I used to commute in my car.. 25 miles a day doesn't sound much I know.. but it seemed enough to warrant a car.

It was for heading into london and was about 50% quicker then the tube on a good day. Half of it was at 50mph as well so the car always seemed quite happy.

Anyway, I'm now living back in Nottingham and not really using the car for one reason or another.

It'll do, maybe 6 - 12 miles a week now.

Should I do anything to help keep it on top form? I already wait for it to warm up before any beans are used, service it regularly and it'll get a round trip of at least 100 miles at least every month as I have friends further North, and South.

It'll be ok, won't it?

It'll probably be getting more and more use as the year rolls on (I'm attempting to be freelance, ya see).. but at the minute it's as above.

Edited 24 February, 201115 yr by Rob.

Nothing springs to mind other than "don't idle the engine for 2 minutes every day" to "help the battery"; it won't. Oh and remember that tyre pressure loss and service intervals should be on distance/time, whichever comes first, but if it uses oil, that probably is still going to be measured in l/1_000 miles.

Thanks Ken,

Yeah, it already gets a service at 12 months or 10k, which ever comes 1st so no problems there.

And yeah, hadn't planned to idle it to help the batt.. Well aware that does more harm than good on a diesel. If it does go flat (which hopefully it won't) it's parked in front of a garage with power so can charge it back up. I'm hoping the monthly run down to London, or Manchester will keep the Batt ticking over though.

I found it funny the other day when I realised that the fuel in it cost 1.30ish a litre... I think I maybe in for a shock the next time it needs fuel (well, as far as I can tell from the news, anyways).. It's gonna be heading to 1.50 soon.

Edited 24 February, 201115 yr by Rob.

Mother in Law bought a new Avensis T4 2.0D in November 2009, was admitted to hospital for 6 months in December 09, and since June10 hasnt driven- car get about 30 miles a week when family come to take her out. Other than usual tyres pressure and routine checks the car is fine- think how mych depreciation will slow down now as the milage lessens

The fabia used to only get used at the weekend for going up north and would sit in the drive all week with no problems (ok weekend mileage was on average 400 every weekend). When I stopped going up north every week end the fabia spent about 3 months not doing anything in the drive. It started fine and all I needed to do was just re-check the tyre pressures as they had lost abit of air.

Cool, good comments!

However, lol.. Last nights heavy rain and lack of daily use lead to something happening to me for the 1st time that other Furby owners are used too.... the INSIDE of my windscreen steamed up today and it's not moved for the last 4 days! lol.. Time to go leak hunting again!

IMHO that weekly mileage is too little to keep the engine parts in good condition from a lubrication and residue build-up point of view. Acids and condensates will build-up in the oil at a rate higher than usual because the engine will never get to proper operating temperature. Take it for a 10-15 mile run on a Sunday so that the engine gets to proper operating temperature and pressures. And once a month take it on a 20-30 mile burn up the local motorway to blow out the cob-webs.Whilst its doing very low mileages it may be worth changing the oil at the half year as well.

I wouldn't recommend leaving a car unused for 3 months - all the residual oil will have drained off the cylinder walls and a start-up after this sort of diuse can only increase cylinder and ring wear on VW engines that are extremely prone to bore and ring wear problems. I know, my Fabs consuming a litre of oil every 1200 miles now.

Remember, if the car is alarmed, it will flatten the battery after a few weeks of lack of use.

Small solar panel on parcel shelf plugged into the cigarette lighter socket to keep it topped-up ?

Nick

Edited 27 February, 201115 yr by Clunkclick