How about your car?
 

A related question, regarding everybody's car (that I am sure is getting neglected by some of us). How often do you drive it, what do you think is needed to keep it up in good shape? Have you talked to a mechanic about the best care if you don't drive it much. Oil change still necessary every 3-6 months??

We have two cars, and mine is paid off, a 2004 with "only" 45000 miles... don't really want to get rid of it, even though I only drive it once a week for maybe 10 miles.

Go out and start it at least once a week. Do it on a schedule so it's easy to remember. Change the oil regularly, and I think what matters here is the amount of time ... I think 3,000 to 6,000 miles is based on standard driving rates, but that the oil becomes less viscous as time goes on. But I could be way off on this.

It's a bit unfortunate that we've got things structured so that your car is such an asset to you, even if you aren't using it much. But it probably makes sense for you to hold onto. And there are some trips that you can't realistically make by bike. I've asked for permission to store my bike indoors and start commuting without burning oil ... but still use the car to get into the mountains for camping and hiking trips.

I've got a 2000 Jeep XJ, paid off so my only recurring usual cost is insurance. Since I drive less than 3000mi/yr I got a crazy discount on my rates. (Talk to your insurer about an ultra-low mileage discount.)

I drive 1 day/wk to work, and 1 or 2 weekends/month for a group ride.
I do a yearly change on the typical stuff people change every 3 months: Oil, oil filter, etc. I have an aftermarket air intake, so I don't need to replace a filter, I just check if it needs cleaned.
My brakes will last me until car dies.
My tires will last me even longer.
I just got a new radiator because my old one died, so no worries on maintenance there. Just keep the reservoir filled appropriately when I check the other fluid levels every 3 months.

The only problem I've had recently was the battery going dead. I got home from a ride and left one of my doors open enough to trigger the dome light. I didn't notice it was on, and left it sitting in my (detached) garage for a few days before I wanted to drive anyplace. Went out there, and it was dead; hooked up the trickle charger overnight and it's been fine ever since.

We have one car which my wife uses most of the time. I drive it so rarely these days that it's affected my driving skills. I used to consider myself an "above average driver" (like who isn't?). These days, I'd have to say I'm below average to be honest. I'm simply out of practice. I'm an above average cyclist, though.

I've got a 99 VW GTI - also paid off. I drive it on longer trips, and occasionally take it to work instead of the bike. For example, when I have errands to run (Like picking up another flipper bike, doctors visits etc).

I do all my own work (within reason) to the car. Changed the water pump/timing belt @ 75k and it has 102k on it now. Just do annual oil changes when the mileage is high/its been awhile/oil's black. I run synthetic though so mine tends to last a bit longer. Due for an oil change and tire rotation though, as well as a good cleaning/wash/wax. I really want to get rid of it for a 4x4 pickup, which I think would be more advantageous for my camping/snowboarding, but until I can trade it straight across I'll keep the paid off car.

I have a 2004 car and only 38k miles. Beat ya! Ha! :D

I don't really want to get rid of it until/unless I start having problems with it. But as it is, it runs well now. It's a minivan (Mazda MPV). With seats removed I can put two bikes inside and crapload of luggage. That's how we usually go on vacation. Without a car getting out of New York City on weekends would be painful and ZipCar isn't widely available in the parts of Queens where we live.

The car is almost paid off and my insurance is very low for NYC. I only bought $1400 extended warranty after the factory warranty expired. It already nearly paid for itself with two oxygen sensors replacement :D They malfunctioned after the car wasn't driven for four weeks. Apparently, it's good to run the car a bit every week.

We drive at least twice a week: once to do laundry and once to do do shopping at BJ's (shopping club like Costco). Sometimes we drive to shopping malls outside of NYC where it's cheaper and parking is free and plentiful :) Other than that the car is used only for leisure so we can get to places to hike or ride bikes.

My old car looks pathetic. It sits under the trees and picks up a nice film of grime. It also seems to pick up a little moisture when it rains too much. That wasn't a problem when I was driving it often as it would always get aired out, but now it smells a little mildewy. I try to remember to drive once every two weeks. I went for a month without starting it around Nov.-Dec. 2008 and found that I had killed the battery, so now I try to be a little more careful. It also goes round trip from Raleigh to Charlotte 3 or 4 times a year, and usually from Raleigh to Ohio once a year. Because I don't owe on it and don't insure it beyond liability and because it's about 20 years old, the cost of owning it is pretty low: Insurance (which I'd pay anyway to keep myself a legal driver), property tax, and an occasional oil change. If mass transportation were more affordable, I'd probably ditch the car entirely, but it costs twice as much to take the train to Charlotte as it does to drive (and takes just as long) and more than twice as much to go to Ohio and back. If not for those few trips, I'd just as soon not have to worry about the car. As it is, it will probably break down one day, and I'll find that fixing it costs more than not having it, and then my decision will be made for me.

I have a 2005 ZR2 Blazer that just reached 18,000 miles, and a 1974 V-8 Chevy Nova "hobby" car, that now sees much less than 1,000 miles a year.

It is best to give them a good drive at least once a month to keep everything in working order. This means up to full temp and not just idling in the driveway. An occasional 30 minute drive will do it. Sitting unused for too long can cause all sorts of problems. I only do oil changes once a year at these low mileages, (with a synthetic blend) but would do it more often if they were not kept in a (moderately) heated garage.

Along with approximately 73% of white middle-class Cantabrigians, we have a Subaru Outback. Although neither of us commutes by car, we do have a toddler; so we drive it more often than I'd like. Still, we'll probably log fewer than 6,000 miles by the end of its first year.
The mechanics at our dealership reject the view that oil changes should be scheduled by time instead of by mileage. I was advised just to wait 3000 miles. However, I try to follow the manufacturer's timetable for service appointments, so it turns out that the car gets more frequent oil changes than it needs.

I wanted to add, irrelevantly, that I look forward to service appointments, because it adds variety to my bike commute. I strap the bike to my hitch-mount rack and drive to the dealership in the morning. Then I ride a long commute to work, and reverse the process at the end of the day. On the return ride I pass a fantastic Armenian food store (Eastern Lamejun), and I bring home lamejuns, hummus, tabbouleh, baklava ... Oh man, am I getting hungry. :)

I've got a 2003 Hyundai Elantra with about 26000 miles on it. It's paid off and would still be under warranty for three more years if I were keeping up the maintenance schedule. However, I really don't think the maintenance schedule makes sense for my driving habits. I drive my daughter to school (about 4 miles) a few times a week, drive to the start of non-local rides about a dozen times a year and once in a while make a grocery run or something. I've only driven it about 4000 miles in the past three years.

I change the oil about once a year, and check the air filter and fluid levels about that often. I'm probably asking for trouble not checking things more often, especially since most of the trips I make are very short, but so far it hasn't given me any problems.

I don't believe in the oil change interval based on time. Oil is a very stable mix of chemicals. Most of it has been sitting underground for millions of years without changing, so sitting in the crankcase for a couple years is unlikely to have much of an effect. But short trips are much more likely to contaminate the oil than long highway drives since a cold engine lets more unburned fuel get into the crankcase. So if you're not putting many miles on your car as a result of only using it for lots of short trips then changing the oil more frequently makes sense. Short trips also lead to water contamination if the oil doesn't get hot enough to boil it all out. And I think that was the reason for the recommendation to change the oil every 3-6 months even if that didn't amount to many miles driven.

But for many of us the car isn't used much for short trips since those can be done conveniently by bike. My car doesn't get driven many miles per year, but when I do drive it tends to be for longer distances with many of them being highway miles with a fully warmed-up engine which are pretty easy on the oil.

I've got a 2002 Toyota Echo. We put about 10,000 km/year onto it, mostly on the highway. But the car does get taken out about twice per week. Once to take my wife to choir practice...she's night-blind so can neither drive nor bike in the dark, and once to run Saturday errands that are kind of a pain in the ass by bike. Today it's getting an extra run as I am going to be, ironically enough, driving it to a bike co-op meeting. There's a good reason.

I use the distance targets instead of time targets for maintenance. Usually this is fine, but last year there were a series of problems that all needed to be dealt with at once, which put a big dent in my savings. Mostly a result of 8 years outdoors - this car has never had indoor parking - so I'm not sure that more frequent maintenance would have done me any good. I try to wash it once a month or so to fend of rust, but I often miss this target, particularly in winter when I need a warm day for it to dry.

I have no particular intention of selling the car. It's paid for, and the upkeep costs are mostly reasonable. I am optimistic that there will be no further major repairs for a few years. Renting as needed would probably be cheaper, but only marginally, and then my bike rack wouldn't fit the rental car, and how would I take my bikes anywhere far away?! My wife is going back to school in the fall, though, and student loan evaluators have been known to tell people they should sell their car...I'd have to reevaluate if that's their response. (I'm pretty sure ours is below the allowable value, though.)

I "drive", (if that's the word), a 1995 Volvo 850 with about 135,000 miles on it. Yep, its a real beaut - a spider crack in the windshield glass, a dashboard that's more warped than a fun house mirror, and a fine patina of dissolved clearcoat and paint. The funny thing is that it doesn't have a scratch or dent on it. After I started commuting by bike about 3 years ago, my attention to it definitely started to waver. I drive it about once every two - three weeks just to make sure it still runs, and ocaisionally take it to meetings after work about once a month or so. That being said, I still get the oil changed and services performed when due, but I doubt that I put more than 500 miles a year on the car.

The types of trips haven't really changed for me. I am still doing the same type of trips just much fewer of them. My main reason to use the car is my kid who I need to cart around and pick up from school sometimes (even though I started to pick her up by bike, and we take public transportation back home, but that won't always work). I was thinking of getting one of those tandem thingies, but the kid won't like that if it rains or snows.

I have a 2003 Mercedes Wagon with 31k miles. I think I have driven it about 1000 in the last two years. My 1995 Ford Windstar gets about 6000 miles per year because I share it with my father. I take it out on long rides (to bike rides or marathons) or when my scooter is out of commission (like now). Now that it is warmer, I am all over the bikes and like not using a gas engine.

Simple - I don't have a car :P

I still drive more than I ride. I was doing pretty good for a couple years, riding more than I drove, but then my commute got 2.5 times longer and riding to work just doesn't integrate with time commitments. We have four (FOUR!) cars in the family- I have the newest, a 2005 Hyundai Elantra with "only" 55k miles on it (not bad, considering I put 36k on it the first two years I owned it before I started riding again). My wife has a 2003 Taurus with 120k miles (she was commuting 100 miles a day while she was finishing her degree). My sons each have an older Ford Escort-ish kind of car (one is the Mercury version). Once they are out of the house in a few years, and also once we move closer into the city, I will probably go very car lite, perhaps even car free (me ony; the wife will still be mechanized).

My 96 is about to hit 100k. I drive it enough not to worry about it. I use synthetic oil and quality filtration so I don't worry about "severe" maintenance schedules. I've had the oil analysis to prove it. I take care of it like most things because it's fiscally and environmentally irresponsible not to. No plans to replace any time soon, either.

The 3k oil change is a wive's tale, at least nowadays.

I have a 1997 nissan pathfinder with 321 000 KM's, I've had that vehicle for almost 11 years now. I haven't done an oil change for over a year now because I don't drive it very often anymore. That truck is heavily modified and customized for serious off road use, I used to be an offroader.

I got rid of my "car" which was a pickup truck. I ride to work except in the worst storms I take the bus. We have a family car we use when needed. Seem to be doing fine as a one car family, poluting less, getting much exercise and saving money.

Still have the cars. as much I hate having to deal with CA smoging with those vehicle, I still have to used them for driving my mom around on the weekend. My SO don't commute bybike, so the 2nd car get used everday. We also have a pickup which me used to transport the bikes to various location for weekend rides.,

Me too. $30/mo for my subaru.

You got the answer the OP is looking for. Instead of putzing around starting the thing up once a week and changing oil every 300 miles, he should sell his car and return to the "one-car" family... He could just borrow his wife's car to put in the 10 miles a week...

I ride oohhh 96% of the time. But on occasion I have to be on top of my driving game because I drive my company's 18 wheeler as a relief driver. So I won't drive for like 5 months and then boom! I'm driving down the road with 105,000 lbs of glass 75 miles an hour. Scary.

The wife and I have an 06 Prius, which she drives quite a bit, and which is used almost every time either of us drives. We also have a 98 Ranger, which is used very little... and I'm talking a few hundred miles per year. It's frustrating that I feel I am about three inches from being able to get rid of it... but there are still times when I drive to work and the Prius is or will be in use by the wife. At least the yearly costs are relatively low... probably about $1000 a year, I estimate. I take it in once a year for oil change, etc..

If only we had car-sharing service, but suburbia isn't intelligent enough for that yet.