The general rule of thumb around how long a vehicle can sit without being driven is 2 weeks. That is about the longest vacation or reason any one of our vehicles have sat. Now in this new era of Covid-19. your cars, like mine, might have sat for a month or more. The conditions in which your car sits, are very important.

Luckily for us, most of that sitting last month was not in the extreme heat of an East Texas Summer, but it is about to start. The heat really does a number on a variety of our cars parts. Mostly the plastic ones are the issue. If you ever had a car with lots of black plastic trim (it was big in the early 2000's) they can turn almost white, and be bleached by the sun. The rubber seals around your doors and removable tops could also dry out and crack.

Batteries are also a concern in extreme heat. If your car is outside, you might remember having to replace your battery in the summer. They almost never last 4 years. If you live in East Texas and ever have to buy a new battery, get the warranty. Chances are that it will die way before the warranty runs out. Most of these warranties are universal across states and companies. They don't take into account the extreme conditions that our vehicles sit in all day. So most likely you will always have an in warranty failure.

Tires are the worse offender when it comes to sitting in the sun all day. Dry rot is a common condition especially if you don't drive your car very often. Even if you never drive a car, you need new tires almost as often if you were driving daily. Flat spots can develop if you just let it sit, so moving it once every 2 weeks, and at the proper inflation level keeps that from happening.

Enter your number to get our free mobile app

 

Vehicles Aren't Made To Sit

More From 101.5 KNUE