Daughter has left her car with us while she is at boot camp and subsequent training. She’ll be gone for 6 months. How often should her car be driven?
Try to drive it once a week, and drive long enough for it to reach full operating temperature.
Your daughter has my gratitude for serving.
Agree with NY; just drive it frequently enough to keep the battery charged and keep things lubricated. But drive it long enough to thoroughly warm up the engine, and drive off condensation and raw gas.
We were overseas for 4 years and our son did just that with our 2 cars.
I think twice a month is sufficient, as long as you drive it long enough for everything to warm up. Once around the block won’t cut it. Drive the car for at least 20-30 minutes, and take it on the highway, at least briefly, once in a while.
Add fuel stabilizer to the gas tank, and replace it periodically. Gasoline goes stale over time, and can gum up the fuel system. Stabilizer will prevent this from happening.
Cars do better when they’re driven than when they sit around. Parking the car indoors, if possible, will be much better for it than letting it sit outside.
Twice a month will do it, and it doesn’t hurt to drive the car more often. Try to get the car up to highway speed, however briefly.
Thanks for all your feedback. Concerning the stablizer, would it be good to keep the fuel level low so the gas does not get old?
If you keep the level low, putting in a couple of gallons every three months, you have absolutely no need for fuel stabilizer. Don’t use it.
She could have saved money by adding a little gas stabilizer and disconnecting the battery. Better yet bring it inside to discourage anyone who might be interested in stealing the car.
She could cancel her liability insurance (that is usually the expensive part) for the time she will be gone. Don’t cancel the comprehensive as that covers things like trees falling on the car.
Twice. Once to drop her off before basic and once to pick her up when it’s over. 6 months is nothing.
Left my 65GMC in a garrage in Wi. all winter. No gas stablizer nothing come spring opened the doors started it up drove away. Didnt even dissconnect the battery. This periodic driving obligation is not a black and white issue
I’d be inclined to add fuel stabilizer, but I agree that it’s a maybe/maybe not needed question.
The real reason I posted was to offer my sincere thanks to her for serving. Please pass that on to her for me.
NY and Mountainbike. Thank you for your kind comments about her service. I will certainly pass them on (if she ever is allowed to call or if we are given contact information. I’m told that’s the way it is but I don’t like it.)
She will be allowed to call later in her training cycle. As I recall, at Army basic training, trainees are required to write home at least once, fairly early in the training cycle, to allay parental concerns. This letter should also include her exact unit mailing address, which you can use to write letters to her.