I just bought a 2004 Kia Spectra EX with only 1,400 miles on it. Obviously it has sat around a lot. It hasn’t been driven for the past 3 months. The oil looks clear but should I change it anyway? What other maintenance should be done now? - Thanks
Even tho this car has extremely low miles, you have to assume NONE of the fluids have been changed. Scour the maintenance schedule in the owner’s manual for all the maintenance items that needed to be done by the 6 year (72 month) mark, and do them. That includes oil change, transmission fluid change, coolant change, brake fluid change, any belts, hoses, and adjustments. Many maintenance items have time and mileage intervals, and, in your case, the time intervals are the important ones. Any life-giving fluids for this car are way past their expiration date and need to be refreshed. Belts and hoses degrade over time. When in doubt, change them out.
Same with tires. There have been numerous stories lately about old tires that have been in storage being sold as new, then suffering catastrophic blow-outs due to rubber rot. Here’s a story that was in my local paper about such an accident :http://www.ajc.com/news/cobb/cobb-fatality-caused-by-267250.html. Some say tires are good for 10 years, but others, including European Standards call for an expiration date of 6 years.