# Frequency of starting a car

**URL:** <https://community.cartalk.com/t/frequency-of-starting-a-car/170566>\
**Category:** General Discussion\
**Created:** [September 28, 2020, 6:18pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/frequency-of-starting-a-car/170566 "2020-09-28T18:18:54Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 7\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![D.J](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a8b319/32.png) [@D.J](https://community.cartalk.com/u/D.J)\
**Post date:** [September 28, 2020, 6:18pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/frequency-of-starting-a-car/170566/1 "2020-09-28T18:18:54Z")

</div>

What’s the longest amount of time you can leave a car without starting it, and still have it start when you need it to?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![shadowfax](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/shadowfax/32/13026_2.png) [@shadowfax](https://community.cartalk.com/u/shadowfax)\
**Post date:** [September 28, 2020, 6:26pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/frequency-of-starting-a-car/170566/2 "2020-09-28T18:26:19Z")

</div>

Depends on the car. I had an old 80’s Mitsubishi truck with no electronics - not even a radio. Only used it for gardening stuff. That thing would sit outside all winter and start right up in the spring.

A modern car? Sometimes only a couple-three weeks. There’s a lot of stuff in today’s cars that drain the battery.

If you’re worried, get a battery maintainer. Shouldn’t cost much more than 50 bucks. It’ll keep the battery charged until you’re ready to use it again.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![circuitsmith](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/circuitsmith/32/40376_2.png) [@circuitsmith](https://community.cartalk.com/u/circuitsmith)\
**Post date:** [September 28, 2020, 6:33pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/frequency-of-starting-a-car/170566/3 "2020-09-28T18:33:47Z")

</div>

If you don’t park in reach of an electrical outlet (like on a city street) get a 10 watt solar charger and sit it on the dashboard.  
Message me if you want more details & suggestions.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![D.J](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a8b319/32.png) [@D.J](https://community.cartalk.com/u/D.J)\
**Post date:** [September 28, 2020, 7:13pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/frequency-of-starting-a-car/170566/4 "2020-09-28T19:13:37Z")

</div>

Thanks for the information

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![bing](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/bing/32/4619_2.png) [@bing](https://community.cartalk.com/u/bing)\
**Post date:** [September 29, 2020, 2:43am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/frequency-of-starting-a-car/170566/5 "2020-09-29T02:43:09Z")

</div>

But see the other discussion on this to see if you need a new plug in or not. I’ve had a car discharge in 3 days sitting at the airport with the trunk light on and going a month or so with no problem.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![D.J](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a8b319/32.png) [@D.J](https://community.cartalk.com/u/D.J)\
**Post date:** [September 29, 2020, 2:50am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/frequency-of-starting-a-car/170566/6 "2020-09-29T02:50:06Z")

</div>

It’s been a month for me, going to try starting it tomorrow

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![VOLVO-V70](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/8e8cbc/32.png) [@VOLVO-V70](https://community.cartalk.com/u/VOLVO-V70)\
**Post date:** [September 29, 2020, 3:41am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/frequency-of-starting-a-car/170566/7 "2020-09-29T03:41:55Z")

</div>

So if it starts you will have the answer for your vehicle.