Maintence for low-use cars?
 

So everybody in this forum uses their car less than if they didn't bike commute. Some people 100% less (car-free), some 20-40-60-80% less (few-day-per-week bike commuting), but there are bound to be some full-time bike commuters (like me) that still hang on to their car for occasional use.

Are there any special car maintenance concerns for cars with extremely low usage?

I don't want this to turn into a car mechanics thread (my car has this problem, what's going wrong, how do I fix it, etc.), I just want to know if there are any low-use car maintenance pitfalls that other bike commuters have learned about.

For example: I've driven my car (2002 VW GTI VR6, 140K mi) only about 550 miles this year. I've gotten gas in it maybe 4-5 times this year, because I only fill it up to about a quarter. I once had a lawnmower need a rebuild once because I let it sit with the same (CA) gasoline for too long, and it turned to jelly, so I needed to start adding fuel stabilizer. Is that something I should do with a car too?

Are there any other parts (hoses? fluids? tires? belts? etc) that especially degrade from just sitting and need special attention?

Don't let it sit too long without moving or your tires could end up deformed from sitting in one position. Other than that, can't think of anything.

I've heard that before, but I thought the deformation was just temporary, and would be gone after a few miles when the rubber heats up.

Drive the car at least once every 2 weeks long enough for the engine to completely warm up. Probably about 20-30 miles continuous.

Do put something like Sta-Bil fuel stabilizer in the gasoline. It keeps the gasoline from breaking down. This product is good for gas cans and things like lawmowers also as you mentioned. Gasoline has a shelf life before it starts going bad.

Change the engine oil at least once a year. Maybe even every 6 months. Acids can start forming in the oil.

Also change the antifreeze as recommended based on the number of years and not miles.

Check the air pressure in the tires once a month as they leak down. Don't forget to air up the spare tire, if equipped, every 6 months. If you want a good workout, use a floor pump!

Consider getting a trickle charger for the battery and charging the battery every so often.

If you drive the car 500 miles/year the only thing you really need to do is maintain the battery. Modern cars have enough battery drain that this becomes an issue. Get a "battery maintainer" which costs about $30. If you let the battery drain down too many times, it becomes damaged and you need a new $100 battery. I've learned from costly experience.

Thanks for these, exactly the kind of tips I was looking for!

That's not gonna happen. The whole point of my intentional bike-commuting lifestyle is that there are no destinations 10+ miles away that I would drive that car to. Note I keep it at work, not at home, so if something comes up I can pick up the kids from school. So a 20 mile drive would have to come out of the middle of my workday.

Thanks, I will definitely do this. I had to pop out today to the school, and the gas light came on, so it's time for some new gas, so I will get some stabilizer for it. Does stabilizer improve old gas? Or does it (as the name implies) only help new gas stay fresh?

Good to know. I'll change it even though it's nowhere near a distance-based service interval.

Does that matter at all in San Diego? I don't think I've ever changed antifreeze in any car I've owned.

I hear you on the floor pump! Fortunately my work's parking garage has an accessible compressor&hose, and I'll use it to top up.

Ha, a couple months ago I got into the car after its longest sit-still ever (about 3mo I think), and the battery was dead. I was on the 4th floor of the parking deck, so I was able to push it to a ramp and jump-start it. Since then I have backed into parking spaces, so it'll be easier to push out if that happens again!

This car in particular seems to eat batteries at an alarming rate (even before I started bike commuting), so last time it died I bought an expensive one with a long warranty, so I'm hoping that if my non-driving habits kill it, I'll be able to get it replaced warranty-pro-rated pretty cheaply.

Just unhook the battery. That is what we did with my wife old van.

Yeah, sounds like OP's parking place doesn't have an electrical outlet nearby for a battery maintainer to plug in. Then you can install a battery disconnect switch. Go to an autoparts store and ask them what they have. You'll lose all your radio presets when the battery is disconnected.

Note, if you ever have electrical trouble with the car in future, check that the battery disconnect is making good contact when "connected".

Yes. The anti-freezing properties do not go away, but the anti corrosive properties do. Most stuff is 5+ years now anyways so it's not that often.

Oh, another reason to move the car and warm it up now and then is animals. A stationary car makes great shelter for rodents and stinging insects.

All good advice so far. San Diego is an absolutely beautiful place, I'm jealous as I type this. Here is my advice with regard to keeping your car in shape. Don't move to Minnesota.

Interesting, never heard of a battery disconnect switch before. I'll look into that.

I'm pretty sure the middle of the (hardly-used, no trash laying around) 4th floor of an all-concrete parking deck is pretty safe from animals.

That's funny, I will certainly act on that advice! I remember when we moved out here from MI, my dad was blown away by all of the pristine vintage cars around. No rust on anything! (Except very close to the ocean)

Disconnecting the battery when the car is parked long term will reduce the rate it loses charge, but it will still lose charge. If you let it go too far the battery will be permanently damaged. The proper solution is a battery maintainer. Otherwise, at least start and idle the engine every two weeks or so, until the temp gauge shows it is fully warmed up. That will keep the engine and battery healthy.

This doesn't apply to San Diego, but I once had to replace the rotors on a vehicle, long before their time, because they became excessively pitted and ineffective. In a corrosive climate, you need to drive often enough that the pads wipe away the surface rust regularly before it becomes something worse. I think my mechanic said the minimum was once per week during the winter.

Turning on the car and idling it every two weeks strikes me as wasteful, excessive, and counterproductive. Wasteful because you're burning gas to do nothing productive, excessive because it takes longer than that to run down the battery (and you could just periodically hook it up to a charger), and counterproductive because if you don't take long enough trips, you're just adding water and acidity to the oil rather than driving it out.

In my cars that I bed down for the winter, I put in some fuel stabilizer, disconnect the battery, pump up the tires extra-hard, chock the wheels so I can leave the parking brake off, and then say hi again to them in the spring.

Yeah, it all depends on your priorities ;)

Tires slightly overinflated when the car is left for longer periods. It prevents deformation.

Fuel tank brim full. It prevents rust formation.

Make sure the battery is charged. Either by charging it, or by running the car non-stop for a longer (hour, or more) ride... I mean drive (motorcyclist :) ).

When the car is run, from cold, water condenses. That's why, when not run regularly, it should be let to heat up completely. Half an hour or longer rides - to burn and expel all the water and condensation.

Running the car every couple of weeks is wasteful, cold start damages the engine the most. I leave motorcycle during the whole winter - not starting it once. However, it is ridden more often during the rest of the year. Works and starts fine.

Change oil and filters every late autumn - use fully synthetic oil (unless your car is over 15 year old design - in that case do check).


This all might seem complicated, but it really isn't so. Comes without thinking after a while.


My family has always had one car. For 4 or even more people. It was used when something needs to be transported etc.

I also used to share a motorcycle with a friend. Since I ride only on weekends, and not every weekend.

It's a pity for a vehicle to stay not used. If you find more people and use it occasionally together, it is a win-win scenario.


edit: all the fluids should be changed at recommended intervals. All the producers recommend by mileage AND time: whichever criterium is satisfied first. Brake fluid, antifreeze, etc.

I drive my vehicle 20-50 mi/wk. Almost all on the weekends. No extra problems. As a matter of fact maintenance costs are quite a bit less since I started commuting in 2008.

Here in the desert battery life is a problem whether you drive your vehicle or not. Especially if you are parking outside in the sun. As I do.

To the question of animal life in a parking garage? I wouldn't be surprised to find pigeons, other birds, mice, roaches, flying insects and spiders. Maybe not as many on the 4th level but I've seen pigeons hanging out in parking garages here.

My advice, as a former mechanic, is don't do anything much. Keep the gas tank fullish, check the oil and tire pressure when you drive. Take it to a real mechanic (not jiffy lube) to have the oil changed once a year, have them look at it then. That's assuming it gets driven every couple of months at least. Modern cars are pretty tolerant of sitting.

Gasoline doesn't really break down. Gasoline is a pretty stable mixture that has been formulated to be unreactive. Reactions and polymerization are what lead to "break down". Gasoline does have volatile components that can evaporate but modern cars have systems to keep the VOC from escaping into the air. That's doesn't keep the volatiles from escaping into the headspace of the gas tank but, if you have a working emissions control system, you aren't going to lose the VOCs into the atmosphere.

I think more of the problem of "bad" gas or the gas "breaking down" is due to the seasonal changes in the gasoline blend itself. Summer blends uses less volatile hydrocarbon molecules to keep the gasoline from volatilizing in the lines and causing vapor lock in summer heat. Winter blends have more volatile hydrocarbons so that the gasoline will volatilize in the cold. If your car sits for too long, you may just have the wrong gas in the tank so that the car is harder to start. This is more of a problem if you have residual summer blend in the tank and try to start it in cold weather.

Gasoline blends are also regional. I suspect that gasoline blends sold in San Diego is going to have fewer short chain hydrocarbons than gasoline sold in the midwest US because they don't have to deal with the cold.

Based on my experience with a car that serves more as a traffic control device than a people mover, I'd say that descheidt's advice is solid. You don't really need to do much.

And I've heard that CA's regulations make gasoline blends especially different from the rest of the country. I've also heard that the counterproductively make emissions worse.

But that's a lot of recos for a generally full tank. I guess with stabilizer I won't have to worry, so instead of running from quarter to empty, I'll switch to filling it up and topping up from 3/4.

I would recommend going with a 0w engine oil, such as 0w-20 or 0w-30, whichever has the 2nd number equal to what your car takes. This will reduce engine wear on cold startup. And change it about every 6-12 months. I switched to Mobil1 0w-30 in my Integra with over 300K miles on it, changing it every 6 months. It's still going strong at 342K miles. When I had the engine head off last year everything inside looked excellent for its age.

And when you do use the car, you really need to drive it for 15-20 minutes AFTER the engine oil is up to full temperature. I don't know if your VW has an oil temp gauge, but I think the oil takes longer to get to operating temperature than the cooling system does.

Is it wasteful to drive it a little bit more than needed for whatever you're doing? I don't think so, considering the alternative of possible more costly repairs if the engine is never allowed to get up to and run at full operating temperature periodically. Sure a car stored for winter might be fine, but it's stored just for winter and then used regularly the rest of the year. A car used sporadically at any time of year needs to get up to operating temperature every time it's used. If not you can have many more problems.

Plus a car's engine is most efficient when everything is fully hot, so it's really not that wasteful to run it awhile longer.

Given the amount you drive, and tha fact that the car is kept at work, not home, consider giving it up altogether. For what you're probably spending on insurance alone, you might be able to rent cars as needed and end up spending less per year. Things like whether there's a rental agency convenient to work or home, the cost and availability of cabs or public transit and other details will factor into your decision, but it's worth taking the time to track your use and see if mothballing the car makes sense.

Years ago, I mothballed my last car, budgeting $1,200/yr (cost of ins. in NYS) for rentals and the occasional cab. I've never spent close to half that in the years since.