If you are one of those who seldom drive their car and wish to know the possible consequences of parking the car for too long or the minimum drive distance you should always do before parking again. Get your answers here!
Naijauto.com has taken into account some drivers who seldom drive their car but still wishes to keep it in shape for any time they feel like using.

To help such category of drivers/car owners, we have brought out this piece at this time. Read on!

First, we will like to inform you that we highly recommend driving any vehicle you might own for 2 to 3 weeks at least in order to avoid dealing with issues like a dead car battery, flat-spotted car tires or any other problems that usually arise from leaving a vehicle parked for many weeks untouched.

You might hear testimonies of some other seldom drivers like yourself claiming that they would usually leave their vehicles parked in the garage for months with no single problem arising when they came back to use it again.

We will not argue that such can’t happen but, you have to realize that you are better off driving your car at least a couple of times every month and target 10 miles minimum, with enough random times you hit over 50mph speed if you can. All that is not meant to just get your vehicle’s engine warmed up but instead the entirety of the vehicle itself.

Keep in mind that by just letting your car to idle for maybe 10 minutes is only going to get the vehicle’s engine warmed up to its normal operating temperature and that’s it.



To really wake up a vehicle’s components such as the seals, gasket, climate system (A/C inclusive), power steering, suspension, brakes, transmission and all of its fluids, you must drive it for several miles.

Check out below, some of the reasons why you should normally not be parking your car for several weeks or even longer without using it.

- Car batteries lose their charge slowly when left sitting idle for long. They even drain more when you start the car after a long period. This is the more reason why you need to drive a car for several miles after picking it up again to allow the battery to recharge a little.

- Car tires easily lose the air in them over time when idle especially if exposed to much of cold weather conditions. As the tires lose air, the entire weight of the vehicle will keep pressing them down causing flat spots on those segments of the tire that are seated on the ground.

- Your vehicle can turn into a living space for Rodents and other animals. Most times when these animals become too hungry, they can begin to feed on your vehicle’s wiring harnesses and all other parts of your car made from organic materials.

- If your gas tank wasn’t full before you park the car, moisture can easily collect in the tank over time. And this will give rise to corrosion which is in no way going to favour you.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RN22T9yZK8Y

With all the above points, we cannot stress more than to advise you to try avoiding situations whereby your car will be abandoned for extra long periods without being used.

And if you just can’t help it, whenever you pick the car up again, follow all our recommendations above to get it all warm and charged up before parking it again.

Source: https://naijauto.com/car-maintenance/seldom-car-driver-3590

If you are storing your car for months, just disconnect the battery or use a trickle charger.