I think I heard a question about this but cant remember the answer a while back and wanted to ask now that’s my situation. I will be moving Friday and have only a 2.5 mile drive to work. It’s downtown, so not that safe to take a bike. Is there anything special I need to do maintenance-wise with such a short distance? Thanks,
Kurt in Nashville
I’d use the “severe schedule” maintenance plan. And try to take an occasional drive. 2.5 miles may not be enough to replenishe the juice in your battery that was used to start the car, and it definitely won’t warm the engine up. Unless, of course, you live in Arizona.
Maybe you could take the bus. Do you pay for parking at work? That could pay the bus pass easily.
Take A Road Trip Every Week-End. That Baby Needs To Run For 20 Or Thirty Minutes At Least Once A Week To Burn Off Any Water (A Natural Product Of Combustion) To Keep The Engine And Exhaust System Intact.
CSA
Change your oil every 3 or 4 months, regardless of miles; change transmission fluid every 3 years; change coolant every 2~4 years; get a good feel for how your brakes are and if they start to feel off, get them looked at, you’ll be doing a lot of stop and go driving downtown I bet; just keep an ear and eye out for anything out of the ordinary and make sure to take care of it sooner rather than later. On the bright side, gas should last you a lot longer than having to drive 20 miles one way.
Hook the battery to a small automatic charger (eg. ‘battery tender’) overnight every 2 months.
Buy roller blades, and blade into work, since you don’t feel safe riding a bicycle.
This will help you stay in shape, or get into a better shape.
After a couple months of doing this, you will be much healthier than you are now.
BC.
Install a block heater if uyou ive in a cold climate. As others say, take the car for a drive of at least 20 miles on the weekend.