Not driving for one or two years

Try to leave it parked on pavement, not on gravel or worst of all grass or dirt. If you can, you may want to put it up on blocks - NEVER cinder blocks, always either jackstands or solid pieces of wood (e.g. railroad ties) to keep the tires from flat spotting. Before mothballing it, put some Sta-Bil in the gas tank, fill it full, and run the car for about 5 min. or so after doing so (driving home from the gas station should serve nicely.) Change the oil. Cover all openings with plastic (exhaust pipe, air intake, cabin air intake) and throw a nylon mesh bag full of mothballs under the seats and in the trunk. (there's a *reason* it's called mothballing...)

If you can, also wash the exterior and put a good coat of wax on it.

Some people would also pull the spark plugs, put a little oil in each cylinder, and reinstall the plugs. On a carbureted car the traditional method is to drizzle oil down the carb while the engine is running until it stalls. Not sure if this is a good idea on a modern car like yours though.

Try not to park the car under a tree where sap, bird crap, leaves, etc. will collect on the horizontal surfaces of the car.

If it will be parked in sunlight, you may want to put shades inside the windshield and rear window to keep the interior cooler and protect the cloth from fading.

Best of all would be if you have a climate controlled garage to park it in, but I realize that that may not be an option.

This is by no means a definitive recommendation, but what I just thought of off the top of my head. I hope that others will chime in as well.

nate

The only thing I can add is to use a car cover...a good one, not just a blue tarp.

The car cover is ESSENTIAL. Also get a tarp under the body to keep animals from getting up into the engine compartment.

Pull the plugs, squirt a little WD-40 in there. Disconnect the battery. Drain the tank most of the way and put a good dose of fuel stabilizer in. Cosmoline is probably overkill.

--scott

Thanks to everyone's input. How about drving the car in the parking lot 5 minutes a day? Is this going to keep it in good condition?

Yeah. You need to sell it to me.

I 'gave mine up' to get money to buy my Supra. I went from 45 MPG to 22 MPG. But the Supra has a removable roof, so who cares?

However, the Tercel was a good little car! I miss it.

You should get Storage insurance on it, just in case a tree falls or a meteorite hits it...

Have someone start it occasionally if you can, since the fuel pump may 'dry out' and have to be replaced. Let it warm up fully to keep the oil from getting acidic. If it still does that, that is.

Putting it on blocks and storing the tires somewhere cool and dry would be a good idea, too.

It has to be run up to fully operating temperature. Running a car for a couple miles occasionally is actually worse than just parking it. If you're going to be around you can do this if you change the oil every 3-4 months.

Unless it's a car you particularly like and it's in unusually good shape for a 95 tercel, I'd suggest you just sell it and buy something else when you start driving again. If you just leave it parked and it gets stolen you'll have no coverage.

No, that's about the worst thing you could do. If you're going to start it, it should be run at least until the engine reaches full operating temperature. Otherwise you never drive all the condensation out of the oil.

nate

Hmmm...interesting post!!! ;P

Well, its GOING to deteriorate some, so first off accept that.

Other steps:

-Put fuel stabilizer in the gas and run the car for a few more trips to get it all through the fuel system. Leave the fuel tank topped off to minimize the air space over the fuel.

-similarly, top off all the other fluids, especially brake and hydraulic clutch fluid

-On the very last time you shut down the engine, trickle Marvel Mystery Oil down the intake to the point that it will barely run and is throwing a huge smokescreen out the tailpipe. That will keep an oil barrier on all the valves and the interior of the intake and exhaust plumbing, and in my experience it really makes the next startup a couple of years down the line much easier (no stuck valves, for example).

-Make sure the interior is all sealed up- including making sure the HVAC is set to "off" or "recirc" before the final shut-down.

-Block it up. I tend to over-do it a bit- I block the wheels off the ground, and then also partially unload the suspension with another set of jackstands (not always, and probably not necessary).

- If its going to be outdoors, at LEAST cover it with a good car cover, drawn tightly enough to prevent it rubbing the car as it blows in the wind. It helps to wash and wax the car right before you store it.

Absolutely not! That will do far more harm than good.

If I "laid up" a car for a couple years I'd start it once a month and drive it around the block. Get it up to full operating temp before shutting down. Should remove any moisture that got in the engine, top off the battery charge, rub the rust off the rotors, and distribute oil/grease. This is basically what I've been doing with my spare car for a few years, though it gets an occasional longer run when I use it to fetch something. It's licensed/insured. When it sits more than a few weeks I can feel the rust on the rotors, and lightly riding the brakes a bit quickly gets rid of the rust. If I was afraid to take it on the street, a few runs up and down the driveway would do the same thing. No need for gas "stabilizers" or "mystery oil."

--Vic

Not necessary, if properly stored the first time. And in fact, you'll be contributing to more problems in the long run by *putting* moisture in the oil because it would have to remain at operating temperature for a while to actually drive the moisture back out and neutralize the acids formed from blow-by, scraping rust off the rotors to have them re-rust within a week, etc. etc.

A car will suffer from not being used regularly, so the best bet is to only make it suffer ONCE, and to minimize that suffering wherever possible.

There's no way you'd burn off a full tank of gas every 6 months that way, so you'd still need the fuel stabilizer.

Thanks again to everyone. I tend to believe that I'm going to sell it. I was afraid that I might require a car a few weeks or months after I buy it. Oh well, I sell it $2000 and buy another one at $2000 later.

Where are you, and how many miles are on it?

I live in Toronto, Ontario. The car has 146,000 km's.