any advice for an Explorer driven infrequently/not at all?

[youonlylivetwic]

Hi,
I have a 2000 Sport, about 88,000 miles on it. I have a second vehicle I drive most of the year, at this point the Explorer is mostly for my dog, my hobby, and winter; but is not really necessary for any one of those, maybe winter the most.
As far as maintenance goes, am I better off driving it maybe once a week just to get it out? Once a month or so? Or just park it and take the insurance off it till winter? Any maintenance tips if I let it sit?

I'd probably sell it but I know I have taken good care of it and the value at this point is so low I think keeping it has more value to me than a few thousand dollars in the bank. And it still will allow me to park the other vehicle over the winter....

thanks for any ideas!!

 

[410Fortune]

the worse thing you can do to a car is let it sit.
Start it up at the very least once a month or so. I vote for drive it weekly however.

There are plenty of things you can do to prepare a vehicle for long term storage, everything from put the frame on jack stands, air down the tires, dish of baking sode in the interior, disco and remove battery, fuel stabilizer, etc.

 

[mwking]

I am in basically the same position as you. In 1996 I bought a 1989 Bronco II to use as a winter vehicle and put my Mustang in the garage. For most of the time that I owned it I drove it every day in the winter and stored it for the summer. I always started it at least every two weeks, warmed it up and moved it a little, but I took the insurance off of it so I wasn't driving it. If you are storing the truck outside I would definately vote for driving it once a week. I found that even storing a vehicle outside in good weather will cause a lot of deterioration over a few months. I finally decided to leave the insurance on it all year and drive it to keep it running well and avoid the repairs every fall. I replaced it with a 2000 Explorer Sport last February and plan on leaving it on the road all year as well.

 

[exploded99]

I would say drive it a little every week, letting it sit is not so good. Keeps the battery charged, helps keep seals in good condition; turn the a/c on to work the a/c compressor a little. And put some fuel stabilizer in it - that keeps your gas from getting old and stale while it sits.

 

[youonlylivetwic]

Thanks for the tips, that is sort of what I figured. I'll try to get it out each week. I would realistically save maybe $300 per year by dropping insurance, but it sounds like the potential repairs (as I feared) would eat up most of that "savings".

Exploded99, do you mean to both drive it weekly AND use fuel stabilizer? Is sitting a week at a time sufficient to warrant needing the stabilizer?
thanks!

 

[marragtop]

You should put the stabilizer in if you are going to have the same fuel in the tank for an extended period. Also, when driving, make sure it goes through all the gears (fwd and rev), use the parking brake, and get it up to operating temp.