How Long Is Too Long To Let Your Vehicle Sit Without Driving It?

[barbmelle]

Due to sickness, my car sat outside, not driven for 8 weeks in winter conditions. It cranked slow and started, but it just did not perform well. The engine did not miss fire but it felt sluggish. Driving it daily for two weeks, and a couple trips to the gas pump, the car is back to running great. I think this modern gas with ethanol goes bad pretty fast.

[sptrader]

I've owned several classic sports cars and I never let them sit all winter. Always keep a battery tender on any car in storage for more than a couple of weeks. I tried to drive them even in Winter, on nice days, when the roads are clear. When you drive, always drive until you reach full operating temperature at least. If the roads stay snowy all winter, then start the car once a month and let it fully warm up. I always added a fuel stabilizer and kept the tank near full to reduce moisture in the tank.

[flagmichael]

The gasoline concerns are mostly out of date. For roughly half a century environmental regulations have required evaporative controls on automobile fuel systems. Because of that there is no water in the tank unless it was refueled in pouring rain or the gasoline contained water. I bought an early Ford Taurus that sat for a year and a half. I put a new battery in it, checked fluids, and drove it home without a hitch.
Barb Melle has a good point: if the gas contains ethanol your results may vary.

[ricksalt]

A friend has 2 Range Rovers, the old one sat in the garage for a winter . In the spring the son needed a
vehicle so the older Rover was given to him . It was totally dead when they tried fire it up .
They discovered rats had moved in the engine compartment and chewed a whole lot of wires .
I never did find out how much it cost to get it going probably could have bought a good used car
for the price I would think ... being a Range Rover, cha ching $$$$

[henrybyrd]

Some good advice here. Because of Covid restrictions last year, I hardly used my car at all. On the few occasions when I used it for short journeys, I had the lights and heater on. The battery was three years old and couldn't handle this and refused to start when I needed it.

[ajjugoyal]

Voice levels are too low in this video
Seems hard to listen
Try a bit higher next time

[darthgrundle]

Sunny King speaks the truth. Cars are meant to be driven and get the fluids moving, much like the human body. Most things in our world are like that, even a house not being lived in deteriorates pretty quickly.

[googleuser]

I wonder how long new cars are sitting waiting for chips.

[chuckgates]

1992 i bought a 1976 olds delta 88 royale 350 rocket that had not been started for 1-2 years. Put new batt in it and it started first crank..

[MikeDunn]

When I was selling my Camaro, I had it outside in November in NJ (when it starts to get cold). I was driving it about twice per week. I could tell that if I hadn't sold it soon, it was going to deteriorate real quick. It had a small crack in the dash that developed into a bigger crack in no time.

[theeducatedredneck]

My Corvette is parked on a 4 post lift for about 6 months every year. I use a battery tender, fresh oil when parked and non ethanol fuel. It aways starts right up in spring. 😃

[ozzierabbit]

I've owned two Subaru Foresters which I've always kept outside and noticed the brakes began to bind after just a few weeks of not being driven in wet weather, apparently pads to the rotors. In comparison, my Honda CR-V, which has also always been kept outside for the 16 years I've owned it, never had that issue.

[JT-ovyr]

I routinely have many vehicles that go 6 months to over one year without ever driving them. Never any problems. I only use Ethanol Free gasoline and all my vehicles sit on battery maintainers when not in use, even my weekly drivers are on battery maintainers. My Ford van once sat for 20 months never driven, when I went to start it, it roared to life with not no much as one full revolution of the engine, and just barely touching the starter, it started with no difference from driving it routinely every day or sitting for 20 months. I also have oil pressure gauges on all my vehicles, and I get oil pressure immediately, again, no difference from daily driving. I also have another vehicle that has sat since 2014, never started, ran great when I last parked it, it was a long term storage vehicle in a garage environment and the battery was pulled and engine oil was changed so no acids would be in the oil to degrade and damage metal, when I eventually do start it again I will at the minimum pull the spark plugs and turn the engine over with no compression to at least make sure oil is getting everywhere it needs to be before I actually starting it up again.

Maybe this video would be better if you teach people how to store vehicles long term in addition to recommending to drive them every 2 weeks because driving your vehicle every 2 weeks will never, ever bring your battery up to 100% full saturation, full charge condition ever, in fact it will only guarantee to keep it in a state of deep discharged condition.

[wannabeetiger]

It depends how u prep it for storage. A Trickle charge here, and some fogging oil there, and never store ur car with gas blended with ethanol( use non ethanol gas for storage)!

[cgrscott]

I kept my 2001 Odyssey as a backup car. It's not my daily driver anymore but, I try to drive it once a week to attend my weekly business networking meeting. That seems to keep the battery healthy.

[jonmopar]

Billy Bob Thornton givin car advice like a pro.

[isaacsellersable]

Very good information, my old car used to sit maybe a week max because I used to not go anywhere much. Although it was kept under our carport and I frequently checked on it, it still had mice get in it and have babies. Fortunately no damage occurred to the vehicle and got them out-they were in the cabin air filter section.

[skimanfree]

wow, a video straight and to the point in under a minute!

[kensnedegar]

I don't drive my 2001 Ford Lightning in Michigan for six months because of winter I put a battery tender on a battery I keep my gas tank full and tires always stay fine no flat spots

[jaysmith]

I have a 1991 Camaro RS with 63, 000 miles. Sits a lot in the garage and only comes out on nice days. I only put a few hundred miles on it a year.