Some things mentioned are good. You absolutely must use fuel treatment in anything with ethanol in it, fill the tank to the brim as this reduces the potential for condensation, spray metal things down with WD40, electricals like fuesboxes treat with a good contact cleaner such as servisol super 10, do not park up with the emergency brake set, you can either take the load off the wheels (not completely) or get yourself some tyre savers to prevent flat spots, it helps to elevate tyre pressures some also. Taking all the weight off the suspension completely isn't recommended for long periods


Really the best thing isn't to park it and not do anything for months, starting the engine for a period and running until good and hot (beware if you're in an enclosed space), if you can you should really drive it regularly - and not just around the block, enough to get things hot, make sure you exercise everything such as windows and switches at the same time. Laying up is a good time to grease those window lift mechanisms in the doors, door hinges, trunk and bonnet hinges, grease all suspension grease points, seat adjustment mechanisms too.

I'm going to dispel the myth of galvanised cars beiung immune to winter wrath too - they will rust eventually - galvanising is only good for 25 years or so then all the zinc has been consumed - many believe galvanising to be forever protection - it is not. Never Never Never park a car long term on grass or soft unpaved ground.

 

At the first evidence of brine spray on the bridges, no more rides in the toys.

 

i live in Minnesota and you never know when the snow starts flying so i plan on November 1st until May 1st.

 

If we lived in 'the rust belt', both of my cats would be sequestered throughout the winter months. But we are fortunate to live in an area (North Carolina) that doesn't see that much snow, and where the roads are clear and dry through much of the winter.

So my '97 Vanden Plas (X300) is my daily driver, and fulfills my commuting needs, etc year-round. My '96 XJS is generally a weekend, fair-weather pleasure car, but when conditions permit, I usually drive her to the office perhaps once a week, just to keep everything in good running order

 

Like some of you, I’m hoping to drive my ‘97 xk8 all year round. And that’s possible in much of California without worrying about salt on the roads. I lived in another state that had actual seasons, snow and ice and salt on the roads. Honestly , I don’t remember anyone putting their cars away for the winter(but then I didn’t know anyone with a Jaguar, either). I do have a car cover and a sheet-rocked garage, and the car cover is living in its storage bag.

Cindy😘

 

I live in the Daytona Beach area, and like Noah, if anything I don't drive the cars during July and August due to the heat and no AC, unless it happens to be a particularly pleasant day.
Other than that I am fortunate to be able to enjoy the cars year round.
Bill.

 

Here in Maine, I’ve been able to wait into November before putting The Mistress to bed.
Live on the coast which keeps the white stuff ar bay, and the last few years it’s starting later..
Stays stored until April.

 

Weather? What weather?

 

We live in San Francisco Bay Area...Some of the best rides are in winter here.

 

I live on the Eastern Shore of Maryland and drive my XK120 OTS year round. I wait for a rain to get the salt off the roads. I trickle charge the battery in the winter and use a fuel additive year round. I will send it to a shop for a winter month of spa treatments. I drive 4000 miles a year.

 

Winters are usually pretty mild in Dallas, TX USA and so l never call it a day and put her away. She is my daily driver and I would HATE to have to use another vehicle for any other reason.

 

Another year round daily driver XKR, 2002.

I got in the habit of throughly washing off the undercarriage several decades ago when living on the Texas coast. They even had special car washes that concentrated on the under car areas. The people who regularly cleaned the undercarriage had no rust issues. Those that didn’t were driving (newish) rust buckets .

Except for some rust on the exhaust manifolds my XKR is rust free. It even still has the date coded original mufflers.

when driving it on salted roads I rinse off the undercarriage the same day if possible. It’s surprising how little effort it takes to help a car deal with a potential rust issue.

 

I've only had mine a couple of years, but I put it away at the first snow, brought it out after the first good spring rain... I keep a C-Tek charger on it, and around once a month back it out into the driveway and fire it up. Fuel stabilizer, a few extra pounds in the tires. My town in Montana, snow country, switched from using just sand on icy roads to some kind of liquid de-icer a couple of years ago. Worse than dry salt for corrosion - makes a dramatic difference in the speed at which my daily drivers ('91 Miata, '06 Dodge van) are rusting away.

 

Hope to leave Massachusetts before the white stuff arrives. Heading home to South Florida. The 2002 XJ8 has 60k miles clocked now so I will get some maintenance done during our ’cool’ winter.

 

agreed fellow Dallas Ftype owner…we should sync up and go to a car meet in the area!

 

Last year I stored it away around the 17th or 18th of December. I just missed a snowstorm by a couple of days. This year I am looking at 11/30 - 12/7.

 

When my wife and I lived in the rust belt where there was a real winter, convertible season, for us, was April 1st to Nov 1st. That happened to coincide with gin and tonic season for our circle of friends - not at the same time as driving, of course.

Now that my habitat is California central coast, convertible season is always. And no danger of rust either.

All the best,

Jerry Lippmann

 

[QUOTE=galenmcallister;2442040]I've only had mine a couple of years, but I put it away at the first snow, brought it out after the first good spring rain... I keep a C-Tek charger on it, and around once a month back it out into the driveway and fire it up. Fuel stabilizer, a few extra pounds in the tires. My town in Montana, snow country, switched from using just sand on icy roads to some kind of liquid de-icer a couple of years ago. Worse than dry salt for corrosion - makes a dramatic difference in the speed at which my daily drivers ('91 Miata, '06 Dodge van) are rusting away.[/QUO

 

What is the make and model of the trickle charger you use. I have an 07 XK convertible and live in Washington State. I purchased the car this summer and understand that the battery situation can be an issue when storing the car.
Thanks!

 

Big cats love the snow, I assure you!