Yearly Milage

[achillies]

I know that not driving a car enough miles is not a good thing....I have read that the sweet spot for Porsche mileage is 5-7000/year or so. But what is the point where mileage is too low? I put 3,000 miles on the car last year.....is that too low or OK? I do oil changes each year but I have wondered about the mileage being enough.

Thanks
Bob

[Fintro11]

Before we had the baby I would put 10,000 km on a year this year was 8,000 km

[mikefocke]

The less frequent the starts the less oil is in the right place when you start. But, OTOH, the wear from running is less.

You can't be paranoid about everything, so an oil change a year or maybe two.... (and brake fluid change every 2-3 years)

I sold mine when usage dropped below 1k/year. I figured it was time. I miss it. But I also know it has gone 30k miles in the 6 years since it was sold so it was probably better for the car.

[rick3000]

I have recently been averaging about 3-5k miles a year. I think frequency is more important than mileage. Driving a few times a week until the engine is hot is better than driving every two weeks for a few hours.

[tommy583]

I put about 10,000 miles a year on mine. Good thing I can't drive it all year, it would be worn out by now.

[JFP in PA]

Originally Posted by achillies

I know that not driving a car enough miles is not a good thing....I have read that the sweet spot for Porsche mileage is 5-7000/year or so. But what is the point where mileage is too low? I put 3,000 miles on the car last year.....is that too low or OK? I do oil changes each year but I have wondered about the mileage being enough.

Thanks
Bob

You should always change the oil at least once a year, and if you put the car up for the winter, do it just before that.

If it makes you feel any better, I have a 2001 purchased new, and it has a whopping 11,000 miles on it.

[thstone]

I don't think that there is an annual minimum mileage. There are a lot of collector cars that are 30 or 40 years old and only have a couple of thousand miles on them and they run just fine.

What is important is to realize that the car will deteriorate from time just like it does from miles; so owners need to keep up the maintenance. What that means is throwing the factory mileage-based maintenance schedule in the trash and creating a time-based plan. Unfortunately, most often this time-based plan has to be created from scratch.

My 911SC is 39 years old and has 182K miles. That's only 4,600 miles per year and it runs and looks great. But I put about $4K into it each year to maintain it (which is well beyond the standard maintenance plan).

[Boxtaboy]

I have a little different take on all this. When I first got the car, I used to put more than 5k miles a year on the car, but in later years, as it became a weekend only car, I could barely put 2k miles on it a year. Right now, I'm lucky if I can get 1k/year on it, but I'm not worried at all if I'm hurting the car in any way. When I do take it out, I always drive it enough to fully warm the engine up. Whether I put 1k or 10k miles a year, I don't care, cause I'm not concerned about who I hand the car over to when I'm done with it, I just care that when I have it, I have fun with it. Its sole purpose is to give me grins when I use it. I've got 73k miles on it now, and have had it for 16 yrs. Its still on it's original IMS.

[Timco]

Drove mine about four times last year. Tried to start it monthly and take it around the block to warm up. It's past time to sell.

[Chuck W.]

Originally Posted by Boxtaboy

When I do take it out, I always drive it enough to fully warm the engine up.

I think this is one of the keys.

I am averaging 1,875 miles a year and agree with Boxaboy. I stay up and the fluids and maintenance and only drive it where I know I'll be getting the oil fully warmed up. I think in is the low mileage cars that sit for long periods of time and are not properly maintained or driven are an issue.

[Oldcarguy]

Originally Posted by Chuck W.

I am averaging 1,875 miles a year and agree with Boxaboy. I stay up and the fluids and maintenance and only drive it where I know I'll be getting the oil fully warmed up.

I'll probably put less than 2k miles a year on my 986. From spring-fall I'll take it out once or twice a week and in winter, it'll be weather and road conditions permitting.

For me, the key to longevity is a time based maintenance schedule and ensuring that each outing is long enough to flash off all the moisture and to exercise / lubricate everything. No short trips and no starting / idling in the garage, I'd rather it sit until I can drive one of my Catskill 'circuits'. Great driving up here, but the road surfaces are challenging due to our winters.

[Finnegan]

It'll be two years of DD ownership this month. I'm averaging 9k miles a year. She gets to go in for her 30k mile checkup soon!

[Bald Eagle]

I've been using my 2000 S as an almost daily driver for three April - November seasons and have averaged about 6000 miles per season. I just got it out of storage yesterday and had a long conversation with the 2004 Volvo Cross Country with 245,000 miles to
"be patient, I'll exercise you every week and tend to your needs so we can enjoy each other come November."

Larry (the Bald Eagle)

[Dubaday]

I've been daily driving my 2000S for a couple years now, averaging about 12,000 miles a year. 3.4 mile round trip commute to work, and the only car we take when the lady and I go out for dinner, grocery shopping, roadtrips, etc. I named her Ariel, she takes me everywhere, and treats me well

[Pdwight]

Mine spends almost the entire frigid barren polar Alabama winter in a heated garage, given that however I do manage about 6K miles per year and always do two oil changes regardless of the miles. A change in November the beginning of cold weather here and June the start of hot weather. I try to drive it at least each month during storage and always try to make that a 20 +_ mile drive so it will have time to really warm up. During those winter drives I will get it up to the 6+K RPM range several times after it has completely warmed up......so far so good

[thom4782]

Boxsters are pretty much a commodity cars these days so its reasonable to treat them just like any car when it comes to driving and maintaining them.

That said, if you enjoy keeping your Boxster in pristine condition then just know that most upgrades / maintenance repairs you'll make won't pay back at sale time.