My son left his 2008 VW rabbit with me for one year while he is teaching English in Japan. I would like to know what is the minimum amount of driving I should do to keep all the seals lubricated and tires round, without putting a lot of miles on his car while he is gone. Thanks
A nice ride in the country every once a month will do perfectly.
The only thing I’d add to TSM’s comment is that you should put a full dose (follow the label) of Stabil in the gas tank to begin with, because that gas will be around a while.
Agree^
Once a month a minimum of 20-25 miles or 30 minutes should be more than enough. Just make sure that you do not simply start the car, and let it idle in the driveway for 30 minutes. That won’t help much. Also, if by the 6th month or so you haven’t already used at least half of the gasoline in the tank (assuming that at month o you start with a full tank) you might want to consider geting some Sta-Bil for the gas tank.
texases types much faster than I do 
Don’t wait for the gas to get old. Put Stabil in new gas. ( it will not make bad gas good again )
This practice keeps my 1979 ( 70,200. total miles ) pickup ready to roll even though it’s been a year and a half since fueling.
Once every 6 months is enough. Your seals will stay lubricated and your tires will stay round. I don’t use Stabil; engine starts are no problem with fuel injection replacing carburetors. Park the car in a well ventilated garage and use a battery maintainer or tender, not a charger, and with fresh oil in the engine. That is all you need to do. That is all that I do and it works for me, over 22 years now with one car, my summer car. The other car, the winter car, gets traded at around 10 or 12 years.
When you do drive the car, it would be better to not drive it on salted roads and run it for at least a half hour once started to dry the exhaust system and warm the engine oil to operating temperature. I have the original exhaust system on my old car as evidence of my advice being effective.
Any reason why you can’t use it as your own on an alternate basis ? Cars are made to put miles on. I would just halve the miles on your own. You’re doing him a favor and the car by using it regularly. Have him pay the insurance for you having to alternately get use to a new car. He’s getting free storage for crying out loud…use it like your own. Both your car and his will be better off at the end of the year. If you get the urge to “hot rod”, use his for that too !
We were posted overseas for 4 years and our son drove each of the two cars about 20-30 miles minimum each month, sometimes more. The cars remained in perfect running order,
No need to put a lot of miles on, just give it a fast workout once a month, and thoroughly warm up the engine. Tires will not flat spot; those days are gone.
Your son is going to embark on a unique cultural experience. Expect him to be more cosmopolitan when he returns!