Question: Inactivity and wear issues?

[killain]

I have read once or twice, that you can prematurely cause undue wear by not using a car on a regular schedule. Because of bad health, I'm only able to use my 2003 coupe every ten days or so. I always have the oil and filter changed once a year as per the owners manual since I don't drive more than 2500 miles a year. But I was wondering what you folks think? I'm kinda anal about the care and feeding of my beauty, and would like to treat it as best as possible ! thanks for you opinions. ;help

 

[TooFast]

Tough question. Is the car in a climate controlled garage? It will make a big difference if it is subject to extreme temperature conditions. Are you drivng it every month or is it sitting for 6 months. I don't drive mine more than 500-800 miles per year and I have never experienced any deleterious issues. You should, of course, have a charger on the battery and there is some benefit in taking the weight off the tires for extended period of storage or inactivity. I have seen rubber seals start to dry out if not conditioned. I regularly treat my seats with a leather conditioner, even thugh it is not being driven. I change my oil and filter annually. Other than that I don't do much else.

I'm sure Hib Halverson would be able to give you some expert advice.

 

[vett boy]

I think once every 10-14 days is good .Hopefully your health will improve

 

[killain]

Tough question. Is the car in a climate controlled garage? It will make a big difference if it is subject to extreme temperature conditions. Are you drivng it every month or is it sitting for 6 months. I don't drive mine more than 500-800 miles per year and I have never experienced any deleterious issues. You should, of course, have a charger on the battery and there is some benefit in taking the weight off the tires for extended period of storage or inactivity. I have seen rubber seals start to dry out if not conditioned. I regularly treat my seats with a leather conditioner, even thugh it is not being driven. I change my oil and filter annually. Other than that I don't do much else.

I'm sure Hib Halverson would be able to give you some expert advice.

Oh yes, I do all of that, a battery butler if idle for 10 days or more and I treat the leather every year to a conditioning. But the garage is unheated, but even in the winter I take it out on clear days. I wait till the snow and salt of pretty much gone and then i take it out for a hour or so.

 

[killain]

I think once every 10-14 days is good .Hopefully your health will improve

Thanks buddy, I think I might not get better, but I'm somewhat sure it won't get any worse. There's an old saying up in the coal country of pennsylvania, " Better the devil you know that the one you don't !" Thanks for your kind thoughts.

 

[Eric]

I think once every 10-14 days is good .Hopefully your health will improve

Ditto on both points, especially the second one.

When I had my 71 I never let it sit without either driving or at least starting once every couple of weeks and I never experienced any premature wear issues. Driving every week or so you should be fine. If you were in western PA the cold might be more of a concern but if your far enough east your weather isn't that much different from mine other than a few more snowy days. I'm about 30 miles west of DC.

 

[JohnGrawcock]

If you tend to let the fuel age more than two months you may want to use a fuel stabilizer.

 

[Hib Halverson]

If you drive the car every 10 days, you're not going to have any problems if the kind you inquired about.

The above comment about fuel stabilizer is incorrect. Gasoline is designed for a cradle to grave of 6-10 weeks, but unless you are buying really crappy, "off-brand" fuel, gasoline will remain stable for 9-12 months.

If you are going to store the car longer than that, then you may want to add fuel stablizer.

 

[njlouc]

wish you well -- health wise.
Here's another item that needs some attention - the power windows should be used occasionally to keep them in good shape.

 

[65-to-00]

Be sure to acutate the AC and all systems even in the winter.

We share similiar problems with health ..... got days when the car is a joy and others when ...



Once I had an almost new Saab but then I bought a Jeep "junker" ... for some reason I always took the Jeep ... but when after 6 months I remembered the Saab ... brakes were locked tight.

Make sure you "exercise" all of the components even if you just move it a bit to avoid tire "flat spot" ... yeah .... it goes away after a few miles but the initial ... bump, bump, bump is a pain inna' adz!