- Is it okay to leave a car sitting all week while walking or biking to work, grocery, etc., and use it only on weekends for travel? With more people looking to save money, I think this may become common.
We can hope, anyway!
2) When ordering/buying a BRAND new car, can one request that the unattractive little dealership label (on a sticker or plate affixed to the car; free advertising) be left off? I don’t want.
Yes, and yes.
I have a third car (93 Caprice) that sits for 1 - 3 weeks at a time. However, I always drive long enough to fully warm up the engine, no short trips. I’ve had it for 6 years with no problems.
I don’t leaving the sticker off a car would be a deal breaker for the dealer.
Ed B.
These are most definitely NOT dumb questions!
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There is nothing wrong with this. In fact, if you drive the car on weekends–for at least 20 miles or so–you will keep the battery adequately charged. This is far easier on a car than someone who uses it every day to drive 2 miles to the train station, and then 2 miles back from the train station–that is actually the worst thing that you can do to a car. Just remember, since you will likely be accumulating miles slowly on this car, it will be necessary to use the elapsed time factor, rather than the accumulated mileage factor, for oil changes and all other maintenance. In other words, if the maintenance schedule tells you that the oil should be changed every six months or 5,000 miles, you will need to have that procedure done every six months. When it comes time for a timing belt change (assuming that the car has a timing belt), if the maintenance schedule says something like “every 90,000 miles or six years”, you need to change the timing belt by six years, otherwise you will risk major engine damage when (NOT if) the belt snaps without warning.
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This is the only way that I am willing to buy a car. I have had one or two salespeople over the years who tried to push the issue, and I had to give them some verbiage about negotiating the monthly fee for displaying their advertising on my car before they finally backed off. Most salespeople nowadays will freely cooperate with you on this point, but I would strongly suggest that the documents that you sign prominently say “NO DEALER STICKER”, even if you have to print this on the documentation. Most dealerships have gone over to the practice of using license plate frames with their name on it, and there is a good chance that you will encounter that practice, rather than those ugly stickers/i.d. plates.
Good luck with your car purchase, and don’t forget to come back when you have other questions.
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It won’t hurt anything leaving it sit for a week. But I doubt that people are willing to leave their cars sit unless they’re “rolling pennies for gas” broke. It kinda negates the whole purpose of having a car in the first place.
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The dealership emblems/decals are easily removed. My Mustang never had one (weird); my Bronco does have a small decal with the dealerships name on it. I’ve left it on because 1. I had an excellent experience at the dealership and would recommend them to anybody.
And 2. It’s not worth my time or effort to remove it.
Otterhere; yes and yes to both questions. When I take trips I often leave the car at the airport parking for a week at the time. No problem. As pointed out, you need to drive the car some 20 miles or so to fully charge up the battery again and to avoid condensation and sludge from forming as a result of very short trips.
My Toyota dealer put a nice license frame of cast aluminum around my rear plate. I actually like it. Agree that those cheap stickers are ugly. The only one I’m proud of is my 25 year AAA sticker on the rear window.
“Negates the purpose of having a car,” Fo? I don’t think so! I commute basically all weekend within a 90 mile radius, but if I can walk or bike to my office, library, grocery, etc. during the week, more power to me! And everyone else who’s able to save even ONE car trip… We’ll be thinner and healthier, besides…
I guess I should’ve added that that it’s not always a “sticker,” which I agree is easily removed; the dealer advertisement on this Yaris was actually a plastic PLATE which, I assume, was either bolted or apoxied to the car surface! I wouldd hate to leave gaping holes in my new car when I removed that…
Making a note to ENSURE they leave that off when I order; thanks, all.
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No problem whatsoever.
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I make it known up front that I will refuse delivery if there is ANY dealer advertising on the vehicle when I come to pick it up. I had one salesman tell me the “boss” insists they put on a decal and I can take it off when I get home. I told him to tell his boss he just lost a sale over that stupid requirement and walked out. One time, I showed up and during the delivery inspection pointed out the sticker and the note I made them put on my sales order not to have any dealer markings on the car. I told them I was refusing delivery and that I didn’t want that car because I didn’t trust them to remove the sticker without damaging the paint. After negotiation, I got $100 in cash as compensation for removing it myself. I’m not buying a rolling billboard for your company…
“I guess I should’ve added that that it’s not always a “sticker,” which I agree is easily removed; the dealer advertisement on this Yaris was actually a plastic PLATE which, I assume, was either bolted or apoxied to the car surface! I wouldd hate to leave gaping holes in my new car when I removed that…”
Those are still just stuck on with the same stuff as the cheap stickers. You can pry them off and clean up the glue left behind.
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Well covered by others. Just make sure you run it enough on the weekends to exercise everything, get the engine and exhaust good and hot, and charge the battery.
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My father had a policy when buying a car. He’d tell the dealer, “Sure, you can put your advertising on my car – if you knock 2 or 3 hundred off the price.” Personally, I don’t mind license plate frames (easy to remove), but I draw the line at stickers on a new car.
Yes and MAYBE
Some states you can opt to not have the dealer logo on the vehicle. You can always negotiate with the dealer…but some states is actually law.
Dental floss behind the emblem will cut through the glue and pop it right off.
I think the dealer logo is a midwestern thing. I remember seeing them all the time in Iowa, Nebraska, and Illinois, but I don’t recall ever seeing one in California, Oregon, Nevada, or Arizona. Out here, they put their name on piece of cardboard that goes where the license plate belongs but you can tear it right off.
No, it extends to other regions of the country, in addition to the Mid-West. Dealers in the East will attempt to place their ugly advertising stickers on cars also. And, when the sticker isn’t even lined up correctly with the trunk lid or other body panels, it really makes that new car look crappy. As I and others have said, salespeople CAN be convinced to delete these things if you lean on them properly.
I always insist on not having the decal put on.
I allow license plate frame and nothing else.
Why would it be a law that the dealership’s name has to be on the car somewhere?
If ANYONE has ever been swayed by a dealership decal or license plater frame, to actually go to that dealership and buy a car…please post here and tell us why.
I’ve seen Nelson, Ricart and Chesrown put those emblems on their cars, I’m not sure how many more do it. I’d make sure to tell them to leave the badges off, even if I have to write it out on the contract in big black permanent marker saying not to put that stuff on my car. I’d also check the car over before I took possession of it, and if the badge was on there, I’d look at it, ask why it is there, then walk out.
I can remember when they used to drill holes in the body to mount their dealer emblems, and they would start rusting around the holes. As for the dealer decals, I see your point about the free advertising for the dealer, but what about the manufacturers decals advertising the make and model of the vehicle? Maybe you should have these removed too.
I’ve de-badged a few cars because they detracted from the look. I find most of the time, the manufacturer’s badging is designed to balance other necessary features and actually makes the car look more aesthetically pleasing than without. In addition, it is typically higher quality than the cheap stick-on advertising from the dealer.
1)your car only needs 30-45 seconds to warm up on a cold day. You don’t need to worry about damage to your car on small trips. when the engine is cold the seals are smaller and allows a very small amount of gas and water to get in the oil over time this makes your oil not as slippery and thus damages your car. you can fix this by changing your oil more, if its really cold you may have more water in the oil, the engine needs heat to remove water from the oil so taking a 30minute drive once a week would allow it to evaporate. The only other issue you may have is the cat doesn’t get hot enough to clean the tail pipe, take out once every few months to burn it out. if you drive it very little I would suggest putting a kill switch on on the battery to avoid it going dead if not used for a few months.
2)Never had a dealership demand that I had to have a sticker on my car.
I just wanted to explain why its OK and why people might say its not. remember a Prius has to do small trips many times when on a long trip and they work fine 