Would you mind telling me which ones? I'm curious. Thankies.

ALL of them. Sitting gaskets like transmission seals and crank shaft seals the oil will eventual drain away and evaporate. When you take off the either burn up from being dry or tear. Also any bare metal inside the engine will eventually start rusting. Driving the car regularly takes care of it. Gasoline will also go stale and cause issues that can get expensive. You need to run about half a tank of fuel through a car about once a month and fill back up to keep the fuel fresh. You don't want to leave the tank empty unless you have to put the car into long term storage and if you need to put it in long term storage you want to do it somewhere somewhat temperature controlled. If the vehicle is in service you want to leave the tank full so as to have a minimal amount of air in the tank. The more air in the tank the more condensation that can form and settle to the bottom of the tank. That will accelerate how fast the fuel gets stale, cause rust (if the tank is metal) and if enough collects it can get sucked up and clog the fuel filters, injectors and damage the fuel pump. This s VERY big problem with Ethanol fuels. Ethanol fuels can hold a lot of water and burn it safely but they have a point where they go critical mass and the water will drop out of the fuel. You hit that point you go from the fuel having 1-2% water suspended in it to having a 1/2inch of water in the bottom of the tank overnight.

You want to get it on the hwy for 15-20 minutes a month and get it fully up to temperature so that it gets hot enough to evaporate any moisture that may have formed in the engine and collected in the oil. If you use it very infrequently then throw a cooler in the trunk and do your groceriy shopping the next town over to get the car some exercise.

Definitely don't keep it sitting in the driveway completely undriven, even if you have to just start it up once a week for 20 minutes while you are doing something else. Otherwise all the parts that need lubrication will dry out and crack and get ruined.

I drive my 99 subaru impreza to get groceries once a month when it is time to restock on pop, just to make sure it gets driven and stays in working order. That's the only time it gets driven.

It's too late now, but the rest of us reading know now if we are in your situation to just get a decent mileage used car.

Good post. Neglecting a car is like neglecting anything else, whether it's a house, golden retriever, or little kid. The people who don't pay attention (or, more annoyingly to me, are ignorant on purpose) and then complain about their cars being unreliable should be smacked with a big fish.

It's been widely known that e85 produces about 25% LESS MPG than regular unleaded gasoline. It costs too much to employ vs. some form of diesel. His Corsica is actually a good deal and can carry three Clydes and a Philco in the trunk, my guideline in a car anyhow.

PS How DID all this illogical garbage about CARBON get started? Carbon is present in nearly everything, including YOU!

Are you guilty as sin if you buy a diamond ring? 100% CARBON.

It's great that you want to move us to other fuel sources but keep the 'chlorophyll/atomic/electric/radio' hype from past daze out of it. We are actually with you when done sanely.

I doesn't matter if the durned thing might take off uncontrolled like and kill you, at any rate. Apparently Toyota is the last one to figure this out after the US makers suffered with bad cruise control systems.

Guess I'm lucky I still ride my bike - sounds like my new Prius's is gonna get recalled!

These problems are already solved. I know, cuz this research is what I did for a living until very recently. I do believe that hydrogen is the way of the future. Convert electricity into hydrogen and store it at very high pressures, and for as long as you like.

But I still like my bike better.

It is good you don't drive your prius, the brakes probably don't work too well!