Winter Ride Questions - 986 Forum - The Community for Porsche Boxster & Cayman Owners

AFRay007 · 02-23-2007, 11:28 AM

Thanks for all the responses so far, its been helpful.

Do you guys know how hard consistent -30 type weather is on the internals of Boxster? Will I start to encounter serious maintenance issues?

I'm leaning towards keep her right now and trying weather it out most of the year. Right now financially its not feasible for me to get a cheap beater and worry about maintenance and unreliability of a second car.
I would also much rather drive the Boxster if I can winterize her up.

Thanks again

Oh yeah and Schnell.... youre right, it could be worse. I was at Eielson for a month two summers ago, that place is terrible. At least Grand Forks is a semi university town, UND is 15,000 students and in the middle of the town.

986 Girl · 02-23-2007, 11:44 AM

I had this dilemma when winter started to get closer this year. But as NickCats said, once you start adding up the costs of "winterizing" the Boxster, you're getting well into the price range of just buying a second beater car.

My biggest worry was, as someone else mentioned, someone ELSE plowing into me, and the damage that salt can cause. Even on the "nice" days, there will still be evidence of salt on the roads, and it can kick up into the tiniest little places where even a thourough car wash will miss.

I bought myself a $2500 BMW e30 and although it's not even close in comparison to the Boxster, I am much more happy putting it through the abuse.

z12358 · 02-23-2007, 12:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 986 Girl

I bought myself a $2500 BMW e30 and although it's not even close in comparison to the Boxster, I am much more happy putting it through the abuse.

Funny how even your winter beater is a RWD car.
I spent 5 years in Rochester (grad school U of R) driving a white 86 RX-7 with white rims. Bought it for $3000 and traded-it in for $1500 five years later -- no mechanical problems whatsoever. Absolutely loved that car. It drove great in snow, especially after putting a huge bass-box in the back.

Z.

NickCats · 02-23-2007, 12:23 PM

I went with a RWD car for a winter ride as well.

Wasn't quite sure what to expect until the first snow fall hit...

Threw some new tires on it, and with traction control, the car isn't half bad

Nick

986 Girl · 02-23-2007, 12:44 PM

I have a horrible addiction to sideways motion... RWD was the only option for me

Dr. Kill · 02-23-2007, 01:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NickCats

I went with a RWD car for a winter ride as well.

Wasn't quite sure what to expect until the first snow fall hit...

Threw some new tires on it, and with traction control, the car isn't half bad

Nick

Yep - it's all about the tires. RWD makes you a little more likely to lose the back end - but that is fun as long as you are careful. FWD and AWD don't help you stop, and they don't help you around corners either. Stopping and cornering (weight shifting over drive wheels aside) are accomplished through tires.

z12358 · 02-23-2007, 11:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AFRay007

I'm leaning towards keep her right now and trying weather it out most of the year. Right now financially its not feasible for me to get a cheap beater and worry about maintenance and unreliability of a second car.
I would also much rather drive the Boxster if I can winterize her up.

It all depends on whether you will be needing a car on a daily basis or just occasionally for non-essencials. If I was in your situation and I had to have ONE car to drive every day in all sorts of weather I'd just get rid of the Boxster and buy another car that would be more reliable, cheaper to maintain, and able to handle all seasons there (Subaru, SUV, etc.). The Boxsters aren't exactly stellar in the relaibility and 'cheap maintenance' departments, and muliple daily starts in bitter cold can't be helping that picture either. Also, I can't see how it would be any fun to drive the Boxster daily in -30 weather on flat straight roads, so it doesn't seem like you'd be missing out a lot without it.

It would have been a sad and hard decision, but one I would've had to make.
Just IMO.

Z.

Sammy · 02-23-2007, 01:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AFRay007

Thanks for all the responses so far, its been helpful.

Do you guys know how hard consistent -30 type weather is on the internals of Boxster? Will I start to encounter serious maintenance issues?

I'm leaning towards keep her right now and trying weather it out most of the year. Right now financially its not feasible for me to get a cheap beater and worry about maintenance and unreliability of a second car.
I would also much rather drive the Boxster if I can winterize her up.

Thanks again

Oh yeah and Schnell.... youre right, it could be worse. I was at Eielson for a month two summers ago, that place is terrible. At least Grand Forks is a semi university town, UND is 15,000 students and in the middle of the town.

If you can't do the cheap beater avenue than consider the following:

1) Winter tires
2) Hard top
3) Replace serpentine belt right before the cold season starts
4) Make sure you are using the proper weight of oil
5) You might want to consider a more frequent tranny fluid oil change than normal
6) Oil warmer that you plug into an outlet with an extension cord
7) Make sure your coolant is up to snuff for extreme cold weather

husker boxster · 02-23-2007, 03:44 PM

This was my second winter with my Boxster as a daily driver. Bought all seasons for it last winter and they were worthless. This winter I bought Blizzaks and it gets around great. You don't mention what size tires you have. Mine are 18's and the Blizzaks cost $1100. If you have 17's you will get by much cheaper and an extra set of wheels will be easier / cheaper to come by. Not so with 18's - you could spend an additional $1k for wheels. Might need to throw a few more bucks into the tire estimate depending on what size tires you have.

We had an extended cold streak last month in Omaha where the temps didn't get out of single digits for the high. You could really tell the difference in how "limber" (or lack thereof) the car was at these temps. It made lots of creaks and groans I've never heard in 1.5 yrs of ownership. It certainly got nowhere near ND lows. I can't imagine how hard -30 would be on any car, let alone a sometimes fragile sports car.

My $.02 says put it away and buy a beater. The wear and tear will be multiplied in those conditions. You're still young enough that a year seems to take forever to pass (that will change as you age), but your tour will be done before you know it and you can take your pristine Boxster to warmer climates.

BTW
I concur with Brucelee. Thank you for defending our great nation.

Terry

Brucelee · 02-23-2007, 03:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AFRay007

Thanks for all the responses so far, its been helpful.

Do you guys know how hard consistent -30 type weather is on the internals of Boxster? Will I start to encounter serious maintenance issues?

I'm leaning towards keep her right now and trying weather it out most of the year. Right now financially its not feasible for me to get a cheap beater and worry about maintenance and unreliability of a second car.
I would also much rather drive the Boxster if I can winterize her up.

Thanks again

Oh yeah and Schnell.... youre right, it could be worse. I was at Eielson for a month two summers ago, that place is terrible. At least Grand Forks is a semi university town, UND is 15,000 students and in the middle of the town.

-30 is extremely hard on ANY car.

As I said, I would have a decent Subaru with all wheel drive and a GOOD set of winter tires.

I would have a new HD battery with great cranking power.

I would have a good PAO based 0W-30 or maybe a 0W-20 oil for the winter, likely Amsoil would be the deal.

An electric block heater is a must. Electric engine blanket might be OK or in addition to the block heater.

Lots of emergency tools in the car, including a full charged portable power pack.

Etc etc etc.

Forget the Box IMHO.

Or, don't report for duty.

super66 · 02-23-2007, 03:35 PM

okay we had a pretty bad snow storm come through here in Chicago last week.....the boxster handled it like a champ....not to say I wasn't nervous but everyone else was nervous too considering they were driving 15 miles an hour on interstate 90....

I had some cold weather problems ready...

1) windshield wiper fluid stopped coming out....I thought the motor was bad and had an appointment to take it in....started to work again once the temp came close to 40 degrees F....hmmmmm....the car is parked inside overnight also but it still froze up? locked up? don't know...

2) one scary moment sliding sideways on a ramp going like 5 miles an hour....I ended up facing the wrong direction no matte what I tried, then I remembered reading hear someone said sometimes to take off in 2nd gear, problems solved...I was able to get straight and start my 2 hour commute

3) The day it warmed up, I started driving and my steering wheel started shaking really bad over 50 miles an hour...not sure why, I got to work, parked, 3 hours later problem gone

4) lastly, the digital readout on my stereo is acting weird on a couple stations, where it tells you what songs its playing and such forth, need to have it looked at but I'm hesitant to take it in....cause I know they will find nothing wrong and I'll be stuck NOT drving the boxster...and that to me is the worst thing on earth!

so it can be done, I personally wouldn't do it without snow tires....DJ is a daredevil

wanna986 · 02-23-2007, 04:14 PM

Happened to me as well.

I found it to be an accumulation of ice/snow in the wheel that, of course, disappears when the temperature goes up.
Hope this helps.

AFRay007 · 02-23-2007, 09:22 PM

Thank you again for all your help. I've decided I'm going to keep her, I love the Boxster too damn much to give her away. I'm going to do my best to save up for a beater and do that. I'm looking at apartments and the one I'm eyeing has an indivdual garages with outlets for an engine block heater...so she should be able to weather it out.

I'm just full of questions, lol.... but any recomendations for reliable and affordable beater cars/suv's? I've heard Audi A4's a lot but I also hear reliability at high milages is poor.

Below are some pics I took after waxing her tonight... thats when I made my final decision

Brucelee · 02-24-2007, 05:23 AM

I would not buy a used Audi. Nuff said.

Subaru, Honda, Toyota all make good used beaters IF you buy right!

z12358 · 02-24-2007, 06:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AFRay007

Below are some pics I took after waxing her tonight... thats when I made my final decision

Oh, and beware of a just-waxed black Box. She's quite the seductress.

I hope it all works out for the best for you.
Z.

thomschoon · 02-24-2007, 06:30 AM

I use mine as a daily driver, have winter tires, and wash it every week, these are just cars after all, winter will not kill it, I see Boxsters flying down salt covered roads in Bavaria all the time. Warm it up, keep it maintained, drive carefully as the same crazies are always on the road, and enjoy driving it.