During a lapse of sanity, my wife let me buy a new 2017 Fiat 124 Spider which I love despite its various “personality” quirks. It is always garaged and does not go out in the rain. During the winter, I cover it and start it every 2 weeks for 10-15 minutes and run the AC. So far it has 5,000 miles on it during the 3 driving seasons here in Maine. (May thru October). I have the oil and filter changed at the dealer in the spring. Is once a year enough/too much/just right? Anything else I should be doing?
Run the engine longer than 10-15 minutes and drive it if you can. You need to get the car warmer than you are now. Take it out in the rain, what can it hurt? It is, after all, just a car.
I’d suggest putting a battery charger - maintainer, like Battery Tender o the car while it is parked. It will keep the battery charged and extend its life. If you use this, you can drive it any time the weather breaks instead of “every 2 weeks.”
Once a year oil changes is OK, if Fiat doesn’t recommend synthetic oil, I certainly would.
There are lots of opinions on storage, some based on facts some on personal preferences.
You are just storing your car for seven months. I would do the oil change just prior to storage rather than in the spring. Instead of starting it every couple of weeks get a good quality battery tender to maintain the battery and therefore all computer settings. I would add a fuel stabilizer to a full tank of gas.
As far as other maintenance, due to low number of miles driven, be sure to do all the maintenance base on time rather than miles. Certain procedures will be x-miles OR x-years, which ever comes FIRST.
I can’t imagine that if this was my vehicle any time during the winter that the roads were clear and dry that I would not take a drive of some kind .
Thanks for the input !