeping the car OUT OF THE SUN is number one.

I'm in similar situation, where I don't get to drive my vehicle much either. In fact, I've only clocked 2k miles in the last 3 1/2 years. However, since my vehicle is always garaged, and it's never experienced the effects of direct sunlight or harsh weather of any kind. Being extremely OCD has helped. :) Anyway, keeping the vehicle meticulously clean and serviced annually, along with a battery tender has been essential to it's longevity.

Awwww poor thing. She is being neglected all alone in that musty old garage. Boxsters are a lot like dogs. They need lots of love, attention, and regular exercise.

Hey! This gives me a great idea for a second career. Professional Porsche exerciser. I could saddle them up for a weekly canyon carving session in the local mountains. A nice 2 hour drive to shake out the cobwebs and bring her home tired, happy, and satisfied.... Sure it could happen. :D

Are you guys serious about these mileage quotes? Well, changing the oil once a year at least should be standard practice. Battery maintainer also. Usually cars that sit too long end up with dead batteries and shorter life span alternators.

The best thing you can do is to make a point of planning one long trip in the car each month. And when you take it out for short trips after about 10 mins of driving shift only above 3k rpm and try to keep it above that mark when driving.

Wow. With 25 track days in the plan, I'll do 2K miles this year entirely AT REDLINE (or near enough). :D

As for maintenance, Perfectlap got it spot on - oil change yearly, battery tender, and get it up to temp monthly to cook the water out of the oil.

I'm in the same boat. Less than 2k in the last three or so years. I change the oil once a year. I've gone a little past that this time. I put a batt. tender on the car when I bought it. My battery is 5 years old now and starts like it was new every time. I wish I had more time to put miles on it. I've also got a 'boxer' bmw motorcycle in the same situation.

I only did 600 miles too (OK, only 580miles)......................................... ...this past weekend.

Don't forget about your brake fluid which is very hygroscopic (water absorbent). In your humid climate you don't want to go more than 24 months (regardless of mileage) without a complete brake fluid change. Moisture in your brake fluid can contribute to rusted/frozen calipers if left in there for long periods. Some people even do a change at 12 month intervals in less humid climes (those with a lot of track work). I've been doing mine every 24 months for the last 10 years. When I pulled the pads and rotors off this year for 1st time replacement (62k miles) , the calipers/pistons/seals looked almost as good as new.

I just had a friend that sold his wife's 2007 Boxster S. They purchased new and she never drove it. 8000 miles in 5 years! I don't get it. I bought my 2002 S a year ago from an old man that had driven it 8400 miles since he bought it new. He did all maintenance and it was still new when I bought it for a third of what he paid. I put more miles in a year of ownership than he did in ten years. Drive them! I know they are great to look at but they are much more fun when they are moving!

Can't relate to that. I have 3 of them and put at least 10K on each one in an average year. a set of rear tires and 2 oil changes per car plus the other maintenance. Maybe that is where my money goes. Don't regret a bit of it.http://986forum.com/forums/uploads01...1371834591.jpg

I'm confused also, why would anyone not be able to drive it more fequently? Drive it to work, use it for errands, it makes mundane trips much more enjoyable.:)

Drive your cars people!

Exactly. There's one part of my commute to work where I pull onto the frontage road of a freeway from a side street....due to light timings there is never a single car around. It is my favorite part of the day!

Maybe it's because I'm new to Boxster ownership, but since I got mine last August, I have racked up over 5k. I know the new may wear off later on, but I drive it to work a couple times per week, and every chance I get on the weekend when it's not raining.
From my experience, two things deteriorate faster when not in use, cars and homes. If left sitting, they will develop leaks, cracks, etc. Maybe it's the lack of love? :confused:

mountainman.... that is one pretty picture!

That's when its car capsule time.

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I too clock very few miles annually on the box. 22k in 10 years. For anyone with a family a Boxster is not a primary car, or even a secondary car. It's just a toy. My Porsche dealer told me most Boxsters and 911s bought from the dealership are not used heavily as daily drivers.

The battery charger is a must!

^^I'm with mistermac on this one. Purchased my 2000 986 on 03/06/13 with 63K on the clock, and she reads 70,200 as of this morning. Meanwhile, my Defender hasn't even gone through half a tank of diesel since then.

When I bought my Cayman Sport in Dec, she had 7400 mi on her. 6 mo later the odometer reads 12500. Punkin gets about 4K mi a yr, too. I like driving my Porsches. :cheers:

That is sooo true. Dealeship also recommends that you drive the car OFTEN long enough for it to come up to temp. I've heard in some cases that you could have your warranty denied pending on what fails if its not being driven. What that was, can't remember.

Don't want to beat you low mileage guys up but If I had all those mods Danger has on my car, I would drive the snap crackle and pop out of that car everywhere. Saving all those miles for the next guy?

I tell people all the time, buying a used boxster is different from other cars. They usually sit and are barely driven, lives in a garage, usually never driven in snow, (go figure it snows in germany) and always polished with a diaper. PPI still recommended.

Being a Porsche newbie, and I've seen people writing about shifting past 3k rpm (or drive it like you stole it)... so what's the real reason behind this? to burn off carbon deposite? :confused:

Get the oils everywheres.

No, in a car that uses high octane fuel and has a modern fuel injection system, the old 'Italian tune-up' really isn't required to burn off carbon build-up. The most cited reasons are: to ensure that the oil gets up to operating temperature at which point it is better able to lubricate engine internals; to burn off water that can build up in the oil when the car is stored, or used solely for short drives; oil pressure increases with RPM's and again, this leads to better lubrication of engine internals (again, assuming the car is properly warmed up); the latter is also considered a factor in improving splash lubrication to the IMS bearing in cases where it has been upgraded with a bearing without seals and grease- e.g., the LN ceramic IMS bearing upgrade.

Brad

This shift over 3k warning always makes me wonder, how in the world could you ever drive a Boxster and not shift over 3k? It seems impossible.

Thanks for the inputs... I gotta rev higher from now on or press those "-" buttons more often as I noticed the tip upshifts way too early... :cool:

This is the contradiction of the typical Porsche driver and the Porsche car itself.

Most Porsches never see a track or autocross event. Even the GT3's.

Many are only driven on weekends to get ice cream cones.

A person of high household net worth, who can afford such an expensive car in the first place, is generally cautious in all of their driving habits.
No speeding for the most part, no high RPM shifting. So the engine bears the brunt of the mismatch in driver and car.

It reminds of me of going to SCCA driving events vs. Porsche events:

At the Porsche event the turn out is smaller. They show up wearing "driving shoes' and Porsche Design shirts and hats. The gaps in the time sheets can be as much a second between cars. Mind you these are the people who actually show up to a driving event in the first place. To be fair Ferrari people are much worse.

Then you go to the SCCA event (mostly Japanese and American sports car). These guys haven't shaved in days and probably did not shower that morning, their jeans must have at least one oil stain per pant leg and they are probably hung over. but they drive the wheels off what they can manage to buy. The gaps in the time sheets might be down to tenths of a second down to sixth place. And if its its Autox you'll be lucky to get in six laps because the turn out is so much higher than the Porsche event.

The Porsche club of Texas doesn't even do autox anymore because there's not enough interest. I have to do it with the Houston BMW club which is full of BMW, Minis, Miatas, and the random Viper, Porsche, Subaru, Mazda 3, S2000, MR2, and others.

Then there's the SCCA but getting 2 of 3 runs in after an entire day because 150 people show up doesn't sound like fun/ROI.

yeah its bad news all around for track and autocross. Many auto insurance carriers have been sending out 'clarifications' that any track or competitive (which would include Autox) driving events are not covered. Which of course the track day insurance people have seized upon to jack up day rates drastically.

And the autocross fees in this economy can certainly add up. While this is still far and away the most cost effective way to learn the fundamentals of car-tossing, $50 fees might be tough to swallow when that's what it costs to fill your tank for the week. And it is indeed a long day for less than 10 runs. Although I think that compels you to be a more focused driver and teaches you to adjust quickly.

The Tip in Auto Mode is optimized for cruising & economy. Starts in Second, tries to upshift to fifth as soon as possible. I try to mate the bottom of the gas pedal to the floor at least several times during my drives, just to keep it honest!

Well, I do drive it, but admittedly not enough.

Because I'm not a misanthrope, I generally go out with other people, which means taking the DD. Almost all the time.

I think this is the REAL reason middle-aged people get Porsches; no more school shuttling. Otherwise, it's just too impractical.

This is what I will tell the police officer. :D

Yes, from our PCA chapter, there are almost no participants. And yes, they are the driving shoe and driving glove type. Yuck. :barf:

Fine with me, we get more runs in. I am not the fastest, not even close, but I'm pretty sure I enjoy it the most.

The PDK is a big improvement over the Tip. The PDK is adaptive, and will shift later if you are driving faster. I tend to get to 60 in third gear. If I accelerate slowly, I can be in 6th gear at 45 mph. Does the tip adjust like that?

Sometimes the PDK will adapt and be a little freaky.Couple of times I've been driving, and I want to start out a little fast, and it will downshift and act like it wants to rocket away. I will actually yell at my car "What the hell are you doing?!" :eek: Take my foot off the gas and it calms right down. Bizarre, but only happened twice. So far . . .

You also need a portable battery. At least for the 986... so if the battery does die you can hook it up to the fuse box and pop the frunk to change the battery.