Agreed! My father was an automotive engineer and he taught his six kids this. I'm not sure if it stuck with my siblings, but it did with me. His biggest concern was rust in the exhaust system, and I can attest to this as I've not replaced a single exhaust manifold, coupling, cat, muffler or pipe in my 48 years of vehicle ownership. Keeping the oil free of condensation is probably the best reason to bring the engine to normal operating temp prior to shutting it off.

So, the people who routinely move their vehicles short distances to play Tetras with the parking spaces in and around their homes...be warned!

 

Unless the terminals are removed (which can cause other complications), the average parasitic drain-time on a fully-charged battery, on today's computer-equipped vehicles, is about two weeks at moderate temperatures. Anything more than that, and you risk a dead battery.

 

Our LS sits in the garage months at a time. The main issue is flat spotting the tires and at about the 6 week mark the battery will be below 80%. I put it on the battery maintainer at the 4-5 week interval. Cars with more sophisticated electronics may have to be checked with more frequency to maintain the battery as MM mentions. The other day had the LS out for a short freeway run of 15 miles mostly for the battery in this instance.

Gas is quite reasonable these days so getting out for a drive can be nice.

 

My BMW sat for 7 months back in the early days (I went in and out of the car i.e. unlocking and locking), granted it's a 2007, but it still has stuff like smart key, the fuel pump activates every time doors are unlocked, parking lamps and interior lamps/puddle handle lamps, all turn on (not all are led this was 2007), etc. I would question the 2 week figure. Actually it's been in the garage over 4 weeks now, I guarantee (would be willing to make a gentleman's bet you'd have to take my word of $5, that it would start up first try, with 2 cranks (determined by the car's computer). It also sat for 5 months in 2016. No issues with the battery.

I have to honestly say the notion of vehicles being exercised is funny, I don't think any other forum has called it that (watch someone post a link I could be wrong).

I'll also point out you could leave a battery on a tender for 6 months with a solid green light, and a vehicle could potentially not start. voltage (that light turning green) is only one aspect of the battery. V=ir

edit p.s. the notion of the rotors rusting is funny too. Almost all japanese cars have what I call the "stripe of shame" where the pads don't sweep the surface, usually at the interior near the hub (I've never seen that on a German car as the pads go edge to edge). That's not going to happen at the swept areas, even though there will be rust. Meaning, it will not happen that the rust becomes equal to the stripe of shame's depth/runoff even if your car sits 3 years. Impossible. If you're moving your car because of that, think marginal benefit < marginal cost so don't do it. As it's been mentioned here it's not ideal if the engine doesn't fully warm up.

p.p.s. come to think of it my wife's GM has been sitting about 4 weeks now. I have no inkling to do anything, it will start right up whether it's 4 weeks or 4 months, I guarantee it!

 

I think the bottom line is, it makes you feel good...so do it.

 

I park my LS430 for 5-7 months in the winter time do not touch it, till its ready to drive again in the spring, and the car is fine. You only get all that stuff your talking about when the car sits for over a year without being touched, brake rotor rust can happen over night rotors have iron in them. If the car is not running nothing needs to be lubricated.

Unless your gonna drive the vehicle for 30 mins or more leave it parked you cause more damage driving it for under 30 mins than is caused by it sitting there.

 

That 2-week figure also comes from Pat Goss, Motorweek's Senior Technician, who does an automotive talk-show, and also owns his own repair-shop.

On the examples you cited, were the battery-terminals unhooked while they sat?



My Lacrosse also one-ups even that. It has a special coating on the rotors themselves (might be Galvanizing....I'm not sure), which prevents any rust, period. My rotors are going on three years old and look like the day they were built.

 

That coating protects the rotor hats, not the braking surface. The braking surface will get surface rust like any other rotor.

 

No. Incorrect. The rotors on current-generation Lacrosses don't rust, period, even when they sit out in the rain, unused, for several days. It may be difficult to believe without actually seeing it, but it is a fact....I know, as an owner.

Here's the link that explains why.

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/glob...ticle11408699/

 

It says they last till 36,000 miles

 

I don’t worry about the GS or Highlander. They’ve both been sitting for a few weeks now, in the garage.

My truck, a 2000 Silverado, needs to be started and driven at least every other week or the battery goes dead, and it doesn’t run well. I just put quite a bit of money into it and it seems to be running better overall.

 

I go to work weekly since I work in one of those exempted industries that is allowed to commute even though I could work from home. Most of my colleagues have chosen to work from home. Also, I get to enjoy driving my car even more since there's hardly any traffic around.

 

We'll see. I don't have that many miles on them yet, especially with the restricted-driving of the last several weeks.

 

I would imagine that a 6-month interval would be fine, as long as the battery wasn't in the final throes of life. And for a hybrid, all you need is enough moxie to run the computer and relays; the traction battery starts the ICE.

VW used to ship its cars with a tiny dashboard-mounted solar panel that kept the battery topped-off while the cars sat by the hundreds after being off-loaded from the transport ships. You can buy similar panels that can plug into the OBD port (12v always hot) of your car, if the sun can get to it. I just carry an itty-bitty lithium-ion battery pack the size of a paperback book. If my 12 battery is dead, I can fire things up easily with it. I've used it to start a stranger's big V8 pickup truck in a Costco parking lot. Lots of current for a few seconds.

 

Not quite as important as engine seals and cylinder lubrication is what happens to the gas. Lifted from an auto site.

If you have ethanol in your gas, I would not suggest keeping that fuel around for more than 3 months maximum (ethanol fuel starts to go “bad” in 30 days, without adding fresh gas to it. Ethanol attracts water and goes to gunk relatively quickly. Both water and ethanol are corrosive to parts in your fuel system.

If you have “real” gasoline without ethanol, you can probably go up to 6 months.

If you are not going to drive for more than a month in either case, I would add a fuel stabilizer.