Leaving car undriven for a month

[peter.sellers]

I have to travel to the Far East for a month and plan to leave my MS3 at the airport. I am concerned if it will start up after not running it for a month. Am I being paranoid?

Any suggestions on what I should do to prepare myself better?

 

[Jasnall]

Could leave it with a friend and have them drive it once a week

 

[Moultese]

I would NOT leave my Mazdaspeed3 at an airport for a month. Keep it where you live and taxi out there. Get a family member or friend to start it up once in a while.

It will most likely start after sitting for a month, but it probably won't run great. If you absolutely have to let it sit for 1 month w/o any attention, as soon as you get back I'd take it to a Mazda dealer and get a tune up.

 

[SRTCE142]

Personally, I'd leave it at home or with a friend. Getting a taxi can't be much more expensive than parking for a month - depending on how far away you are, might even be cheaper.

I wouldn't worry too much about it not starting. Worst case, be sure you have a set of jumpers in the car.

BTW - Unless you specifically ordered your car, it's probably sat a month or longer since leaving the factory.

 

[lasermp5]

If you're located in central florida, bring it over to my place and I'll drive you to the airport, take the car out for a few spins while your gone, and pick you back up when you get home

 

[ptrautne]

I have to travel to the Far East for a month and plan to leave my MS3 at the airport. I am concerned if it will start up after not running it for a month. Am I being paranoid?

Any suggestions on what I should do to prepare myself better?

I have had zero issues with my car other then the rotors getting very rusted. Over the past 9 months my cars has been sitting at the airport for 6 months. The longest at one time was 2 months and no issues when I got back

 

[dkswim]

throw your emergency jumper battery into the trunk if you need or jumper cables if your leaving on a sucure lot it they might have cables if you need. best bet would be to have a friend drive you to airport or taxi and leve car with famlie or trusted friend and ask them to start it once a week and let it warm up for 15 min

 

[theEZV]

my msp started right up after siting for a month, even with the original battery. i doubt youll have any problems

 

[MSP2024]

mine sat for 4 months and i had no problems

 

[fuentini]

i knew a guy that left his msp at the airport for three weeks. When he got back the car b****-slaaaaped him and took his money. They tried some counseling, but eventually broke up.

 

[coololddude]

i have a modded truck. i dont drive it for a month often. no problem. i know people with car collections and they drive them less than once a month all the time. they prefer optima batteries also. leaving it at the airport, thats another story!

 

[mazdaspeedster3]

Yea, you wont have or shouldnt have any problems leaving it for a month. Not sure I would trust the air port parking lot but whatever... You can always get a battery buddy if you are really worried about it or disconnect the battery yourself and leave it that way.

 

[MikeHTally]

I wouldn't leave a beater at the airport.

 

[dparm1984]

The car will be fine. Just put in a bottle of the fuel stabilizer stuff just in case.

I don't like the idea of leaving any car at the airport for that long, but if you have insurance it shouldn't really be the end of the world if anything happens.

 

[340CID]

I would NOT leave my Mazdaspeed3 at an airport for a month. Keep it where you live and taxi out there. Get a family member or friend to start it up once in a while.

It will most likely start after sitting for a month, but it probably won't run great. If you absolutely have to let it sit for 1 month w/o any attention, as soon as you get back I'd take it to a Mazda dealer and get a tune up.

A tune-up? What's the dealer going to do; check tire pressures, fluid levels? Seems like a waste of money to have some dude do that for $shop rate/hour when that can be done at the airport when you get back to your car.

One month is no big deal.... it's not like it's got carbs and the float bowls might be empty after a month.

Sounds like it's a business trip your going on.... I'd take a cab to the airport and expense it rather then having it sit in the economy lot at the airport. If you do get someone to start it up every two weeks, be sure they run it for at least 10 minutes at varying engine speeds. Just letting it idle for 3 minutes will actually kill the battery even more since the alternator rarely provides much of a charge at idle.

 

[FMOS Racing]

You won't even notice it has sat up. I have 5 vehicles, some of them only get driven a few times a year in decent weather. Never had any issue with them sitting up, even for 5-6 months over the winter. I do disconnect the battery over the winter, but not if it's just going to be setting for a few weeks or a month.

I have a beater car specifically for leaving at the airport when I travel (and loaner duty).

 

[dan1101]

I'll confirm what others have said, I leave my 91 Mustang parked (in a garage under a car cover) for a month or more at times, no problems. But I wouldn't leave it parked at an airport.

 

[Unkillable2]

lol i am in a similar situation!!! i am going to korea for a year and can't take my car. i was thinking about renting a storage but i'm afraid it wont be the as when i get back!!! -____-

 

[MikeHTally]

A tune-up? What's the dealer going to do; check tire pressures, fluid levels? Seems like a waste of money to have some dude do that for $shop rate/hour when that can be done at the airport when you get back to your car.

One month is no big deal.... it's not like it's got carbs and the float bowls might be empty after a month.

Sounds like it's a business trip your going on.... I'd take a cab to the airport and expense it rather then having it sit in the economy lot at the airport. If you do get someone to start it up every two weeks, be sure they run it for at least 10 minutes at varying engine speeds. Just letting it idle for 3 minutes will actually kill the battery even more since the alternator rarely provides much of a charge at idle.

Excellent advice. A tune-up every time it sits for a month? Yeow! Tune ups don't amount to much these days -- no points or timing to adjust. Just clean/replace the air filter and the plugs at the proper intervals. Oil changes as the manual dictates.

 

[gtlaw]

I wouldn't worry about 1 month. I'm about to store mine over winter I'm going to add stabil to the gas, change the oil just before it goes in the garage, and place it on jackstands. I'm nuts it would probably be fine without any of that stuff