Does anybody store their Max away for the winter to keep it away from snow, salt, etc? If so, what tips do you recommend for winter maintenance?

I've heard that it's good to start it up at least once a week, let it idle for 5-10 minutes, and,

if the roads are dry: you drive it

if the roads are wet: after idling for 5-10 min you keep your foot on the brake and you go through all the gears and keep it there for a minute or so for each gear (reverse, drive, etc).

Is that good feedback? If you store it for the winter, what would you suggest?

This is what I bought tonight for the upcoming winter(s) and am very happy to have swooped in on a total no-brainer for a winter ride from December to April:

http://providence.craigslist.org/cto/4669861058.html

 

Starting it up and letting it run for 5-10 minutes in not a good idea. All you're going to do is build up condensation in the engine. If you're going to start it, be sure to drive at least 25 miles so that everything reaches normal operating temps. Otherwise, let the car sit without starting it.

I bought my Maxima with intentions as a daily driver, but so far I have only been driving it on nice days only.

 

+1 Drive it to the store or around the neighborhood a week or two. As is, I only drive my car on my days off providing the weather is somewhat nice.

 

Thanks for the insight, fellas. Ok, so say if the Max will be driven only twice a month, what would you recommend for:

gasoline levels:

1/4, 1/2, 3/4, or full tank??

oil changes:

get it changed before she gets stored away, drive sparingly throughout the winter, and get it changed again in the spring time before I start to use her as a daily driver again?

Any other tips, advice is welcomed and appreciated. Thanks so much all

 

I have a 69 Cougar and being that my job moved me to Cali its back at my house in KS. This is what I do for my old school when I store it for the winter, (about 3 to 4 months). I change the oil, wash and wax it, fill up the tank with premium gas and add a bottle of Sta-bil to the tank.


I put a battery tender on it, inflate my tires to 36psi and last but not least I put my car cover on. This has been my routine for the Cougar since 2009 and it starts up no problem every Spring. In the spring I drive it 500 miles then change the oil again.


Oh, I forgot to mention that in the winter if I drive it I make sure that its for at least 15 minutes or more so the engine warms up properly.


Some people remove their tires and hang them up so they don't develop flat spots. I've never had a problem with mine and I guess its because I add extra air.


This is what works for me, I'm sure others will have different ideas. Pick what you like from each and make it your own.

 

^
+1 These are good suggestions. If you aren't driving it you could also pull the battery and like mentioned fill the tank to avoid as much conndensation as possible and add fuel stabilizer as directed. Fresh oil change to rid any contaminents before storing and change when you take it out in spring to avoid sludge. Its up to you but come spring you could also do a flush when changing the oil. Over inflating the tires a little is also a good suggestion unless you put it up on jackstands. A heated garage is a bonus to avoid condensation. A suggestion that I had a friend give me aswell that does work and helps is to put packs or pie tins with arm and hammer baking soda to absorb moisture in the cabin of the car.

 

Again, thank you everyone for the suggestions and if anybody thinks of something that has not been said please let me know

 

It's almost that time. And a great thread here to have.

I noticed a mention of jack stands when storing for the winter. Is this to avoid 'soft spots'? How much of a risk do I take leaving it on the wheels for 4 months? Or would I be better off putting it on the stands?

Also, all the talk about condensation worries me. My garage is attached to the basement, so there's very little heating. Is this something I should be more concerned about?

 

Yeah am thinking to drive it at least once every 2 weeks during the winter when the roads are dry & free from snow/slush/icy conditions and that'll get me through until probably April or thereabouts (after the final snowfall and a couple/few rainstorms to wash away remaining salt on the roads)

Fill the tank, make sure I add that gasoline additive you can get at the gas stations, over inflate the tires a little bit to 38 or 39psi and that pie tin with baking soda is a good idea also.

Those jackstands, though: pardon the rookie question here but if I were to do that do you use 2 or 4? I'd assume you use 4 and place on corners of chassis?

Moisture, man. Such a mf'er.

 

I'm in Pittsburgh and there are no "dry" days once winter starts. I mean sure, there's gunna be a nice day or two, but it'll still be salt covered. They use salt here like it's duct tape, thinking it'll fix anything.

So when I park it, i'll be parked. So it looks like I might be putting it up on jack stands. Now let me ask this, should I take the wheels off too? Does the stress of the wheels pulling down have any negative effect?

Also, I thought the additive you added to your gas, was only when you're at or below a 1/4 tank, running it clean? Perhaps I should google that myself, i'm probably assuming wrong.

And the tins with baking soda... is that really going to make a difference? And if so, then hell why not put one in the engine bay too?

 

starting it in winter is the worst thing you can do, if you just idle it a bit and shut it off its causing water condensation. cars cant tell time, undo the battery and let it sit all winter. never have i had an issue like that

all you need to do is store it with fresh oil (old oil is a bit acidic and not good to sit on the bearings), a full tank of gas, and thats it

if you park on concrete, ive heard of putting plywood under the car prevent moisture. i park my Supra in my unheated garage with concrete floor over winter and my Crown in a concrete floor parkade that floods with water over winter and its never been a problem so i dont use wood

 

You best bet is to let it sit the whole winter, from my experience it doesn't need to be started or put on stands. My friend with more money than me had a 1970 Oldsmobile 442 that he stored in a heated garage in Alabama.


His routine consisted of starting it once every month and letting it run for 5mins until it got warm. He did this for years not driving it because he had 3 other cars, a truck, and a nice Harley that he rode. Finally, after several years of doing this I convinced him to take it out and go to a car show with me.


We had about a week to get ready for the show and would you believe, he had to replace his total exhaust from the headers back because it had completely rusted out from the condensation built up in the system.


I've owned my old school since 2008 and I never drive it in the winter when they salt the roads. I simply store it and forget about it until the following spring.

 

why store in the winter? Is it bad in snow? I am from Chicago and certainly aint storing it for the winter. I just wonder if its safe enough for my gf to drive.

 

Honestly, wouldn't know how it drives in the snow. Just got her this past April. But it's just not worth the risk, and yes, it's a risk to me. I have a problem with curbs in the winter lol I can't see them in the snow

Salt, save some miles, it will give the Max a fresh feel every spring. If somebody can afford to, I'd say why not?

 

Assiduous the Maxima is very safe to drive in the snow. I'm on my 3rd one in fact and I've driven all of them in the snow. Just be sure that you have either snow tires or a good set of all season tires on the wheels.

The reason I'm guessing he's storing his is because of the heavy salt thats put on the roads in the winter. If your car was made for a southern state it won't have the undercoating that's needed for the roads in say New York or New Jersey.

Plus like he said, keeping the miles low definitely helps the resale value down the road.

 

i dont like scraping cars on snow, tracking slush on the fabric, moisture from rust, sand scraping paint, hitting packed ice ruts, etc. me and lots of guys have a cheap truck to drive around in winter to prevent all of that

 

It's front wheel drive and as long as you/she takes it easy it's a good car in snow. My 98 Maxima SE went through 6 inches of snow like it was nothing. Of course that had 16 inch wheels with higher profile tires compared to my 2014 sport. The only time I use the sport mode is in the winter in ice and snow. I use it as a low gear to help me start and stop.

 

Just drive it year round.

If storing, fill tank, add fuel stabilizer, change oil and filter and put it on a battery tender. Cover is also good.
NEVER start it up after its away until it's time to bring it out in the spring.

 

Thanks all for the good information - I really appreciate the feedback!

For all you guys who keep your car on jackstands, I got a two part question for ya:

where do you place them? I've read about ben's stand points vs safety stand points, etc but what do some of you seasoned vets do? Any best practices? Please put me on! ALSO, as far as chronological order for tire removal and jack stand placement (and read closely here): do you do the sets horizontally, as in, do you remove both fronts first as in driver/passenger front and then go jack up the car from the rear and do the rears & place the stands ...OR... do you remove them vertically, as in, you remove both front/rear driver's side & place the stands then go around to the passenger side of the car, jack it up again and do front/rear passenger side and go about it that way?

 

It probably doesnt matter as long as you have a good jack but I would Jack up the fronts first then jack up the rear. My logic is the front had more weight and if you don't install the front stands first then it would be even more weight for the jack to lift as the rear would already be up in the air. Removal would be the reverse order remove both rears first then remove both fronts.

 

Makes sense. Thanks for the feedback man, I appreciate the insight!

 

What about a car cover? Obviously not plastic. Anybody know of a good material that wouldn't scratch the car? Thanks in advance.

 

Are you storing it outside?
Car covers can also trap moisture and damage the paint. If it is being kept covered (garage or roof), skip the actual car cover.
If you are using jack stands, no reason to remove the wheels.
Change the oil before you put it away. No need to change it when spring comes around.

 

indoors it should still be used with a car cover to prevent dust from getting on the paint. the main reason you want to change the oil before storing it is so that old acidic oil isnt sitting on the bearings

 

This is the cover I bought and I like it a lot. It has the zipper for the driver's side door, which is nice.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B003DNL8ZC

Picture as she sits now:



Full tank, took care of the fuel stabilizer, fresh oil change, on jack stands, and stopped by Home Depot and picked up 3 little tubs of this stuff:



and put one on the ground under the engine bay, one on the ground under the trunk and one in the cabin of the car also. One thing I will strongly recommend to anyone willing to listen is to purchase the nanoskin wash mitt (I got the fine grade one bc my paint exterior wasn't bad at all to begin with) along with the nanoskin nano shock lubricant/sealant and I promise you: you will be amazed with the result. My car is so smooth right now like glass and the paint is sealed, waxed with a deep but intense shine.

This was last Wednesday where I just washed the car, dried it completely with Meguiar's x2000 water magnet microfiber drying towel, then did the nano shock with the fine grade wash mitt & my buddy was working right behind me wiping the areas I completed with a different microfiber towel. It got dark too soon so I put it in the unit and put the cover on it overnight and waited until yesterday to take cover off and took it to a shady area and applied Meguiar's m21 mirror glaze synthetic sealant 2.0 and then later on applied Meguiar's m26 mirror glaze hi-tech yellow wax.

If you were to run the backside of your knuckles/fingers along the body lines of my Max right now you would see exactly what I mean and that dude omar.G from this site that I met up with on Wednesday will tell you how good the stuff is bc I thought his eyes were gonna pop out of his head. You shoulda seen his smile when his car was done: ear to ear!!!

 

Awesome car cover thanks!

 

Nope! My Maxima is the car I drive through the winter and use as my work car. I have used all my Maximas in the past as work horses as well. At the rate of 30k+ miles a year, it's a great car to serve that purpose.

Here is last winter:


Today it's 0 degrees and snowing and I'm off to the office in my trusty Maxima. :-)

Update. The Max did good today :-)

 

Eh, to each their own. Like many have said, I agree that it ultimately comes down to the driver respecting the snowy and wintery conditions; you have to know what you're doing, but with that said I'm sure I'll be much happier with 4x4 for the winters moving forward now.

I feel similarly about the Maxima in the winter as I do about the OEM RS-A tires: I mean, they're definitely alright; not as bad as some people make them out to be but with that said there certainly are better options out there too.

 

Kind of odd to store this car no?

 

No, I don't think it is. When your plan is to drive the car into the ground -- no, not at all.

I see it as protecting your investment.

My next car, if a Maxima, will most likely be 9th or even 10th Generation but then again who knows what will be available at that time.

 

But look at the older gen cars, some of the gen 4 are going to near 15+ years of age and working...

If this was like a sports car I can see the point to keep it immaculate and drive a beater instead

 

yeah but its still a pretty new car you want to keep looking good. better to buy a sub-$5000 4WD truck for winter and you get something with more function and something you dont care about seeing scratches, dings, etc

 

Bingo

The value prop makes much more sense for me by going about it this way

 

^^^ Agreed. I'd like to keep this thing as clean as possible. It'll feel new to me every Spring. And I feel better, safer, driving around my junker '99 Sub Leg Outback. I'll run both these cars into the ground and get my moneys worth believe me!

 

Heyya Dudemaine, how much longer do you think you'll wait?

Because I'm getting itchy... lol.

Snows almost gone. Slightly warmer weather. Ahhh I'm ready to drop the jacks and burn rubber!

With the idea around the corner. I started thinking about that new oil change I did before parking for the winter. Should I get another oil change when I pull her out? Or is that overkill?

Honestly, I'll probably wait till April... if I can.

 

Some say the oil, lube and filter is overkill, and even though they could be (and probably are) right, I'm gonna change it anyway just to remove any doubt.

Yeah man, not too sure where you're at but in RI we got smoked by Old Man Winter with a season's worth of snow in a one month period.

I definitely have the itch too, but if we're being honest here then we are looking at another 4 weeks (if lucky) to 6 weeks at most -- my bet is on the latter.

Still a lot of snow out there, and, although a good thing, the roads are continually wet with it melting but there's a lotta sh*t that's mixed in there with dirt and salt, etc. and we can't be having that.

Ideally, I'm hoping for all the snow to melt within the next two weeks, the street sweepers to do their thing, get a solid 3-5 good rainstorms along the way to wash that sh*t outta there and then we're in there like swimwear. If the road crews patch some potholes that would be a huge plus!

 

I understand what you are saying but a Maxima is not an investment it is an expenditure. A investment proposes to return profit. High end collectable cars have been a banner investment over the past 10 years.

 

Hey, thanks man that's what I do for a living and have a pretty good grasp on the term. It's a figure of speech. Investing my time, effort and energy into the car with different mods and staying on top of things. You get my point, though.

I consider a pet to be an investment also -- a losing one at that because we all know how it ends every time, but again, you get my point.

I understand it's just a Maxima. I get it. Believe me. My buddies bust my ***** all the time. But I take care of my sh*t meticulously and that's all there really is to it.

 

Gotcha. I REALLY wish I had the money to invest in some collectible automobiles aka Leno. I understand meticulous as well, I'm the kook washing the Max in my driveway while my neighbors are still snow blowing their driveways.

 

Nice, man. Love me a full tank and a clean ride! Can't wait for the nice weather...