Hey gang - I have a fortunate turn of life events in that I now have a nice short 2 mile commute to work (about a 5 minute drive through suburbs). My question is that I've always heard that it is hard on a car to drive for short distances. I know, a terrible problem.

Anything special that I should do? Drive for a few extra minutes to get it up to temperature before parking? Not worry about it?

Thanks.

 

Take the long way home every now and then. On the weekend, take her for a 20 minute drive. The idea is to get the car to operating temperature which means hot enough to evaporate moisture from the fuel lines, oil, exhaust system, etc. that may have condensed.

 

I love when people say "her" to refer to car. I'm using it too. It gives my friends a lot of opportunities for jokes hah.

You can also let her idle for some time to warm up. Especially in the winter when it's cold. No idea how long it takes to recharge battery after starting, but it might be low on charge after some time.

 

Yeah, did forget to mention, I do drive longer distances on the weekend, so that is good.

 

As long as it reaches normal operating temperature at the middle of the guage by the end of your commute you should be fine. Even if not these are modern cars most things it you are running the car multiple days a week you are good. As long as it has one good decently long drive each week I wouldnt even think about it. If it has a lot of miles consider the electrical system, like a new battery, new spark plugs, or even just brushing off corrosion can help start it in winter time.

 

I redline all day long. You'll be fine.

 

As long as youre redlining it the whole five minutes youre driving to work you should warm it up enough.

 

Dont do this, from everything I have read and been told its better to go out and drive easy to warm a car up than to let idle.

If you drive more on the weekends, your good!

 

I've had a 1.8 mile work commute for 5 years until recently and the car was parked outside. I'm in Canada and winter temps can get pretty cold, I would start the car and let it idle 30 seconds to a minute while I was removing the snow from the car. More than that is just silly.

Change your oil twice a year even if you don't reach a certain mileage, it'll smell more of gas because of your short commute and that's normal. Don't rev it up like a maniac when it's still cold, but that applies to any driving anyway.
Try to bundle your errands together, with your first stop the furthest from your start point and other stops on your way back so the car has time to heat up before you turn it up. Go see your family and friends on the weekends.

 

I did a little bit research, meaning I Google that and read 4 first links. It seems that idling is actually not that good idea.

Guess I'm learning something new every day. Now I need to reconsider putting remote start to my car.

 

Thats what this forum is all about, and thanks for taking the time to research it and learn something new!

 

Ditto.

Idling doesn't circulate the oil as much as actual driving.

 

Not sure if this will happen, but my sister drives a 2000 ML320. The subway is only about 7 miles 1 way, and after a month we started getting this yellow film on the underside of the oil cap. We thought it may have been a head gasket leak or something, but it turns out it was normal for the car. Mechanic and online forums just advised to drive it a little harder and longer than 7 miles to get the oil recirculating and heated up again. Not sure if that'll happen to you as well, but just something to keep in mind if it ever does pop up.

 

Thanks for all the responses. I did forget to mention two things. 1) It is garage kept, so even on the coldest of coldest days in suburban DC, the garage doesn't get below 30 degrees, so mornings won't be too much of an issue. 2) I also have an old Camry beater that I can use for times when I know I can't get it up to temperature. And for the TL, I also only get about 1/2 tank of gas at a time, so it doesn't get too stale on me.

 

yea condensation on the underside of the cap mixed with oil causes that film. It can happen in your engine too, that why the driving it more, getting it hot to evap the condensation is recommended.

 

invest in a battery tender/charger! I use this one:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0..._rd_i=15707061

and it works amazingly well! it comes with 2 charging cords so you can hook one up to the battery terminals and leave the quick connector on the car, and still have the end with clamps for another car/battery.

 

buy a bike

 

Heh finally I see a non-car alternative. I was going to say as well...if its 2miles....may be feasible to look into non-car modes of transport. (depending on season/weather, sidewalk, safety of neighborhoods, etc.)

 

either that or get something with horrific gas mileage since it won't always be cost effective to own that.

 

Yeah ive had this happen before and I got all worried over nothing.

And to those who are saying get a different form of transport. NEVER!!! I love my car too much. I hate taking the train or bus. I also dont really like people so there is that lol. I only ride bikes or skateboards for fun and exercise. This is a car forum after all, we are car people.

 

Ride bike to work and use TL on weekends for joy rides

 

I also found mustard under the coolant cap which indicated driving car for too short distance and letting the engine reach normal operational temperature. This was 07 Audi A6 4.2 V8

 

If it makes you feel better, I put about 50-150 miles a year on my TL and it's been that way the last 4 years.

 

I was doing that daily with my commute for the past 10+ years!

 

No, not really

 

With that little mileage driven per year, how many miles do you have on your TL then?