I bought a 95 miata in July it’s a great little car. But living outside of buffalo, the sunshine capital of the world, I intend on storing it in the winter. Mid October to mid April . Any tips on winter storage would be helpful ? Thanks Jim l.
Add the proper amount of fuel stabilizer to the gas tank and fill the gas tank. Disconnect/remove the battery. If the vehicle will be stored where critters can get to it, take stainless steel pot scrubbers and stuff some up the tail pipe and some in the air intake before the air filter. This will prevent critters from getting inside the engine building nests and also allows the condensation to escape from the engine.
That’s all I do when parking a vehicle for the winter.
Tester
Non-ethanol gasoline. Stabil. Battery tender to keep it charged up. Maybe a fresh oil change. Wash & wax, car cover.
I never had any trouble just parking my Fiat Spyder and walking away for the winter. Come spring I would charge the battery and it would start right up.
You need not do anything special either, but the above advice might give you some peace of mind.
I had a Miata. I drive it through Ohio winters including at least one blizzard. No real problems, but it would have been a problem if we had much more snow, as it was the snow was not deep enough to create a real problem.
I did a 360º spin and regained control. I bought real winter tyres shortly there after.
Other than that, the Miata was fine in the winter. If I had one today and if the snow depth was less than the ground clearance I would drive it just like any other car.
If you keep your car out of the winter salt, you may be able to keep it indefinitely. Few people seem to realize how destructive winter road salt is to a car. I have a car over 20 years old, kept out of the salt, with the original exhaust system and radiator. Repairs are so much easier when things are not corroded such as with brakes and you can worry a lot less about brake line corrosion with resulting weakening.
In addition to what was said, park the car with a fairly recent oil change, in a well ventilated garage to preclude brake and clutch (if you have one) rust and after driving the car for at least 10 miles to warm and dry the exhaust system. Stabil is cheap but I don’t use it; don’t need it. Use a 25 or 30 dollar battery tender or maintainer, not a charger, but leave the battery in the car and connected if you should need the car for emergency use. Never had a problem with critters.
Note to anyone who will be storing their car for winter. Check your insurance company. You should be able to cancel the collusion part of your insurance for the winter. That is the most expensive part of the insurance and it does no good if the car is not driven.
I also suggest removing the battery, or another critical part. Few thieves keep batteries with them, so it makes your car far more difficult to steal.