1. Home
  2. General Toyota Forum
  3. Low Mileage driver

Low Mileage driver

I live in a small town and am lucky enough to walk to work everyday, so I put virtually no miles on my car. I think I mentioned my 10-year old automatic Tercel only had 33,000 miles on it before the accident ($4k to $5K damage to the car.)

So my '06 automatic Corolla CE should arrive at the dealer in a week or so. Is there anything I should be aware of, OR are there any special things I should do to the car in order to keep it in good shape, since I drive so little--an average of 2,000 miles a year sometimes?

Is it hard on a car to get so little exercise?

Thanks very much.

Reply to
Built_Well
Loading thread data ...

Since the car is new, you should take it for a few somewhat lengthy highway runs during the first 5000 miles or so to break it in. After that, there's really no difference in maintaining a city-only car from a long distance car. Just be sure to change the oil according to the schedule outlined in your manual (typically every 6 months).

Reply to
High Tech Misfit

I would echo that.

My mother is 87 and has a 87 Mercury with less than 80 thousand miles on it( most miles put on by 92 or 93). I still get the oil changed twice/year even though might be 1000 miles or less. I'd also suggest you protect fuel from condensation and aging.

Ron

Reply to
ron

well I have walked to work at certain points in my life, but still but

10k a year the car (outside activities, you don't do anything after work?)

Its hardest on the exhaust system because the condensation builds up and rust starts, but the money you save on gas should more then compensate for the muffle costs

Reply to
bungalow_steve

Condensation can also build up in the oil and create sludge that can block oil passages. Oil changes every 3-6 months, even if the mileage is low. One way to avoid that is to take the car out for a 20-30 mile "spin" once a week to heat the oil up enough to vaporize the build up of condensation.

Reply to
James C. Reeves

If a break in period is still needed these days, you might forget about after a long time or just get sick of it . But Nickesantoro mentioned the best advice that is factory supported, easy to remember and easy to ask have done at the shop. I think why he said severe use maintenance is because one thing that is still at work in aging the car is time passage.

Reply to
NN

MotorsForum website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.