2019 RDX AWD Tech. 65K miles. New battery.

The car will be parked in the garage for two months between January and March, which is peak winter in the upper Midwest. I don't wish to trouble anybody with making checks on my car during this period.

I read contradictory advice: some say two months is nothing and no special preparation needed, and some want the battery disconnected, fuel stabilizer added, tires to have mats, etc. Can you please share your experience or suggestions specific to this car?

 

I have a 2020 and haven’t stored my RDX, but because I WFH, it does sit for up to two weeks. I would definitely put a trickle charger on the battery or as you mentioned possibly disconnect it.
For gas, I typically drain or use up what is in my seasonal equipment like lawn mowers / snow blowers, but gas in the gas cans is generally considered good for 6 months. Where you are looking to store for just two months, I don’t know that I would be too concerned.
I believe tires completely depend on the manufacturer and model. I’ve had tires that have flat-spotted in just a few days and others that have been fine for weeks and weeks sitting. My $0.02

 

Its best to put car on 4 jack stands to avoid flat spots

 

You won't need fuel stabilizer for 2 months, but most likely your battery will discharge significantly if you don't disconnect it or have it on a trickle charger. Would definitely recommend lifting the car to avoid flat spots on the tires as well - those are more likely to form in colder weather.

 

I've stored my Miata over the winter for 4 months at a time over the years (don't have it anymore). 2 months is kinda on the borderline of where you need to do anything to prepare the car but there's no harm in adding fuel stabiliser, using a battery tender, and putting more air in the tires (to avoid flat spots). I never needed to put the car up on the jacks when storing, most people I know do not put the car up jacks for storage as adding air into the tires is usually enough (flat spots tend to be more dependent on the tire you have.

 

Something I don't see mentioned is some form of preventative to mice gaining admission to the vehicle and chewing on wire harnesses, many of which are soy bean based and appealing to them. For over twenty years I've owned a Porsche and many years ago Porsche recommended the use of liberal quantities of mothballs in the vehicle when stored. They have to be placed in small metal containers becuase naphtha can soften vinyl on contact. I use the cups in the baking isle at the grocery store for making muffins. The smell becomes quite strong but dissipates raidly when you put the car back into service. Porsche has a long list of suggested items to do at Porsche winter storage checklist. It definitely is worth a read.

There is also a natural product made from balsam or hemlock that I used. A bit pricy, but so is the wiring harness of a Porsche. It can be found at

 

It seems every car from the factory or dealership lot have around 40-45 PSI. I figured the reason why was to avoid flat spots for a vehicle that might be sitting for weeks/months.

I things I would do if I needed to store for +2 months are:
- good wash and wax. Don't want any dirt, grim, acid rain, etc sitting on the paint for +2 months straight
- use top tier gas a few fill ups before storage
- set tire PSI to 40-45 range
- battery tender
- double check windshield wiper fluid is a winter mix rated for below freezing temps
- fresh full syn oil in the engine
- car cover if stored in dusty garage
- use outdoor all weather car cover if stored in covered parking or exposed to the elements
- I would add a bottle of HEET before the last fill up to have the mixture in the entire fuel system. Then another bottle and full up with gas on the last fill before storage (reduce air space for condensation)
- I would also try and start the vehicle and drive it for 20-30 minutes to normal operating temperatures every +/-3 weeks if I have easy regular access (stored in your garage and not in another city/state)

 

If you alreadt have 4 jacks, lift it up for storage. If you dont, I would not go and buy them just for storage.
Tire flat spotting is a real thing for 2
month storage, and when people say its fine, its most likely they are not very sensitive to feel it.

 

Flat spotting is a real thing but it's not a real thing for ALL tires/cars. Very, very few Miata owners (and Porsche owners) put their cars up on jacks when we store them - it works fine to air the tires up. OTOH, my TSX on its Continental DWS tires would get flat spots after 2 weeks of sitting around.

 

so if you already have jack stands in a garage, whats the reason to gamble and see what happens after 2 month? Tires are not cheap

 

I agree with @supafamous and if you look at my post of the Porsche recommendations you’ll see they recommend simply over-inflating a bit and parking on some carpet remnants. I’ve owned a Porsche for 20+ years and any flat spot I developed was gone (by feel) within a few miles of driving at moderate speed.

 

Its a good recommendation when due to practical reasons putting car on jacks is not possible/feasible. But the best thing is to put it on jacks if you can. I had bad experience long time ago with flat spots that never fully recovered and tires never felt the same way.

 

I really think it's very tire model dependent - the ExtremeContact DWS was a bit notorious for flat spotting when parked but the successor DWS06 had no such problems. Continental as a brand tends to have more flat spotting issues while I've never heard about it with Michelins or Bridgestones (generally what Porsche and Miata owners are running). I'd guess that OEM tires are generally fine as they already regularly sit around on dealer lots for months at a time so flat spotting was an issue we'd hear about it all the time as cars come off the lot.

 

If you place the car on jack stands be careful to not raise it too high since this may extend some of the suspension parts to the extreme and damage can occur. Just raise and block sufficiently to remove the majority of the weight off the tires.

 

First time hearing about damaging suspension when car is sitting on jack stands for long time.
What is your source of this information?

 

Guessing is not how I would go about my car if I can throw it on jacks in 10min.
You guys do what you think is best.
dealers typically move cars around the lot, they dont let them sit unmoved for many month.

 

I took a little browse on Google on this as I've heard this before as well and Porsche specifically recommends against putting the car on jacks in storage due to the risk of suspension damage (and other reasons apparently). Similarly on the Miata forums there are comments to this about keeping the bushings loaded. Google also reveals that the two POVs (jacks or no jacks) have a lot of supporters on both sides.

What works for you may not work for others. My garage is 18' long so while I could reasonably get the front up on jacks the backs would be substantially more difficult to do b/c of space constraints - definitely not a 10 min job vs adding 10psi.

 

If I had jack stands I might use them, otherwise I’m not sure I would be too worried about it.

 

You can also get tire savers for probably a similar price as jack stands, and that removes any possible issues on the suspension from raising the car. So if you have neither, and are only concerned with storage, then maybe just get those.

 

For Honda/Acura there are zero issues with suspension when car is on jack stands.

 

I would think the same as well, but just throwing it out there if anyone needs that extra peace of mind.

 

Jack stands for an extended period of time is a horrible idea - don't do that.

Over inflate the tires 5psi and you'll be fine.

 

why??

 

Suspension aren't designed to be fully suspended for months at a time - they are designed to support the vehicle. When fully suspended for extended periods, stress is placed on pieces that aren't designed for that. Corrosion can form on the piston rods - just not a good idea.

 

still waiting for any specific information for Acura RDX rather than broad statements based on some other manufacturers…

 

Could it be that those are much lighter cars and hence less likely to cause flat spots?

 

Found something from Honda, not RDX:
Storing Car
If the vehicle is to be stored for a

longer period, it should be

supported on jackstands so the

tires are off the ground.

 

Maybe? I didn't look deeply into the recommendations but it sounded like the Porsche rec is for all their cars including their SUVs. For the Mazda case I don't know either as it's only what was discussed in a Miata forum but those owners, of course, own other cars and generally have all opted out of using jack stands. This isn't to say that you shouldn't use jack stands as there are manufacturers (both cars and tires) that do say to use jack stands. I think there's enough diverse opinions that folks can do whichever is convenient for them (or what the manufacturer says) - my experience with airing up the tires has always worked fine and I lack the space to easily put my car on jack stands if I needed to store it, it's just not worth the trouble.