How to Store and Maintain a Ferrari During Midwest Winters

Midwest summers offer sports car enthusiasts ideal driving conditions. But as the warm weather departs, Midwesterners know that cold, wintry weather is coming, and it’s time to store your luxury vehicle for better days next season. In this guide, our experts share essential off-season care and maintenance tips to prepare your Ferrari for winter storage in the Midwest. 

Why Midwest Ferraris Need Seasonal Care

Summers are a great time to be behind the wheel of a Ferrari. However, Midwest winters bring freezing temperatures and heavy snowfall that can affect your sports car’s vital components, such as the battery, engine, and transmission. Learning how to care for your luxury car during winter protects your investment and ensures your Ferrari stays in top shape for future summers. 

Preparing Your Ferrari for Winter Storage

You expect months of cold, snowy conditions in the Chicago area, and with this weather comes road salt, freezing temperatures, and slippery roads that you don’t want your Ferrari to endure. Storing your Ferrari entails more than simply parking it in your garage. We recommend storing your sports car in a temperature-controlled environment and following the suggestions below to ensure your Ferrari remains in peak condition.

Many car care experts believe improper winter storage can cause more damage to a vehicle than driving it all winter on salt-covered streets. Properly caring for your luxury vehicle during winter storage will extend its life, help avoid costly repairs, and better prepare your Ferrari for driving when warm weather returns.

Battery, Fluids, and Tire Maintenance

Car batteries lose their charge over time if left unused. You have a few options to prevent this from happening. You can occasionally start your Ferrari to recharge the battery, or you can hook up a trickle charger to keep the battery power topped off.

Some believe that draining your fuel tank will prevent varnish and gum buildup.  Doing this can leave moisture in the fuel tank, which can cause rust and damage your engine during your next driving season. We suggest you fill up your fuel tank and use a fuel stabilizer to prevent the fuel from deteriorating.

Fluids such as oil, antifreeze, and transmission oil should also be changed before storing your Ferrari. These used fluids will have contaminants that, if left to sit over the winter, can cause damage to internal components. If you aren’t storing your Ferrari in a temperature-controlled environment, check your radiator fluid’s freezing point to ensure it stays protected during the sub-zero temperatures you expect on Chicago’s coldest winter nights.

You’ll want to clean your tires before storing them to remove brake dust and dirt that could cause corrosion. Additionally, you should inflate your tires to the proper psi to help prevent flat spots, which occur when the vehicle sits in the same spot for a long time due to the weight pressing down. 

Protecting the Exterior and Interior

You should always clean your Ferrari’s exterior thoroughly before putting it away for the winter. We recommend hand-washing your Ferrari’s exterior and cleaning the wheels and the undersides of its fenders to remove mud, grease, and debris. Once you’ve finished washing, apply a coat of wax for added protection. 

We suggest adding seat covers for additional protection of your Ferrari’s upholstery, but we always recommend treating all your leather surfaces with a good conditioner to protect them. Moisture might also accumulate depending on your storage environment. To address this, we recommend you purchase some packs of silica gel like those you find in a box of new shoes. Silica gel will absorb extra moisture that might accumulate in the cabin.

Using a fitted car cover on your Ferrari will help protect it from dust accumulation, and if you’re storing it in your home garage, it will protect your car from scratches as you move items around. A car cover won’t protect against rodents. To repel mice and other pests, you can cover any gaps they might use to enter, such as your air intake or exhaust pipes. Steel wool works well for these areas. 

Mothballs were the preferred method for decades to repel pests, but these leave an unpleasant odor that also repels people. Fortunately, scented dryer sheets do the same job with a more pleasant smell. You can still spread mothballs on the ground around your car as an additional layer of protection. 

If you have a rodent problem, try to resolve it before winter. If you can’t, set some mouse traps around your Ferrari. You’ll want to check them regularly for any casualties. 

When to Schedule Off-Season Service

An early snowfall isn’t the end of the world, but you should have your off-season services, like oil changes and radiator flushes, completed beforehand. In Chicago, that means by the end of September, as the first signs of snow typically arrive around Halloween. If you have an unseasonably warm stretch after servicing, enjoy driving your Ferrari.

Keep Your Ferrari Ready for Spring with Proper Care

Follow our Ferrari winter storage tips, and your Ferrari will be primed and ready for spring. If you need a storage facility for your exotic car storage in the Midwest, Ferrari Lake Forest can assist you. We have a secure, indoor facility in Lake Bluff that is heated, dehumidified, and sanitized. We also employ video, sound, motion, and heat sensors for added protection. We offer month-to-month terms with no long-term lease agreements and in-and-out valet service. We invite you to contact us online to start the process, or you can always visit our service center and ask for more information.