Not driving the car. What goes wrong?

So, I hear many threads about how bad it is to not drive the car. This now has got me perplexed. I'm in Canada, so car is stored from October to April - 6 months. During that period, the car is not started, plugged into a tender. Either an oil change in the fall or in the spring prior to first start. During the April to October period, the car is taken out 2 to 3 times per month. Always for at least a 30 minute drive, never less. So, is it a garage queen? Maybe. Only difference is that it doesn't get driven due to lake of opportunity to drive, not about making it into a queen. I put maybe 1500 miles on it per season. Driving it more, isn't much of an option. Weekends are spent in the country. Dog doesn't fit in the back seat. So, don't drive it on weekends. Weekdays, I try to take it to the office about once a month. Although I doubt that does any good since it sits for at least 10 miles in traffic. Car currently has 50000 miles. I keep up with the timed maintenance. In 2018, at 44000 miles, AOS, Solution, water pump, clutch/flywheel, RMS was all done. What maintenance do I need to do so this car doesn't cause me problems from sitting? And to all those that say "Drive it, " reality is that I live in a big city. Going for a drive involves sitting in traffic for 30 minutes prior to getting to drive anywhere that is enjoyable, hence why it is not used all that often. Yup, I've thought of selling it. Not ready to do that yet. Wife and I take it out a couple times a year for a couple hundred mile day trip.

If you need something you can drive more frequently, have you thought about a Cayenne Turbo? My experience has been I really love driving and owning the Pepper. It wouldn’t replace the 911-sized whole in my heart, though.

Quotes source post: 18514280

After having test driven a number of vehicles as a daily, and now has over 100,000 miles with only 2 repairs: thermostat and new battery (still on original front brakes, rear pads changed once), I will not give up my jeep wrangler manual transmission. Also, if I showed up in the north country with a Cayenne hauling the atv or the jonboat, I would be a laughing stock. Having a daily with a manual transmission is just fun - and yes, I've contemplated a cayenne with a manual. Really doesn't work for me. I seriously considered this: Porsche Cayenne 2012 with Manual Transmission | Cars & Trucks | City of Toronto | Kijiji And I don't want to give up having a 911.....Really enjoy the car the rare times I use it.

The only thing I could say to do different is change the oil prior to buttoning her up for the winter. The key is, do not start the car after the oil change because combustion products will acidify the oil and then sits there. That's probably splitting hairs in my opinion, but if you are going to change the oil, which you should, then it certainly will not hurt. There's lots of stuff on the internet about storing a car. Have a go. Sorry to hear that you don't get to drive it enough. Maybe times will change for you at some point and you will get to really use it. Then you will be glad you preserved it so well for that future.

Steam, I wouldn't sweat it. I have a similar routine here in the suburbs of Chicago. It sits in the garage mid November thru mid March on a trickle charger. If the weather warms up for a day or two in the winter, I'll take it out for an hour or two. The biggest problem when they sit is that they may drip a little. But that usually goes away after you drive it a few times and get it good and hot. I imagine fuel quality may be an issue if it sits too long, but I have not once in 21 years added anything to the fuel for the winter, nor have I knowingly had a problem. Oil shouldn't be much of an issue either if you put it away with fresh oil and make sure that you get the oil good and hot when you do start and drive it to burn off the moisture. Quite frankly, I don't ever start my car unless I know I can drive it for it least an hour. And when I do start it, I may sure to turn the key 2-3x to get it to turn over a bit before firing up. Keep doing what you are doing. Many of us are in the same boat! And it's a fun boat!

Quotes source posts: 18514627, 18514121

This year was the first year I didn't change the oil prior to winter. Just for the simple reason that I just feel better putting fresh oil in the spring prior to the first start. Car sits on a lift so doing the oil change doesn't take long at all. So, the oil acidifying is interesting. But what possible damage could the oil do sitting in the oil pan over the winter? Especially since the oil doesn't have 1500 miles on it? I hear about 6 month oil changes. But the car is parked for 6 months with the oil not even moving. I've done 6 month oil changes with 3 miles on the oil. This year decided to just do it in the spring. Mostly since the oil had drained into the oil pan for 6 months and I figure that will be the maximum amount of old oil I can get it out. I bring this topic up about not using the car much because there is always concern about garage queens bad things happening. I keep on top of maintenance. Car is always on a maintainer. What are the concerns about the car sitting? My boat gets used only about 3 months out of the year. Usually goes into the water around Memorial day and is pulled right after Labor day. Too cold before Memorial day and after Labor day to be out on the water and I have my jon boat for that. I fog the motor and out it comes the following year. I see comments like this about the 996 often. Really, these are first world problems. I stabilize the gas. All gas has ethanol now so I can't avoid it unless I gerry can gas from the marina with ethanol free gas. Tire are pumped up to 50 lbs. Although, I find they flat spot over a week anyway and takes a few miles to get round again regardless.

The worst thing I could predict that could happen is some sort of rodent going to town on your wiring. They like wire housing and could cause a lot of damage. I'd take measures to prevent that first.

Quotes source post: 18514627

Considering an oil change is done on a hot engine that fresh oil is not going to turn acidic from circulating through the engine by revving it a couple of times or driving the car for a few miles after pouring the fresh oil in, don't you think? But not running the engine after changing the oil will leave the old acidic oil at all those bearing surfaces exactly where you don't want it as the fresh oil will directly end up in the sump when poring it into the engine and nowhere else.

Rubber ::: Beside the things that most know about that can age even when sitting like fuel can go bad (especially gasohol), brake fluid will attract moisture just as fast sitting as driving( rust), oil , gear oil ect... All rubber has moisturizers made into the composition . There are a LOT of rubber in modern cars. The moisturizers will evaporate at the surface first and need to be "kneaded" or "exercised" to bring more moisturizers out to the surface to keep the rubber from cracking or "dry rotting" ..Driving the car will Knead or exercize the rubber to keep it moist to prevent dry rot and make all rubber parts last much longer, especially suspension parts and tires... This is the first thing I think of when I see a car that has been sitting and not driven much in a long time...ie. Garage Queen ...

Quotes source post: 18514747

That makes more sense to me. Does it really matter? I don't know and I really think that most of this oil stuff is really splitting hairs. Maybe 50 years ago things were different, but modern oils and modern engines are running much, much farther than they did in the '60s, '70s and '80s. I have put 148K miles on my GT3 and contrary to a lot of "best advice", most of my drive times barely get the oil up to temperature. That's my reality. It's my daily driver and I don't give it much thought other than performing 5K oil and filter change intervals. Fortunately, I can drive it year-round, rain and shine.

I have a garage queen as well that I just put away for a New England winter. I do a few things beyond what you describe. For mouse control, I stuff the two exhaust tips and the air intake with 0000 steel wool. The air intake steel wool is in sandwich bag. Then I place Bounty drier sheets in the frunk, passenger compartment and engine compartment. It's widely held that mice hate the smell. I inflate the tires to 40-45 psi and run Techron through for a while and add a fuel stabilizer. I then tape an idiot reminder note to the driver window reminding me to reverse these steps. My first drive in the spring is to my indy who starts by scolding me for only driving 2k miles per year.

Well, I am in the same sort of position. Having had a tree miss my cabriolet and now with the advance of winter weather which seems to bring havoc to both of our Nissan Frontiers as most often we are the last road in the township to get plowed out, let alone the tons of salt and calcium deposited on the surfaces and the preverbal moon craters just takes a toll on the mechanics. Most of the roads were at one-time farm wagon paths that became somewhat paved roads. I bought the car before all of the serious Covid idiocy. With under three thou on the odo, did a PPI, and all was good but then the Covid lockdowns, in which I could not register the car for four months..... However, since almost everything here was closed, it was while I am waiting...... time to replace hoses, water pumps, IMS solution, and UAOS. Now Having survived a long illness, during this season, I am now going to replace the oil ( usually every three-four thou ), and since I haven't driven it in about two weeks I will replace the oil with driven once again only this time by placing a heating pad under the oil pan to warm up a bit and drain it without starting the car. Then I will change the wheels and tires to an old mounted set to eliminate the square tire and do the steel wool and bounty sheets in the car as well as place some in the convertible top cover. I have purchased CFS radiators as well as the third radiator and all hoses and should be replaced before spring....weather permitting. I am not sure if changing the oil without starting the motor is correct, but why let the old oil sit when it could be replaced? Below is a pic of the tree that just missed my cab last month and took out part of the woodshed.... We are now in the process of cutting down all of those trees which could be a problem especially when the ice adds weight to a lot of the limbs. So all in all I am lucky to change the oil and not the entire car!.

Quotes source post: 18514486

I've owned three Jeeps, including my current GC. They are absolutely indestructible.They go anywhere you want, reliably. My original Cherokee accumulated 190,000 miles and still ran great but the damn quasi political inspection hierarchy here wouldn't pass it. I sold my first GC with 175,000on the clock. It looked and ran great. So now we have the 2011 GC and it's a great truck. I also own a Nissan Maxima with 175,000 on the clock. Runs like new and doesn't use a drop of oil. These are utility vehicles that cover for the 911 and the Boxster in the garage for the winter season....