Hello all: I live in central/eastern Nebraska and bought a 2003 350z Touring this July. It now has 63,000 miles on it. When I bought it I was planning on putting snow tires on it and driving it for the winter. Now however my plan is to drive my dad's 2000 F-150 4x4 (he inherited it this summer and doesn't need it daily). I'm a careful driver and could handle driving the Z in plowed streets with snow tires, but (1) the streets don't always get plowed right away out here and there are times when I MUST get to work, (2) they use a LOT of road salt out here, and (3) even when the streets are plowed, drifts and plows create some pretty high snow piles that I'm not sure I could get through.

So: the question is what to do with my Z while I'm driving the Ford. My plan now is to put it where the truck is: next to my parent's house. It's on dirt (which will soon be crushed gravel). After looking around and reading these discussion boards, I've come to the conclusion that I'm not going to buy a cover for the car. My considerations for this are (1) a good cover is relatively expensive, (2) this is a 10-year-old car, of which I'm the 4th owner, and investing more money in a cover isn't worth it, and (3) covers can apparently do more harm than good, especially given how windy (sometimes EXTREMELY windy) it is here.

What are your thoughts? Obviously an indoor storage space would be preferable, but I'm just having a hard time justifying the expense. The car will be freshly waxed, have battery removed, slightly over-inflated tires, and full tank of gas with stabilizer. Anything else you would do? Does my plan sound reasonable?

Thanks in advance.

 

Have you tried spitting on it?

 

why not just park it at your house and start it every so often dont over inflate or remove anything your not gonna cover it anyway so just leave it since it seems that you dont car to much

 

Average thoughts of a human are 55000 thoughts per day. This was your best one?

 

Look - l don't need the sarcasm. This is a 10-year old car. Obviously there are safer, "kinder" options. Maybe some of you have unlimited supplies of cash to buy infinite amounts of cars and garages; I don't. I'm a working young professional trying to make a reasoned decision. The car is very well cared for, and if I didn't care I'd just drive a Civic like everyone else my age, but it doesn't take a logician to realize spending increasing amounts of limited funds on a depreciating asset doesn't make sense.

I don't want to start it every so often because the first few minutes do the most harm to an engine. To get it up to operating temperature, I'd have to drive it, and I'm not kidding when I say that the roads will be a disaster for weeks at a time.

If anybody has experience, or actual knowledge about this, I'd be very appreciative.

 

Plan sounds good.

A cover, any cover, will be difficult to keep on the car with 20 MPH plus winds. You will be forever in and out of the house trying to keep the cover tied down.

The exterior of the car is very durable. Snow, wind, rain. Ultra violet light is limited in winter. Little worry. Consider:

a. Good coat of wax. Wax brushed aluminum. Wax wheels.
b. Treat rubber with 303 Aerospace
c. You can get the weight off the tires with inexpensive wooden blocks.
d. Condensation inside the car may be a problem. Temperature changes and lots of water will form inside. Leave a window cracked 1/8 inch. A little snow and rain inside the car will dry in 24 hours.

 

Don't know about the crime rate in your area but I'd put it up on jacks/blocks and storing the wheels inside.
Also you might want to spray a coat of oil or something on your rotors so they don’t rust over.

 

im stuck on how your car is 10 years old when its a 2003 and its only 2011 right now

but as far as your question goes.... Im in agreeance with davidV

 

Shhh math is hard btw it snows on long island and my town is pretty much the last to be plowed. I'll even post a nice little picture of me driving my z down the main road in my town a town plow in the other lane not plowing. They do most work at night cause of the OT and night pay so they so barley any during the day to save it all for night

 

at the 10 year old car comment. None the less, i'm even more confused at your comments about not using a car cover and the price.

I purchased a car cover made by nissan and specifically designed for the Z for about $100. It's been very reliable and i've used it multiple times when I was away for business for months at a time. The cover is very secure on the Z and I believe you can buy a lock to keep the cover locked on (doubt it will fly off in the first place). Also, a good cover won't damage your vehicle.

 

pop it in a storage unit, they're relatively inexpensive.

 

If a one time fee for a car cover is too much, I doubt a monthly fee for a storage unit will work for this dude.

 

Nine years, ten years, what's the difference. The thinking behind that is that 2003 350z's went on sale in August 2002, and were manufactured in Japan, meaning many if not most 2003 cars were manufactured in 2002 (if not earlier). We're a month away from 2012, and 2002 to 2012 is how many years?...

More importantly, thanks davidv for the advice. I will check out that 303 Aerospace. Dfresh713: did you just get a cover off ebay or something similar? I'm worried about the wind. Winter is really nasty here - wind especially: http://www.windpoweringamerica.gov/wind_maps.asp It's not uncommon that the average wind speed in mph will be in the 20s with gusts in the 40s, for days at a time. Crime is extremely low here, so I'm not worried about that.

Basically, I love my car but as a sole daily driver it's not the most financially responsible option in this climate, and I'm trying to do the responsible thing here with my money.

 

california car covers... mine has never blown off. even in 20+ winds

My old ebay car cover blew off everytime the wind swirled it sucked.

 

Car cover or micro tent, even if you make the tent yourself. You could use some serious wood posts, put ripstop weatherproof material over the posts and park it right under it. It would shield the car from a lot of the vertical ice/snow/rain. Bolt the ripstop to the wood posts. Make it indestructible.

Oh, and my car is older than yours and it's not 10 years.

 

I bought mine from some guy off locally who bought it for his car, but never used it. However, the Z covers come with an option to lock cover. I wouldnt even worry about it as the cover is very secure around the car.

 

dude i bought a car cover from autozone for less than 50$, thats a tank of gas. cut happt face smile shaped slits in it where needed to vent the wind if it is crazy windy. then get rope and tie one side to the bottem of the cove under front bumper, run the rope under the car and tie the other side to the the cover under the rear bumper. do the same like four time width wise and your gold. I occasionaly store my car at relatives places in the dirt where there are dogs and high winds. it works. good luck. ps make sure so wax it because dirt gets under the cover and the cover rubs the dirt on the paint and can scratch it without wax.
lol at spitting on it.

 

If you are doing outside storage, you are going to want to go the dual cover route. I know somone who stores their car outside due to no other choice.

They use a OEM car cover, and then they got a really heavy, heavy duty winter cover which goes on top. They have been doing this for the last 6 to 8 years or something and it all works out.

 

Don't they have covers with ties that go underneath the car to hold each side. Any ways is there no place to store the Z? Say your parent's garage or such? Also how is your neighborhood? Leaving a Z sitting outside covered like that attract thieves that noticed your day to day movement. Knowing the car is just sitting there gives them the motive to break into it. I'd invest in the storage if I were you.

 

Move to Texas Seriously though if you are so concerned about your Z, then spend the money. There is no cheap route to your problem. My advice is to get the cheapest rental garage in your neighborhood or a large storage space for it.