I might be going out of town for a few months and was wondering what the longest time is for a car to sit and not be driven without affecting the car?

Just wondering so I'll know whether or not I'll have to arrange for someone to take her for a spin while I'm gone. (I hope not!)

 

It would be good for it to be started a couple times every week, especially if it gets cold up there.

 

Make sure you put some fuel stabilizer in it. Make sure you run the engine for a while after you do that to get it in the engine.

It would be nice if it gets started and run for 15-30 mins every couple of weeks, but you will probably be ok for a month or two if you don't.

If you're talking all winter, then you might want to do some more thorough winterizing that perhaps others could elaborate on.

 

In" Back To The Future " that car sat a real long time.

 

Solution: Let me drive it while your gone

 

leave at least half of tank a gas....if left for over 3 months idling, you will need to change your oil as well. disconnect the battery. I think the manual goes into details of what to do when leaving the car for long term idling.

 

depending on how long you leave your car you can run into issues with your tires flat spotting but that's generally like 8 months +

 

the dealers do run the cars a couple times a week even the new cars are parking at the lot

you can get somebody to do that, say, start up for 5-10 min once or twice a week

 

Good comments about the battery. I forgot about that. You can get either a trickle charger meant for stored cars or just disconnect it completely.

I never had any issues with my old car (a Camero). We put fuel stabalizer in and started it up 2 or 3 times over the winter. My motorcycle on the other hand ... it has to go to the shop every Spring because it doesn't winter well. I guess I must be missing something.

Good luck again.

 

I've had mine sitting for the past 3 months in my garage, i start it every week or so, but a few times the battery was dead..

 

its not necessary to start the car every week.
the best thing to do is if possible park all 4 tiires on a piece of wood.
disconect the battery and thats about it. if its going to sit longer than 3 months id recomend a little fuel stabilizer. and if it is acouple months chang the oil as soon as possible when you return